WebText- GEOGRAPHY OF UTAH

Chapter 7 –Utah Geography and Utah’s Hydrosphere DRAFT webtext by G. Atwood, 2012Use with professional courtesy and attribution including attribution of original sources where indicated.LINK to printable version (Arial 12)…

Subtitle:Utah, where water is for fighting over

BIG CONCEPTS: This chapter explores Utah’s hydrosphere, its interactions with Utah ’s physical geography and Utah’s human geography.

1. The hydrosphere is a subsystem of Earth systems, the subsystem of water… the “water - Earth.”2. Surface water runs downhill. Skills of a geographer include reading “downhill” from contours. 3. Watersheds are areas on Earth’s surface that collect water that flows to a given place… the area

that “sheds water” toward a specific place. Divides separate watersheds.4. Rivers are fed by watersheds. Regions based on watersheds are called drainage basins. 5. Understand the water cycle (a.k.a. hydrologic cycle) and be empowered. 6. The water cycle and Utah geography. 7. Case: hydrology of Salt Lake Valley. 8. County-scale hydrology… what you should know or be able to figure out 9. Utah is a water-scarce state with highly uneven distribution of the resource. Of course it is

managed. 10. Wet water versus paper water… water resources versus water rights. 11. Urban water supplies may come from afar… dams, diversions, politics, and water. Case history…

where the UofU drinking water comes from…

EVIDENCE. Examine these images in the context of water…Water Resources: IHC-1996-UT-facilities Regions: RegionsHydroVsGeo Scenery: BYU-Hamblin-p286-WeberDeltaGSLScenery: BYU-Hamblin-p228-TuleValley Scenery: BYU-Hamblin-p211-NaturalistBasin-HighUintas Scenery: BYU-Hamblin-p121-Goosenecks Scenery, resources: BYU-Hamblin-p166-LakePowell Resources: Utah Power Board River Flows GovtInstitutions, management regions: Map of b Basins of Utah's water plan :

Quotation:Governor Matheson: during the floods of Spring 1983: “This is one hell-of-a-way to run a desert” – LINK, photo permission of Norma Matheson. LINK to The 15 Words of GEOG3600 and version that can be printed.

CASES:

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Wasatch front hydrology: Arnow DNR-USGS - DNR Tech Pub 31

Topics… Questions to Ponder – Why is Utah's water where it is?Where does it flow, and why?Why is the State Engineer, the person who allocates water in Utah, a constitutional position, only able to be replaced every 4 years?

Overarching Goal of the Chapter:Skepticism… know that everything you read and hear about water and Utah has nuances of meanings. Embrace the mystery, the intrigue, the intentions. Be skeptical. There are no easy answers with respect to water (okay to be skeptical even of that statement).

MAJOR CONCEPT: Utah is “the second driest state in the nation.” However, some areas of Utah have winter snowpack of 10s of feet. Thus a major, if not the major, concept about Utah’s hydrosphere, is that Utah’s water is unevenly distributed… and that settlers and now modern communities cannot have enough of this precious resource. We could not have life as we know it without water, and Utahns would not have the lifestyle we have without water diversions, water law, and water politics.

Expansion on the “major concept”… Just as Utah has portions of regions drawn on the basis of the geosphere, Utah has regions portions of regions that have been defined by characteristics of the hydrosphere, specifically, drainage basins are the basis for drawing regions of Utah based on the hydrosphere. The eastern part of the state lies in the Colorado River drainage basin. The western part of the state drains to the Great Basin. A small portion of northwestern Utah lies in the Columbia River drainage basin. Expect spatial variance in water quantity, seasonality, water rights.

The geosphere and hydrosphere are intimately connected… as a sweeping generality…Basin and Range (rivers run to it)Rocky Mountain (rivers run from it)Colorado Plateau (rivers run through it)

Specifics: by the end of this chapter… you should:Understand what the HYDROSPHERE includes, and that it is one of the five subsystems of Earth systems (physical geography). Understand why Utah's regions based on the hydrosphere have boundaries that differ from physigraphic provinces.Be able to adapt concepts of the water cycle to Utah. Be able to name and approximately locate about 20 features of Utah’s hydrosphere and… gold star… be able to explain why these features are where they are. Utah's major river systems (Malad, Bear, Weber, Jordan, Provo, Sevier, Duchesne, Green, Colorado, San Juan, Virgin and Santa Clara Rivers). Be able to draw these, approximately. Given images of Utah, describe hydrologic features and processes. Water management: know where to find information about the management of Utah’s watersheds. Water politics - that “liquor is for drinking and water is for fighting” How and why surface waters are diverted... water rightBe able to give a very general description of where water that is in the sinks and water fountains of Marriott Library, UofU might come from… on a hot summer day.

