Completed study addresses water measurement needs within the Great Salt Lake Basin

The Utah Division of Water Rights recently completed a year-long gap analysis with Utah State University. The goal of the study was to understand how water is moving throughout the watershed, and to determine what stream and diversion flow gaging investments need to be made to better understand and manage water in the area.

The "Measurement Infrastructure Gap Analysis in Utah’s Great Salt Lake Basin" provides a comprehensive inventory and analysis of existing diversion and stream measurement infrastructure along 19 primary river systems, as well as a preliminary investigation of measurement infrastructure gaps around Great Salt Lake proper.

Addressing the identified gaging and infrastructure gaps would give broader access to water data and facilitate greater stakeholder transparency by providing more accurate and timely information about diversions, stream flow, and other hydrologic conditions. The results of the Gap Analysis will also enable the State Engineer Teresa Wilhelmsen to make informed decisions that promote flexibility and wise stewardship of Utah’s water resources.

As part of the study, USU researchers and division staff worked with stakeholders within the watershed to compile comprehensive documentation of existing water diversions, stream gages, and other water measurement infrastructure in the Great Salt Lake Basin. The team met with water managers and diverse stakeholders throughout the basin to identify potential measurement gaps and opportunities that might improve how water in the area is measured, understood and managed.

The Great Salt Lake basin, which encompasses more than 21,000 square miles, collects rain and snow that falls in the Bear River, Weber River, Jordan River, Utah Lake and the Utah West Desert basins.

This particular Utah water basin has been a hotbed of discussion over the past several years. Recent low lake levels have emphasized the need to track water movement through the Great Salt Lake basin. According to water experts and engineers, it’s an oversimplification to say the Great Salt Lake basin needs more water. Instead, they are asking, “which locations need more water?” and “how much water is needed?”

“One major discovery was the need for more measurement infrastructure directly adjacent to the Great Salt Lake,” said Deputy State Engineer Blake W. Bingham, P.E. , who was part of the study as a representative from the Utah Division of Water Rights . “This information is critical in developing a better understanding of the requirements associated with the myriad of uses in, and immediately around, the lake.”

“We also learned that, although measurement priorities vary between agencies and stakeholders due to their different missions, there is often overlap in perceived gaps in the existing measurement infrastructure network,” added Bethany Neilson, one of the study authors and a professor in the Utah State Department of Engineer USU Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Utah Water Research Laboratory. “With that overlap, there is potential for collaborative efforts to address the gaps."?

Over the past several years, the state legislature passed several bills related to water and measurement, recognizing that Utah’s water can only be managed and protected if it is first quantified, recorded and tracked.?

The entire Measurement and Infrastructure Gap Analysis in Utah's Great Salt Lake Basin has been published and is available via HydroShare, a hydrologic science online research database.

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