High Water Expected on Little Snake, Encampment Rivers

A spokeswoman for the Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities [BOPU] says people living along the Encampment and Little Snake Rivers in Wyoming should expect higher than normal water flows this year because of runoff from the snow pack.

Snowy, wet weather over the last few months has led to unusually high snowpacks in many parts of the state.

Dena Egenhoff says the high flow could impact the communities of Encampment, Riverside, Baggs, Savery and Dixon.

Egenhoff says Hog Park Reservoir, one of eight reservoirs used by the BOPU is already full.

As water from the surrounding snow continues to flow into the reservoir, a spillway will direct the runoff water into Hog Park Creek, which is a tributary of the Encampment River, causing higher than normal flows on that river.

She says the Little Snake will run high because the BOPU closes its collection structures this time of year from the trans-basin area of the western side of the Continental Divide.

Since not much of that runoff will be collected, that water will go into the Little Snake, causing its flows to rise. Egenhoff says people who live near or are visiting areas near the Encampment and Little Snake should know that the stream flows could change quickly, depending on the weather.