Project Overview
The Environmental Services Group (ESG) is working on multiple Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act (Public Law 83-566) projects in several states, including Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and Idaho. One such project is the Shoshone River Watershed Project in Park County, Wyoming for the Heart Mountain Irrigation District. For this PL-566 agricultural water management Plan–Environmental Assessment (EA), ESG is coordinating the entire environmental documentation and management process, which involves multiple federal, state, and local agencies, organizations, and an engaged public.
Project Scope
The Shoshone River Watershed Project is an irrigation initiative to pipe and pressurize 9.7 miles of Laterals H65, H89, and R4S with high-density polyethylene (HDPE), and replace approximately 1.0 mile of non-pressurized pipe on the eastern end of H89 with pressurized pipe. Existing structures and turnouts will be removed and replaced with metered turnouts. After construction, the laterals will be graded and a gravel access road will be installed over the pipeline at specific locations.
Coordination and Oversight
The ESG is managing the development of the Watershed Plan-EA, which is scheduled for public review in November 2025 and remains on track. Coordination includes working with the lead federal agency, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the cooperating agency, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the project sponsors at the Heart Mountain Irrigation District.
Environmental and Regulatory Work
ESG environmental specialists conducted all fieldwork and analysis required for the Biological Assessment and Aquatic Resources Delineation. Based on this analysis, ESG is coordinating Endangered Species Act Section 7 consultation between the NRCS and U.S Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) for species including the Ute Ladies’ Tresses and yellow-billed cuckoo. ESG also coordinated cultural resource surveys and is assisting NRCS with compliance under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA).
Regional Impact
As a result of this project and three other projects in Wyoming, ESG played a key role in helping develop Regional General Permit (RGP)-2302-RWY. This permit streamlines USACE permitting for activities involving discharges of dredged or fill material into jurisdictional irrigation ditches that do not exceed the 0.5-acre wetland loss threshold.
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