One possible way to remove the sediment buildup in the river would be to release large amounts of water from Buffalo Bill Reservoir, farther upstream, called flushing flows.

“We’re still looking at the opportunity to pursue something like that out of Buffalo Bill to help the trout fishery,” Burckhardt said.

Valued fishery

Prior to the sediment flow, the affected stretch of the Shoshone River was a productive trout fishery. From Buffalo Bill Dam, which is west of Cody, to Mormon Dam, downstream from Willwood, was ranked a blue ribbon trout fishery, Burckhardt said. Blue ribbon streams are considered to be of the highest quality. The stretch of the Shoshone River contained more than 600 pounds of trout per mile, Burckhardt said.

It was that high-quality fishing that attracted Kirk Bollinger to the region. He bought property just below the dam in 1998. He’s caught brown trout up to 26 inches long from the trout stream running through his backyard.

“My blue ribbon trout stream has been destroyed in a couple of days,” he said.

Downstream of the dam there is 6 inches to a foot of silt built up along the river for at least 6 miles, Bollinger said.