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Stream Depletion - Uinta River near Roosevelt, UT

Project Chief: Patrick Lambert, USGS Salt Lake City, Utah
Cooperator: Roosevelt City, Ute Indian Tribe
Period of Project: August 2008 to June 2011

PROBLEM

Downstream from the bromide salt injection, the
change in millivolts is recorded as the bromide
passes.

As part of ground-water management and planning tasks in Roosevelt Valley, the UDNR and local water users wish to understand the potential effects of ground-water withdrawals on streamflow at the proposed well field (Sprouse) near the Uinta River. Toward this goal, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), at the request the UDNR, Division of Water Rights and in cooperation with UDNR, the City of Roosevelt and the Ute Indian Tribe propose to engage an assessment of the potential effects of ground-water withdrawal on ground-water flow near the Uinta River northeast of Roosevelt, Utah.

OBJECTIVES

The proposed study will assess the effect of ground-water withdrawals near the Uinta River northeast of Roosevelt, Utah on the interconnection between the river and the local aquifer. The objective of the proposed work is to assess surface-water ground water interaction in the Uinta River and to quantifiably estimate a probable range of effects ground-water withdrawals might have on the river/aquifer system.

APPROACH

In this study, observations of water-level conditions, ground-water withdrawals, gains and losses of streamflow in the study reach, and the transfer of heat across the streambed will be used to describe aquifer/stream relations. The quantification of the interaction of ground and surface water is difficult in most settings and preliminary assessments of the study area indicate that the direct measurement of the effect of local ground-water withdrawals on streamflow in the study reach is not feasible. Thus, the study proposes to (1) qualify aquifer/stream relations from field observations and (2) incorporate those observations in a modeling tool that can be used to estimate a probable range of effects (depletion) caused by additional ground-water withdrawals in the vicinity of the river.

Logging bromide response for a downstream reach.