The Snake River Headwaters Watershed Group (SRHWG) will receive $299,189 to amplify stakeholder engagement, coordination, and knowledge exchange.
Contact:
- Leslie Bahn Steen, Wyoming State Director, Trout Unlimited, leslie.steen@tu.org
- Jeremy Barnum, Chief of Staff, Grand Teton National Park, jeremy_barnum@nps.gov
- Michelle Heaton, Teton Regional Director, LegacyWorks Group, michelle@legacyworksgroup.com
Jackson, Wyoming – The Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) recently awarded nearly half a million dollars to Trout Unlimited (TU) through two grants to support collaborative watershed groups and restoration planning in northwest Wyoming. The Snake River Headwaters Watershed Group (SRHWG) will receive $299,189 to amplify stakeholder engagement, coordination, and knowledge exchange. The collaborative group, made up of over 90 agencies, nonprofits, landowners, and local businesses, was launched in 2023 in response to concern over issues facing the local watershed including flows from Jackson Lake dam, water quality, habitat degradation, drought, and climate change.
Interest in the creation of the SRHWG first stemmed from community concerns about impacts to fisheries from fall ramping rates out of Jackson Lake Dam, followed by a strong response to the proposed reduction of flows out of Jackson Lake Dam in spring 2023, which would have cut flows to 50 cubic feet per second (cfs) – well below the 280 cfs minimum established by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department – causing damage to the Snake River ecosystem. While this crisis was avoided thanks to the collective action of the State of Wyoming, water managers at the Bureau of Reclamation, and local stakeholders, it highlighted the timeliness of the nascent watershed group, which was in the process of being formed through its “design phase” in May and June 2023. In July 2023, TU along with community stakeholders met with former Deputy Secretary of the Interior Tommy Beaudreau, BOR Commissioner Camille Touton, BOR Regional Director Jennifer Carrington, and National Park Service (NPS) leadership to discuss the ongoing challenges facing the Snake River Headwaters ecosystem, and were encouraged to continue to build the SRHWG and pursue funding from the BOR’s WaterSMART Cooperative Watershed Management Program (CWMP).
With the help of the Town of Jackson and its grant-writing contract with Sustainable Strategies, TU successfully secured federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding from the BOR CWMP in July 2024 for the SRHWG to continue collaborating for the critical protection of the Snake River Headwaters ecosystem. With drought, climate change and growing demands on water supply, water management in the Upper Snake Basin is expected to only increase in complexity and importance. The SRHWG aims to address this and other challenges to the ecosystem, utilizing collaborative conservation practices and knowledge exchange to bring together diverse interests organized into 4 working groups – water management & flow, data & monitoring, ecosystems, and outreach & community engagement. The SRHWG’s steering committee is composed of 15 representatives from federal, state, and local agencies, nonprofits, private businesses, local ranches, Idaho irrigators, and universities.
“We appreciate and welcome the Bureau of Reclamation’s support for the work of the Snake River Headwaters Watershed Group. This grant funding will further the strong efforts of Trout Unlimited and other partners in our community who continue to make real progress in protecting the Snake River and the watershed and aquatic ecosystem that we all deeply value,” said Chip Jenkins, Grand Teton National Park Superintendent.
BOR funding will support TU’s contract with the SRHWG’s facilitation team, LegacyWorks Group, to grow community and stakeholder outreach efforts, facilitate regular watershed group, steering committee, and working group meetings, and lay the groundwork for future watershed restoration planning efforts.
“Our local watershed is currently facing a myriad of complex issues that no one organization can tackle alone. The SRHWG unites diverse water users – including guides, businesses, managers, researchers, irrigators, advocates, and others – in a collaborative watershed network. As the group builds shared understanding and trust, they build resilience and capacity for innovative problem-solving across the watershed,” said Dr. Michelle Heaton, Teton Regional Director for LegacyWorks Group.
The SRHWG’s 2023 design phase was funded by the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole, Grand Teton National Park Foundation, Rendezvous River Sports, Snake River Fund, Teton Conservation District, Town of Jackson, Trout Unlimited, and University of Wyoming’s WyACT Program, with continued support in 2024 from these same entities as well as American Rivers, the Henry’s Fork Foundation, Jackson Hole Trout Unlimited, Teton County, and Teton County Weed and Pest.
Located just to the south, in and around Star Valley, the TU-convened Salt River Watershed Group (SRWG) will also receive $199, 045 from this year’s BOR CWMP for collaborative restoration planning, community engagement, and project development. Established in 2022 with the help of BOR CWMP funding to respond to issues specific to the Salt River watershed such as impacts from agricultural land management and increasing floodplain development, the 20+ member SRWG has its sights set on developing a new watershed restoration plan for the Salt River and advancing a number of habitat restoration projects.
“The Snake River Headwaters and Salt River watersheds are cornerstones of our local communities and regional economy – they provide incomparable ecosystem services, crucial water supply, and recreation benefits. We are incredibly grateful to the Bureau of Reclamation for investing in both of these collaborative watershed groups, and to all of our partners that have supported these efforts along the way and into the future,” said Leslie Steen, Wyoming State Director at Trout Unlimited.
To sign up to receive news and updates from the Snake River Headwaters Watershed Group, visit http://eepurl.com/iRM236 or email julie@legacyworksgroup.com. To learn more about the Salt River Watershed Group, please visit: https://saltriverwyoming.org/. To learn more about TU’s Snake River Headwaters Initiative, please visit: https://www.tu.org/snakeheadwaters.