GR to Consider Participating in National Fish Passage Program for Killdeer Wetlands Project

GREEN RIVER — The Green River City Council will consider approving the city’s participation in the FY23 National Fish Passage Program to assist with the ongoing project at Killdeer Wetlands/Diversion Structure during its meeting Monday night.

The FY23 National Fish Passage Program Bipartisan Infrastructure Law program is through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The City of Green River has tentatively been awarded $250,000 through this program to assist with the Killdeer Wetlands project.

The program is administered through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the submission of documents by the city, which serves as the City’s agreement to participate and accept the terms and conditions of the program.

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Through this program the City will receive the awarded funding and technical assistance from the USF&WS and agrees to work with the service to ensure the project meets the program’s fish passage goals.

There is no local match for these funds.

According to meeting documents, “the long-term goals of the Killdeer project is to improve native fish habitat and positively influence native fish populations by improving fish migration and flood plain function in the Green River of Wyoming. The objectives are to modify the Killdeer diversion structure that currently is a partial barrier to fish movement for as many life stages of native fishes as feasible while maintaining or improving flood plain function, greenbelt and recreational use of the river by humans.”

The project is designed to restore and secure proper functioning of the 317.67 acre Killdeer Wetland area, while addressing concerns surrounding a channel wide sill on the Green River at the wetland diversion site. With project partners leaning toward widening the notch and lowering the elevation of the sill, the project is expected to mitigate impediments to upstream movements of various species of fish.

The Green River City Council will meet Monday, June 5, at 7 p.m. at Green River City Hall. To view the full meeting agenda and packet, click here.