The Willwood Irrigation District may be in a little hot water due to a silt spill that killed some fish, but experts now are looking for ways to address the issue for the long term.

The district’s manager, Todd Singbeil, said he’d prefer to resolve the problem permanently.

Since the district lowered the pool behind the dam last month to repair the dam, silt has been sloughing off silt bars upstream, releasing sediment into the Shoshone River downstream.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department notified the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) of the silt on Oct. 18.

Both the district and the federal agency that owns the dam facility — the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation — received a notice of violation from the DEQ for “violation of Wyoming’s Surface Water Quality Standards,” according to the DEQ.

“At this point, we’re going to contest the violation,” Singbeil said.

A notice of violation is not a ticket or a fine, said Keith Guille, DEQ public information officer in Cheyenne; it’s a notice stating that the DEQ wants to meet with the recipients of the notice for a discussion and to develop a resolution.

The DEQ has appraised the situation, Guille said. “We’ve been down there several times. We take what has happened very seriously.”

David Waterstreet, DEQ watershed protection program manager in Cheyenne, said he will meet with the district today (Tuesday).

At this time, the pool has been lowered to allow a contractor to replace the dam’s penstock and canal gate, Singbeil said. The DEQ authorized a waiver to increase turbidity while the pool was lowered.

But Waterstreet said DEQ does not allow or disallow projects. The department’s interest lies in whether the district is meeting clean water criteria.

The Willwood Irrigation District must determine steps to be taken to address the issue, but the first step is halting heavy silt release now, Waterstreet said. Next, it must be determined what is most cost effective to rectify the situation, long term.

Where’s the funding?

A previous project to dredge the silt was priced at around $5.6 million.

It may be possible to mine the silt at a cost of $1 to $2 million, Singbeil said.

The silt must be dry to mine it, Waterstreet said. Dredging the sediment when it is wet is costlier.

The DEQ’s concern is reducing short- and long-term sediment, Waterstreet said. Finding a contractor and the funding doesn’t happen overnight.

“If we could find the money, this is the time to do it,” Singbeil said.

The district has some money for mitigation, but at this time, Singbeil said he isn’t sure how much.

Jason Burckhardt, Game and Fish fisheries biologist, said he does not believe his department has funding available to help Willwood remove the silt, but it does want to help to avoid future silt problems. The immediate issue is mitigating the sediment, then working with the district and people upstream to reduce it, Burckhardt said.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture/Natural Resource Conservation Service similarly does not have funding to aid in silt removal behind the Willwood Dam, said Rory Karhu, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service district conservationist.

“NRCS does, however, have the Environmental Quality Incentives Program that can help improve irrigation systems and practices on private cropland so that sediment-laden irrigation tailwater is reduced, therefore reducing sediment inputs in the first place,” Karhu said.

The DEQ is a regulatory agency and has no funding available, Guille said.

Dam fish

On the downstream side of the dam Nov. 1, tires protruded from the gritty silt like grimy life preserver rings while the contractor’s crew attached penstock boards on the dam’s upstream side.

“Somebody dumped those suckers (tires) in there,” said Travis Conklin of Engineering Associates.

An investigation could determine who did it if the tires were fished out of the river, said Royal Stukey who lives 2 miles east of the Willwood clubhouse/district office.

Despite the mercury-like hue of the water, fish surface in the swirling current below.

“At least we know there’s some still alive,” Singbeil said.

He opened one of the gates a little wider, which altered the current and appeared to make the fish more active, Singbeil said.

It’s hard to say whether the fish entered the downstream side via a sluice gate or had been present throughout the time of the recent turbidity increase, Burckhardt said.

Now or never

“The Wyoming Game and Fish Department has documented fish kills and turbidity in excess of established standards directly tied to the operation of Willwood Dam since 1958,” wrote Sam Hochhalter, Game and Fish Cody regional fisheries supervisor in a Nov. 10, 2015, letter to the DEQ.

Current dam repairs are part of the effort to remedy the problem, Waterstreet said.

Silt washing downstream is tragic, but perhaps it could spur a move toward a long-term solution, Stukey said.

“I hope this is the beginning of a new era in river and farm management,” he said.

The public is invited to an informational meeting regarding the silt issue at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 15, at the Park County Fairgrounds Events Hall. Representatives from the entities involved are expected to attend, along with Park County commissioners, who called the meeting.