Original Posting: April 9,
2002
DESCRIPTION:
Comprising the eastern quarter of Box Elder
County from T7N to T15N, this area covers the Bear River from Cutler Dam to
the Great Salt Lake and the Malad River from the Idaho state line to its confluence
with the Bear River. It is bordered
on the north by Idaho, on the east by Clarkston Mountain and the Wellsville
Mountains, on the south by the Great Salt Lake, and on the west by the West
Hills. The highest point in the area
is 8,244 foot Gunsight Peak, while the lowest is the surface of the Great
Salt Lake at about 4,200 feet, giving a total relief of about 4,050 feet. Click here
to see a map of the area.
MANAGEMENT:
The area is part of the ongoing Bear River Adjudication.
The first Proposed Determination of Water Rights book was published
in 1990 for the Brigham City vicinity. A
second book covering the Portage Creek watershed was published in 1991.
No decrees have yet been issued. Several
earlier decrees exist for a number of smaller streams. There are two state-administered distribution
systems in this area: the
Box Elder Creek/Big Creek Distribution System, which is currently
inactive, and the Lower
Bear River Distribution System. Because
this area is part of the Bear River basin, the conditions of the 1955
Bear River Compact apply. There
are approximately 4,000 water rights on file with the State Engineer in this
area.
SOURCES: SURFACE &
GROUND WATER - The area is open to appropriation of both surface and ground
water, except in certain areas described hereafter. No filings are approved in canyon areas above fully appropriated
springs and streams. Mantua Valley is
closed to new appropriations. The
Bothwell Pocket area has experienced ground-water problems and new
appropriations are limited to the domestic use of one family, the irrigation of
1/4 acre, and a nominal amount of livestock watering. Applications in the Thatcher area, the valley east of Willard
Bay, and the valley area along the East Branch Canal from Collinston to Brigham
City area are individually reviewed.
Filings above the amount needed for a single family residence (or
comparable acre-footage) may be denied.
Small filings may be denied if they are above spring areas, especially
around Garland and Tremonton. Changes
from surface to underground sources, and vice versa, are also considered on
their individual merits, with emphasis on their potential to interfere with
existing rights and to ensure that there is no enlargement of the underlying
rights. Fixed-time and temporary
projects, especially those involving surface waters, are evaluated in a similar
fashion.
GENERAL: Applications are
advertised in the Brigham City's Box Elder News-Journal or The Leader in Tremonton. Filings that may involve the diversion of water
in Utah for use in Idaho (export) would be subject to the special criteria
the statutes require for such projects. The general irrigation diversion duty for this area, which the State
Engineer uses for evaluation purposes, is 4.0 acre-feet per acre per year.
The consumptive use requirement is determined from the publication
Consumptive
Use of Irrigated Crops in Utah, Research Report 145, Utah State University,
1994, unless the applicant submits other data for consideration. This area is administered by the Northern
Regional Office in Logan.
REFERENCES: Technical Publication
No. 44, Ground-water Resources of the Lower Bear River Drainage Basin,
Box Elder County, Utah; Utah Department of Natural Resources; 1974.
Technical Publication No. 67, Seepage Study of the West Side and West Canals, Box Elder County,
Utah; Utah Department of Natural Resources; 1980.
Basic Data Report No. 1,
Records and Water-Level Measurements of Selected Wells and Chemical Analysis of
Ground-water, East Shore Area, Davis, Weber, and Box Elder Counties, Utah; Utah
State Engineer; 1961.
Basic Data Report No. 18, Quality of Surface Water in the Bear River Basin, Utah, Wyoming, and
Idaho; Utah Department of Natural Resources; 1970.
Basic Data Report No. 23, Selected Hydrologic Data, Lower Bear River Drainage Basin, Box Elder
County, Utah; Utah Department of Natural Resources; 1973.
Basic Data Report No. 45, Selected Hydrologic Data from Wells in the East Shore Area of the
Great Salt Lake, Utah; Utah Department of Natural Resources; 1986.
MODELING: Regional Ground-Water
Flow, Carbonate Rock Province, Nevada, Utah, and Adjacent States; USGS
Open-File Reports 93-170 and 93-420; 1993.