Shell Valley Watershed Improvement District

Shell Valley Watershed Improvement District was established in 1981. The goal of SVWID is
to provide a governing entity to Shell Valley as a whole, while lending assistance to the
individual private irrigation companies. The SVWID is under the governing authority of the
South Big Horn Conservation District. The SVWID encompasses approximately 26,200 acres
within their boundary. Of the 26,200 acres, approximately 15,159 acres of water rights are
on record at the State Engineer’s Office (SE) under many different permit numbers. The
SVWID does have governing authority to levy unequal per acre or acre‐foot assessments for
the irrigation companies within their boundary, if necessary. Otherwise stated, if certain
areas will not benefit from a project they can be exempt from the additional assessments to
fund the project. The members of the SVWID vote on all assessment increases. Land
ownership and administration within the watershed is a mixture of private lands, primarily
located along Shell Creek and major tributaries, interspersed with public lands administered
by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS). Various
agencies have studied this area extensively throughout the last 50 years.

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Shell Valley Watershed Improvement District meetings are held the third Thursday of each month at the Shell Community Hall

March - October @ 8pm

November - February @ 6:30 pm

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The Annual Meeting will be held March 20, 2025 at 7:00PM at the Shell Community Hall