The
Shoshone Project is an irrigation project in the
U.S. state of
Wyoming. The project provides irrigation for approximately of crops in the
Big Horn Basin, fulfilling the vision of local resident and developer
Buffalo Bill Cody, who hoped to make the semi-arid basin into agricultural land.
Buffalo Bill Dam on the
Shoshone River impounds water for the project in Buffalo Bill Reservoir. In addition to its role in irrigation, the project provides flood control on the Shoshone and generates power, using the height of Buffalo Bill Dam, once a world record, and the considerable fall of the river through Shoshone Canyon to generate
hydroelectric power. Chief crops in the Big Horn Basin are
sugar beets,
alfalfa,
barley,
oats, corn and beans.