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Water Source Facts: Watersheds

streamsidescience.usu.edu
The Bear River Watershed

   A watershed is an area of land where all the water -- both under it and that drains off of it -- ends up in the same place. An example is the Bear River Watershed or “Basin,” which straddles the Intermountain states of Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. In all, the mountain-enclosed basin comprises 7,500 square miles.

 

Within the watershed, the Bear River crosses state boundaries five times and is the largest stream in the western hemisphere that does not empty into an ocean. The river rises and drops in elevation from more than 13,000 feet to 4,211 feet. It’s the largest tributary to the Great Salt Lake.

 

The Bear River Basin supplies water for agriculture, irrigation, power generation and recreation, as well as municipal and industrial uses in Utah’s burgeoning Wasatch Front and beyond. A network of public, private and academic partners monitors the waters of the Bear River Watershed to protect and preserve its water quality in the face of increasing challenges from multiple sources of pollution.

Water Source Facts are part of UPR’s partnership with Utah State University’s 2015 Year of Water and the Quinney College of Natural Resources.