Bear River Watershed Description
 The
Bear River Basin, which is
located in northeastern Utah, southeastern Idaho, and southwestern Wyoming,
comprises 7,500 square miles of mountain and valley lands including 2,700 in
Idaho, 3,300 in Utah, and 1,500 in Wyoming. The Bear River crosses state
boundaries five times and is the largest stream in the western hemisphere that
does not empty into the ocean. It ranges in elevation from over 13,000 to 4,211
feet and is unique in that it is entirely enclosed by mountains, thus forming a
huge basin with no external drainage outlets. The Bear River is the largest
tributary to the Great Salt Lake.
Agricultural lands throughout the basin, both developed and undeveloped, as well as
urban areas are located in valleys along the main stem of the river and its tributaries. In addition
to these private lands, the Bear River watershed includes vast amounts of federal (both Bureau of Land
Management and Forest Service) and state lands that serve a range of natural and agricultural functions,
each of which generates unique impacts and demands on water resources.
Water Quantity
Major water uses in the Bear River Basin include agriculture,
irrigation, power generation, recreation, and municipal and industrial uses.
The Bear River Commission was formed by compact in 1958 to allocate water use
throughout the basin. The Bear River's average annual inflow to the Great Salt
Lake is nearly 1.2 million acre feet, and with this plentiful water supply, the
Bear River Basin is one of the few areas remaining in the state of Utah with a
significant amount of developable water. It is anticipated that Bear River
water will eventually be developed to satisfy the growing needs of areas within
and outside the basin. Urban growth along the Wasatch front, primarily in Salt
Lake, Davis, and Weber counties, has planners projecting a need to import Bear
River water in the next 20 to 30 years.
Water Quality
 Currently,
52 streams and 9 lakes in the basin are listed on 303(d) lists of impaired
waters in three states: Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming. Water quality problems
include sediment, nutrients, fecal coliform bacteria, low dissolved oxygen, and
high water temperature. Pollutant sources include animal feeding operations,
grazing, agriculture, wastewater treatment, degraded stream banks, urban
development, roads, phosphate mining, oil and gas exploration, and logging
(BLRC and ERI, 1991; ERI, 1995; ERI, 1998). Eleven
TMDLs have been completed, with an additional 42 presently in
development. Funds from EPA 319, USDA EQIP and other programs, as well as
considerable landowner match, have been used to implement past and ongoing
water quality projects throughout the watershed.
Water quality management in the Bear River Basin is complicated by
the transboundary nature of the river, which meanders through three states and
two EPA Regions with multiple jurisdictions and planning authorities. This has
resulted in fragmentation in water quality improvement efforts. The ad hoc Bear
River Water Quality Task Force (BRWQTF) was formed in 1993 to facilitate
management of this multi-state watershed. The Bear River Commission created a
water quality committee (WQC), which provides a more formal arrangement between
the water quality heads of the three states. The BRWQTF now serves as
unofficial staff to this committee, which has enhanced interstate communication
and cooperation concerning water quality issues throughout the basin. The
BRWQTF and WQC have identified the following needs for more fully integrated
watershed management: innovative and cost-effective water quality solutions, a
common source of merged datasets and planning tools, and a means to identify
impacts and predict responses of program implementation on a basin-wide basis.
Subwatersheds
To learn more about the major subwatersheds within the Bear River
Watershed or about the watershed collectively, click in the list below or on
the map above.
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