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Watershed Focus Wind River

The Wind River is one of three watersheds in Wyoming that WyACT focuses on, together with the Upper Snake River and the Green River. They represent the headwaters and upper drainage basins of three major river systems (Snake-Columbia, Green-Colorado, and Wind-Bighorn-Missouri Rivers).

The 185 mile-long Wind River is located entirely within Wyoming. Near Thermopolis its name changes to Bighorn River, which empties into the Yellowstone and ultimately contributes to the Missouri. Wyoming鈥檚 Wind River Mountain Range also includes the headwaters for the Green River to the West that flows into the Colorado River. Both headwaters fall within the 2.2 million acre Wind River Indian Reservation where the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes hold senior water rights. WyACT work in this area is planned and executed in collaboration with Tribal partners and emphasizes long-term engagement networks and Tribes as rightsholders. Baseline response function work has focused on exploration of agricultural responses to changing water availability and other drivers of change. Further work has the goal of tailoring and defining metrics specific to Traditional Ecological Knowledge. UW鈥檚 High Plains American Indian Research Institute (HPAIRI) is a key WyACT partner for navigating the work in the Wind River Indian Reservation.