In the high desert landscape of southwest wyoming, the green river represents critical habitat in the region and this project is one of a series of projects to restore IT

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) awarded a $250,000 Cooperative Agreement to the City of Green River, Wyoming under the National Fish Passage program (CFDA 15.685). The funding will be used to restore critical fish habitat along the Green River by widening a notch and lowering an in-stream sill. This will improve fish passage and safety in the Killdeer Wetlands area, which was previously impacted by the construction of the Fontenelle Dam upstream. The project partners include state and local government agencies, non-profit conservation groups, and utility companies. The objective is to support native fish species of concern, including the mountain sucker and flannelmouth sucker. The project will be completed over a 5-year period from September 1, 2023 to August 31, 2028.

Located on the western edge of the city of green river, the killdeer wetlands were created by diverting a small flow from the main channel of the green river to an area that was once an important lateral floodplain and riparian wetland area prior to the construction of the fontenelle DAM approximately 60 miles upstream. During the creation of these wetlands, a channel wide sill was built to raise river levels to support diversion but unfortunately, the sill was constructed higher than anticipated resulting in various issues, including safety concerns for those recreating on the river and impeding fish passage. Additionally, floods in 2017 caused damage at the diversion site and throughout the wetland area. While design and engineering is currently being completed, project partners believe improvements will include the widening of the notch and lowering of the elevation of the in-stream sill in an effort to improve fish passage and safety at the site, while supporting the continued functioning of the wetland area. This partnership includes city of green river, green river greenbelt task force, wyoming game and fish, wyoming wildlife and natural resource trust, trout unlimited, ducks unlimited, wyoming office of homeland security FEMA, U.S. Bureau of reclamation, U.S. Fish and wildlife service, and rocky mountain power. Fish species include state species of concern and USFWS priority species mountain sucker and flannelmouth sucker. Project benefits the community of green river.