Projects > Flat Creek
Flat Creek, a tributary of the Snake River in Teton County, Wyoming, has received considerable attention in recent years as a candidate for rehabilitation, especially the 3.5 miles running through the town of Jackson. Though it is not well documented, the lower section of Flat Creek had a well defined channel with good fish productivity and provided excellent fishing for cutthroat trout until the 1930’s. Today, habitat quality along Flat Creek, especially in the lower reaches at and below Jackson, has been affected by numerous land and water uses.
The result has been degraded water quality, hydrologic alteration by increased stormflow response, altered channel morphology, elevated sediment loading and diminished riparian structure and function. Aquatic habitat through Jackson in particular, is dominated by long, wide, shallow riffles with few deep mid channel pools and limited cover-rich meander pools. Such conditions have fostered the formation of frazil ice and anchor ice during the winter leading to overbank flooding due to ice jams.
The icing phenomena is likely impacting cutthroat trout and other aquatic life through gill damage, direct mortality by smothering, and the loss of important trout over-wintering habitats. This project will provide planning, design and implementation of instream trout habitat structures to allow Flat Creek to reach its fisheries and ecological potential. The Jackson Hole Chapter of Trout Unlimited, Teton Conservation District, Town of Jackson, Teton County, Wyoming Game and Fish Department and other agencies and groups will be actively working to rehabilitate Flat Creek.