Trout Unlimited, Grand Teton National Park, Bridger Teton National Forest, and Wyoming Game and Fish Department recently announced the completion of the final phase of the collaborative Spread Creek Fish Passage Project.
Teton Conservation District is proud to have been part of Spread Creek’s story for the past 10+ years. We’ve provided funding and support for design, implementation, installation of the fish screen, and more. This year, we’re also working with the irrigators downstream to make the most out of the water being delivered from Spread Creek.
About the Spread Creek Fish Passage Project
A large irrigation diversion dam that spanned the entire width of Spread Creek, just outside of Grand Teton National Park on Bridger-Teton National Forest, was removed in 2010 through a partnership effort led by Trout Unlimited. Removing it opened up well over 50 miles of the watershed to migratory Snake River cutthroat trout.
The dam was replaced with a fish passage-friendly diversion structure and new water delivery system. Partners documented fish successfully moving throughout the stream’s headwaters and Snake River for the first time in more than 50 years. However, they also found that some native fish were trapped in the irrigation system as they migrated downstream.
Partners once again teamed up for the project’s $1.6M second phase, which installed a fish screen on the Spread Creek irrigation system to prevent fish entrapment through the water intake system. It also improved the existing diversion structure and stabilized nearby banks and channels.
This Spread Creek Fish Passage Project’s second phase was led by Trout Unlimited’s Snake River Headwaters Initiative in close collaboration with Grand Teton National Park, Bridger-Teton National Forest, and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. Funding and additional support has been provided by the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole, Desert Fish Habitat Partnership, Jackson Hole Trout Unlimited, Jackson Hole One Fly, Moosehead Ranch, National Forest Foundation, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation: Bring Back the Natives, Pinto Ranch, Snake River Fund, Teton Conservation District, The Nature Conservancy, Triangle X Ranch, US Fish and Wildlife Service Fish Passage, US Geological Survey, Vail Resorts Epic Promise, Western Native Trout Initiative, Wildlife Tourism for Tomorrow via The WYldlife Fund, WorldCast Anglers, WY Department of Environmental Quality, WY Game and Fish Department, WY Water Development Commission, WY Wildlife and Natural Resources Trust, local businesses, and private donors.