Studies Are Underway To Remove Portions Of Concrete Chute Along Little Goose Creek

A waterway just north of downtown Sheridan was changed many years ago to prevent one problem, and it could be partially changed back to deal with some other problems.

Currently, a 50-foot wide by 10- to 13-foot-high and 1,700 linear foot concrete chute is what allows the water in the Little Goose Creek to flow.

It was built back in the 1960’s to solve flooding problems in the area.

Lately it’s become a problem for fish migration and habitat for aquatic species among other things.

The US Army Corps of Engineers has been and is still working on a feasibility study to see what the pros and cons of removing portions of the chute would have on the area.

On Wednesday (January 11th), the Corps held a public meeting in Sheridan, to share what the studies have revealed so far.

Greg Johnson with the US Army Corps of Engineers says they’re trying to find some kind of balance between flooding and aquatic wildlife, although the balance may not be perfect.

“We kind of look at weighing what are the benefits that we can gain from both fish and wildlife. We’ll look at both in-stream fisheries and then riparian wetland, french habitat along the edges and then we’ll look at what the costs and benefits of that are, in maintaining the flood risk function and kind of see what makes sense, what can we do.”

Johnson says the feasibility study will continue for another 2-to-3 years.

He adds if any work is to be done, he anticipates the soonest it would start would be in 2028.