Public comment period open for Bear River Basin water usage

Sheila McGuire, Herald Reporter
Posted 12/19/17

Officials talk about Bear River usage

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Public comment period open for Bear River Basin water usage

Posted

EVANSTON — The Wyoming Water Development Office hosted a Wyoming water update on Tuesday, Dec. 5, at the Uinta County Library in Evanston, to share the results of an environmental and recreational use water analysis focused on the Bear River Basin. 

The study was requested by the Wyoming Water Development Commission in 2010, after it was recognized that any future planning on water usage in the Bear River Basin required an understanding of current water usage, particularly from an environment and recreation standpoint. The study and report were conducted and prepared by Western EcoSystems Technology, Inc., out of Cheyenne. 

The study focused on the Wyoming portion of the Bear River Basin, which is also located in Utah and Idaho. The Wyoming portion is split into the Upper Bear River Basin, near Evanston, and the Central Bear River Basin, near Cokeville. The published report and accompanying maps detail land ownership patterns in the basin, which is primarily federal and private. 

The report and maps break down water usage as either environmental or recreational. Environmental uses include habitat areas, crucial stream corridors, non-game wildlife areas, the Cokeville Meadows National Wildlife Refuge and over 50,000 acres included in the National Wetlands Inventory. Environmental uses are further classified as being either state or federal uses.

Recreational uses include fishing and hunting, boating and rafting, camping and hiking, general sightseeing and other uses. The report states that recreational uses tend to be concentrated on forest service land, federal refuges and state parks, including the Bear River State Park. 

The multiple usage types were further classified as either protected, complementary or competing after assessing factors like land use and ownership and existing permits. 

For example, Cokeville Meadows National Wildlife Refuge is considered protected because it is owned by the federal government and uses are specifically designated. Factors such as diversions and water storage in the form of reservoirs were also considered when making determinations about classification. All uses were categorized as either protected or complementary in the report; no uses were categorized as competing. 

Luke Martinson, senior manager biologist with Western EcoSystems Technology, said there is a pretty consistent pattern throughout the basin, with high environmental and recreational uses being associated with higher levels of protection, and vice versa. He pointed out, however, that protection is not black and white, but is rather a continuum from less to more protection, with scores being assigned ranging from 0-15. The highest levels of protection tend to be concentrated in the central and Smith’s Fork area of the basin. 

The environmental and recreational uses are similarly scored on a scale of 0-15. 

Martinson said the report and accompanying maps are available online, along with a method to leave public comments. “We’d like to see comments on the scores assigned,” he said. “We’d like feedback to get agency and public opinion on the scores.” 

The WWDC requests public comments be submitted by Jan. 12. The report can be accessed, and comments submitted, online at http://wwdc.state.wy.us/public_comment/public_comment.html.