The first and foremost challenge was to help the Town of Kaycee, a town of 239 people, recover from a destructive flood that occurred in August 2002 and prevent further damage and threat to life.

The second challenge was to assist with a plan to prevent future flood damage for the Town of Kaycee.

• Powder River Conservation District
• Town of Kaycee-Wyoming
• Natural Resources Conservation Service

Other key participants included:

• Johnson County
• Army Corp of Engineers, Omaha District
• Wyoming Office of Homeland Security 

In August 2002, more than seven inches of rain caused the river banks to overflow, devastating the town of Kaycee.  The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), along with the EWP program, was on the scene within 24 hours.  Volunteers donated over 17,000 hours to assist with the recovery efforts.

The NRCS helped the townspeople:

• remove 6,612 lineal feet of debris
• stabilize 863 feet of streambank
• protect one bridge, 15 business, 6 utilities, 5 public buildings, and 48 private homes

The NRCS flood recovery effort in the Town of Kaycee cost approximately $800,000.

Following the recovery work, the Town and the Powder River Conservation District requested the NRCS develop a flood prevention plan. The Town of Kaycee also requested assistance from the Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District, through their 205 program.  The elected officials in the State of Wyoming and the entire Congressional Delegation have been actively involved  and very interested in having the agencies work together to develop ways to reduce  the damages from future floods.

The Army Corps of Engineers and NRCS worked together to produce a joint Preliminary Investigation Report. The report was presented to the town in December 2004.  The report outlines several alternatives for preventing flood damages, ranging from flood proofing to dikes to a storage structure (dam).

The Army Corps of Engineers is in the final stages of producing Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) floodplain maps for the Town of Kaycee.

In August 2004, NRCS signed an agreement, at the Annual Flood Fest, to begin the formal watershed planning process and produce an Environmental Assessment (EA). The draft watershed plan/EA for flood protection will be completed in late 2005.