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Utah PROJECTS

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USGS IN YOUR STATE

USGS Water Science Centers are located in each state.

Water Resources of Utah

Welcome to the USGS Web page for the Utah Water Science Center (WSC). Here you'll find information on Utah's rivers and streams, ground water, water quality, and many other topics. The USGS operates the most extensive satellite network of stream-gaging stations in the state, many of which form the backbone of flood-warning systems.

The USGS provides current ("real-time") stream stage and streamflow, water-quality, and ground-water level data for over 130 sites in Utah.

Active Groundwater Level Network

The Active Groundwater Level Network contains water levels and well information from wells that have been measured by the USGS or USGS cooperators at least once within the past 365 days. Use the map interface to select ground-water monitoring sites, view available site ground-water level data, and access summary statistics for site water-level data period of record.

USGS Utah Water Science Center Highlights

Great Basin Study – Groundwater resources in the Great Basin Carbonate and Alluvial Aquifer System (GBCAAS)

 

This study assesses groundwater resources in the complex Great Basin carbonate and alluvial aquifer system (GBCAAS), which includes about 110,000 square miles, predominantly in eastern Nevada and western Utah. The GBCAAS study area is experiencing rapid population growth and has some of the highest per capita water use in the nation, which has led to an increased dependence upon groundwater resources. Severe groundwater depletion has occurred in several basins within the study area. Refining the conceptual model of the GBCAAS is important in assessing groundwater availability. Refinements presented in this report include interpretation and synthesis of water budgets for all 165 basins in the study area, how those groundwater budgets have changed over time, construction of a detailed three-dimensional hydrogeologic framework delineated on the basis of geology and hydraulic properties, development of a potentiometric-surface map, and an evaluation of interbasin hydraulic connectivity and regional groundwater flow directions. The conceptual model report can be found at http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2010/5193/.  A numerical model for the study area is currently under development.

Featured Studies

Modeling selenium inputs into Great Salt Lake

Great Salt Lake dye plume
Photo Credit: John Luft, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources Great Salt Lake Ecosystem Project

The south shore area of Great Salt Lake (GSL) has been under increasing scrutiny by concerned citizens and State and Federal regulators, because of current and future selenium inputs to this part of the lake ecosystem. Recent investigations indicate that this part of GSL consistently receives discharge with elevated concentrations of selenium from natural and anthropogenic inflows. Water with elevated concentrations of selenium has been observed at surface seeps along the south shore of GSL and immediately offshore. In addition to the present inputs, a request to allow additional selenium discharge into the lake along the south shore area is in the final permitting phase. This project will examine how selenium concentrations may or may not persist in the south nearshore mixing zone as a function of varying lake conditions and on how the concurrent input of maximum daily selenium concentrations from new anthropogenic sources could influence the selenium concentration in the open-water areas of GSL within the south shore mixing zone.
This study is part of the USGS Utah Water Science Center’s Cooperative Water Program and is conducted in cooperation with the Utah Department of Forestry, Fire, and State Lands.

Find out more