Deaver Irrigation District History
Col. William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody made the area now occupied by the Shoshone Project famous in the early days of the West. The Shoshone Project consists of four irrigation district: Garland Irrigation District, Heart Mountain Irrigation District, Willwood Irrigation District and Deaver Irrigation District. Buffalo Bill and his companions were the first to perceive the possibilities of turning the sagebrush flats of Wyoming’s Bighorn Basin into a land of agricultural abundance through irrigation. In 1899 they acquired from the State of Wyoming a right to appropriate waters from the Shoshone River for the irrigation of about 60,000 acres of public domain near Cody. As an initial step, they constructed a canal on the south side of the Shoshone River.
In 1903, the Wyoming State board of Land commissioners, with Cody’s approval, urged the Reclamation Service to complete the proposed irrigation development. The Reclamation Service engineers investigated the proposed project and, to obtain the maximum benefit from the flow of the river, recommended construction of a dam on the Shoshone River at the upstream end of the sheer-walled canyon 7 miles west of Cody, Wyoming. The project was authorized by the Secretary of the Interior on February 10, 1904, under authority of the Reclamation Act of June 17, 1902.
Construction began in early 1904. In addition to the Buffalo Bill Dam, several smaller diversion and storage dams were constructed. Ralston Dam and Corbett Dam were completed in 1908, making the first water available for irrigation. Buffalo Bill Dam began storing water in 1910. Deaver Dam was completed in 1918 and the Willwood Dam in 1924. The Shoshone Power plant began operation in 1922.
The first lands open to settlement in the project were in the Garland Division in the vicinity of Powell, Wyoming. Development of the Garland Division was virtually complete in 1918. Between 1917 and 1920, the Frannie Division, comprising lands principally between the towns of Frannie and Cowley, Wyoming, was opened. The Willwood Division, lying south of the Shoshone River between Willwood Dam and Penrose, Wyoming, was settled under successive openings between 1927 and 1938.
Construction of the Heart Mountain Division began in 1936 and was completed in 1948. Over 1700 acres of the division were cultivated during World War II by Japanese evacuees confined at the Heart Mountain Relocation Center. Settlement began with the opening of 83 farm units on October 3, 1946. Preference was given to veterans of World War II. Two openings in 1949 completed the development of the Heart Mountain Division.
The Bureau of Reclamation operated the facilities for each division until irrigation was established. Irrigation districts were then formed to assume the responsibilities of operation and maintenance of the irrigation system facilities and entered repayment agreements for initial construction costs.
The Shoshone Irrigation District entered their repayment contract and assumed operation and maintenance responsibilities for the Garland Division in 1926. The Garland Division and the neighboring Frannie Division share two main canals. The operation and maintenance costs for the Garland and Frannie Canals are shred by the two irrigation districts. The Shoshone Irrigation District and the Heart Mountain Irrigation District entered a joint operation and maintenance agreement in January, 1960 with headquarters in Powell, Wyoming.
The Frannie Division has been operated by the Deaver Irrigation district since 1930. The cost of operating and maintaining the Garland and Frannie Canals is shared with the Shoshone Irrigation District. The Deaver Irrigation District has headquarters in Deaver, Wyoming.
The Willwood Division has been operated by the Willwood Irrigation District since 1950. Offices for the Division are located 4 miles south of Powell, Wyoming on State Highway 295.
The Heart Mountain Division has been operated by the Heart Mountain Irrigation District since 1958. The Heart Mountain and Shoshone Irrigation Districts entered a joint operation and maintenance agreement in January 1960, with headquarters in Powell, Wyoming.
In 1982 congress authorized modifications to Buffalo Bill Dam to increase storage capacity and power generation. The additional water will be marketed by the State of Wyoming. The modifications are scheduled for completion in 1991.
