Rock wall in HSSP will be repaired

On Sunday, January, 21 at 6:16 a.m., the Thermopolis Police Department discovered a traffic accident that occurred in Hot Springs State Park causing damage to the Big Springs canal. The vehicle was removed from the small canal and the 25-year-old driver from Lander was cited by Thermopolis PD and Hot Springs State Park Rangers. There may be further citations pending from HSSP Rangers.

As a result of the accident, damage was done to the original stonework of the canal's wall and to the Wyoming State Engineer's monitoring system which measures the Big Spring's water flow.

Hot Springs State Park Supervisor Chris Delay said regarding the damage, "We are looking for restitution from the driver to cover the repairs. We are going to repair it as close to original as possible after winter. We're not going to change anything. We're going to try to get each stone to where it was originally, or as close as possible."

The amount of the restitution has not yet been determined. Delay added that "Most of it's just labor work using the old stone. We're not going to change anything or update it. Just want to make it back the way it was."

There are reports that the driver may not have been able to see very well because of the dark and the steam coming off the water so they may have thought the area was a parking lot.