Severe drought forces Wyoming to cut fish stocking in Laramie region

Anglers heading for Lake Hattie, Wheatland Reservoir No. 3 and the Laramie River in town are facing a very different season: Wyoming Game and Fish says the Laramie Region is enduring some of the driest conditions seen in 30 years, and the river through Laramie could approach zero flow by late summer.

That dry signal is already changing what people will find on the water. In late April, snowpack measured just 34% of average in the North Platte Basin, 12% in the Laramie Basin and 0% in the South Platte Basin. Game and Fish says the combination of record-setting warmth and persistent high winds has stripped soil moisture, shortened runoff and left major reservoirs including Wheatland Reservoir No. 3, Grayrocks Reservoir, Hawk Springs Reservoir and Lake Hattie unlikely to fill this year.

For boaters, that means less access and more uncertainty. The agency says low water levels are limiting boating at many fisheries across southeast Wyoming, and some boat ramps and docks may be only partly usable. Shallow systems such as Twin Buttes and Meeboer Lake have already dropped several feet, which reduces fish habitat and leaves trout more exposed to temperature stress, disease and harmful cyanobacteria blooms.

Bobby Compton, the regional fisheries supervisor in the Laramie Region, said the department has already changed stocking plans to match the drought. Fisheries biologists eliminated stocking at Shirley Basin and Elk Mountain Reservoirs, where survival is unlikely, and reduced stocking at Lake Hattie and Wheatland Reservoir No. 3, where habitat is limited. Game and Fish says trout river fisheries can rebound quickly if above-average snowpack and high flows return, but reservoirs usually need multiple wet years to refill.

The department is also urging anglers to change tactics now. It says fish trout before noon, avoid catch-and-release once water temperatures rise above 70 degrees, and consider harvesting legal fish from waters that may go dry or become unfishable. That includes brook trout from Pole Mountain beaver ponds, along with fish at Wheatland Reservoir 3 and Lake Hattie.

Some work is still moving ahead. A new boat ramp on the south side of Wheatland Reservoir 3 was nearing completion in April, with restoration seeding, parking lot grading and gravelling, signage, a new dock and comfort stations expected before a mid-to-late summer opening. Dock repairs are finished at Diamond Lake, and Grayrocks has completed dock work, though falling water could still limit usability.

The drought is also shaping the broader summer outlook beyond fishing. Game and Fish imposed an open-fire ban on its lands in Albany, Goshen, Laramie and Platte counties because of extreme drought and fire danger, echoing the same conditions that led to a fire ban on Albany County Game and Fish lands in July 2022. In its 2024 angler survey, nearly 40,000 anglers were contacted and 4,342 responded, showing strong support for trout fishing but also for warmwater species and more trophy waters, a reminder that regional water losses now reach well beyond one season of boating or one weekend at the river.