Wyoming State Water Plan, Wyoming Water Development Office
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Bear River Basin Update


2011 Plan


Materials from the 2011 Bear River Basin Plan Update can be found below by clicking on the desired chapter or section. The Plan may be viewed in either HTML or in PDF. It is recommended that users download the latest version of Adobe Acrobat (R) Reader to view the PDF files.

Bear River Basin Mountains and River

PDF (7,204kb) Access the 2011 Bear River Basin Update Final Report here

PDF (544kb) Access the Bear River Basin Report Table of Contents here

PDF (376kb) This update will not totally replace the 2001 plan or the supporting technical memoranda, but will provide updated information and make recommendations for the collection of additional information and data to appropriately keep the plan current.

PDF (115kb) View a description of the Presentation Tools developed during the 2011 Bear River Basin Plan Update

PDF (1,648kb) A description of the Bear River Basin Setting

PDF (1,070kb) Presents the Basin's total supply of surface water and groundwater and the quality of these resources.

PDF (3,559kb) Quantifies Basin water use in consumptive and nonconsumptive sectors including agriculture, industrial, municipal, rural domestic, environmental and recreation.

PDF (518kb) Provides estimates of future water uses for the Basin for all use sectors. The estimates are prepared for two different projected growth scenarios.

PDF (301kb) Presents estimates of the amount of water remaining for development considering the growth scenarios presented in Chapter 6.

PDF (308kb) Discusses Basin issues identified by the Basin Advisory Group (BAG) and strategies developed with the BAG. In addition, water use opportunities, which would help meet water demands within the Basin, are discussed.

PDF (118kb) Summarizes proposed program strategies that will guide further river basin planning in the Wyoming portion of the Bear River Basin. Recommendations for further work and data collection within the Basin are also presented.

PDF (436kb) Updated Framework Datat Tables and Wyoming Surface Water Classifications from the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality




PDFTabTechnical Memoranda
66 kb     Introduction to Volume 2
275 kb I   Surface Water Data Collection & Study Period Selection
21,483 kb II   Diversion Summary
112 kb III   Crop Consumptive Use
1,525 kb IV   Storage Summary
7,190 kb V   Groundwater Resources Investigation
338 kb VI   Spreadsheet Model Development
56 kb VII   Use of Bear River Spreadsheet Model
59 kb VIII   Surface Water Calibration
102 kb IX   Available Surface Water Determination
308 kb X   Climate
64 kb XI   Reservoir Evaporation




Three spreadsheet models were constructed for the 2001 Bear River Basin Plan to determine water availability based on dry, wet and average conditions within the basin.

For the 2011 Bear River Basin Plan Update the structure of the hydrologic spreadsheet models has not been altered from the previous plan. The only changes to the model were updates to the USGS gage and diversion data. The gage data were updated as described in the Surface Water Data Collection and Study Period Selection technical memorandum. The gage and diversion data were updated through 2008 and added to the model constituting a new study period of 1971 through 2008.

Please visit the related Technical Memorandum page for instructions on using the model.

Download the 2010 Model



Access GIS data for the Bear River Basin