Bear River Basin Advisory Group
Meeting Record
Uinta County Complex, Evanston
November 6, 2000
Introduction: The meeting opened on Monday, November 6, 2000 at 6:10 p.m. at the
Uinta County Complex in Evanston. Joe Lord reviewed the agenda with the audience. The
Basin Advisory Group (BAG) members were then introduced.
Planning Team Issues: Jon Wade announced that this would be the last regular
planning process meeting for the Bear River Basin Advisory Group (BAG). The final written
report will be submitted in December. The Water Resources Data System (WRDS) will have
data on website in January 2001. Future "Interim" Bear River Basin Advisory Group meetings
(IBAG) will be held every four months during 2001. The first one will be held on March 19,
2001 in Cokeville from 6-9 p.m.
Final Bear River Basin Plan Presentation: Clarence S. Kemp, Forsgren Associates,
Inc., presented study conclusions as follows:
Mr. Kemp reported the planning principles were based on: 1) grassroots participation; 2)
Wyoming water and compact agreements; 3) Wyoming having the right to manage its resources
for the benefit of its citizens.
Grassroots participation approaches included:
- State water plan questionnaire
- Bear River Basin Advisory Group (BAG)
- Public meetings
- Internet availability
Mr. Kemp explained that the Wyoming philosophy and approach for the plan is for it to be used
as a tool by everyone. The planning process included the incorporation of water related data into
a useful format (i.e. ArcView GIS).
The
Bear River Basin Plan presentation focused on:
- Agricultural Use and Issues
- Municipal Use and Issues
- Industrial Use and Issues
- Environmental Use and Issues
- Recreational Use and Issues
Summary data and conclusions were presented for each of these water use sectors.
Consumptive Use Summary of the basin is as follows:
- Agricultural 96%
- Municipal 3.3%
- Industrial .7%
Mr. Kemp then presented information about the surface water spreadsheet modeling procedures
and results. He explained the spreadsheet modeling studied "real life conditions". The modeling
process included: 1) period selection, i.e. wet, dry, and normal years; 2) model development; 3)
model calibration; and 4) determination of available surface water.
Mr. Kemp next discussed current economic data and projections within the basin. This data was
tied to water demand factors and projected increases in water demands for "high" and "low"
economic growth conditions by sector.
Primary economic sectors included:
- Agriculture
- Energy
- Tourism
- Manufacturing & Commercial
Modeling data indicates projected water shortages for both the Upper and Central Divisions
during late summer months.
Mr. Kemp also reviewed previously studied "potential storage sites", and reported that the
consensus of this group was to have the tools available when the storage was economically
feasible and necessary.
Heather Justus and Erin Wilson, Leonard Rice Consultants, then gave a "hands-on"
demonstration of the Bear River coverages developed as part of the plan. They demonstrated this
information using Arcview to display, store, and manage data tied to a geographic location.
Geographic Information System (GIS) Data themes are linked based on common data and also to
outside data resources. Ms. Justus showed possible examples of how the GIS system might be
used as a valuable tool to make future water use project decisions. The software program and
data will be available at public libraries. Ms. Justus demonstrated the process of navigation,
options, and selections used to pull data from GIS. A brief discussion followed the
demonstration.
Meeting adjourned 8:45 p.m.
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