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Coaching for students of UofU GEOG3600-Geography of Utah: Don’t forget the Five Themes of Geography:Location, Place, Interaction, Migration/Movement, and Region. All apply to Utah ’s hydrosphere.Think like a geographer means you have a matrix-checklist in your head of The 15 Words… and you make the connections.

Terms to understand with respect to the HYDROSPHEREThese terms may be on the mid-term (use your own words) or on quizzes

Wet water versus paper waterWater rightWater supplyWatershedDrainage basinWater cycleSurface waterGround waterColorado River drainage basinGreat BasinSnake River drainage basinBonneville BasinGreat Salt Lake

This chapter will apply broad concepts to Utah: Water cycle (a.k.a. hydrologic cycle) and its sub-processes; surface water (overland flow, sheet wash, channelized flow, ephemeral drainages, intermittent drainages/streams, perennial streams, rivers, lakes, seas, and oceans); ground water, water table, saturated zone, unsaturated zone, aquifer; contour, continuous space, discrete data, topography, normalized; watersheds, basins, ridgelines, drainage areas; and Utah’s two major drainage basins: the Colorado River Basin and the Great Basin (the third hydrologic region is small, a tiny portion of the Snake River drainage.

THEORY / CONCEPTS towards an understanding of the HYDROSPHERE and geography of UTAH 1. The hydrosphere is a subsystem of Earth systems, the subsystem of water… the “water -

Earth.” Need Venn diagram of Earth systems – subsystems

The HYDROSPHERE is the water Earth.Utah’s HYDROSPHERE is intimately associated with Utah’s GEOSPHERE, specifically, terrain influences quantity and nature of precipitation; timing and quantity of runoff; and direction of flow. The HYDROSPHERE has causal connections to the GEOSPHERE: surface water processes are the single greatest agent of erosion / deposition, the major sculpting agent of Utah’s terrain. The ATMOSPHERE is the gaseous Earth that brings us weather and climate ties to the HYDROSPHERE via the water cycle,The BIOSPHERE is the living Earth depend on water and create feedback loops within the water cycle, andThe ANTHROSPHERE is the human footprint on Earth, dependent on water and ever tinkering with its distribution and qualities.

Reminder: systems have subsystems that interact and have feedback loops. Embrace the complexity of Earth systems. “It’s a loopy world” (Montague, UofU).

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2. Surface water runs downhill. Skills of a geographer include reading “downhill” from contours.

USGS... how to read topo maps http://erg.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/booklets/symbols/Topographic map UofU and East... USGS 1:250,000 scale base LINK Thought questions: We’ve talked about location. We’ve talked about place. What is space?

Huge geography concept: What properties of places on Earth are continuous… meaning every location on Earth has that property (such as temperature)? What properties is “discrete” meaning, not continuous? Note: if such questions of space fascinate you… consider taking the GIS series of UofU geography.

Every place has an elevation (continuous data, continuous space). Every place has a temperature. Not every place has a student, or a lake, or a rock (discrete data, object space). Does every place have bedrock at depth?

Big concept: continuous data of all types can be contoured.

A contour LINE is a hypothetical line with the same value all along it. Higher values are on one side of the line and lower values on the other.

A contour INTERVAL is the difference in value between two contour lines.

LINK square; LINK square with values; LINK 2 contours; LINK self quiz ; LINK to labeled contours on "quiz"; LINK to labeled elevations on "quiz"

Here are a few LINKS that you may find interesting about contours… how to draw and how to interpret them: LINK: http://geology.isu.edu/geostac/Field_Exercise/topomaps/topo_interp.htm USGS map series http://mac.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/booklets/usgsmaps/usgsmaps.html How to read USGS topographic maps http://erg.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/booklets/symbols/

Drawing contours for data and reading contours are skills of a geographer, skills that can help you appreciate the geography of Utah, especially its HYDROSPHERE. OPTIONAL – how to draw a contour map… you’ll need a set of colored pencils… and a map such as LINK to today’s temperatures across the Nation. LINK to instructions… if you take the time to do this exercise… you’ll be empowered!CONTOUR coaching overview LINK; CONTOUR COACHING exercise to construct a contour map of temperature UofU... contours

3. Watersheds are areas on Earth’s surface that collect water that flows to a given place… the area that “sheds water” toward a specific place. Divides separate watersheds.

Review Emigration Canyon scene Google Earth, north up; Google Earth south up; Topo map note Little Mountain summit; Detail - shows drainage divide

Think like a raindrop.Water flows down hill, down gradient. Where does it go?

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What is “sea level” when we talk about elevation above sea level?Topography is the lay of the land with respect to sea level. For the UofU… where does surface water flow (surface water, not thinking ground water yet… not even thinking storm drains). LINK

Topographic maps show topography using contours. My favorite site for contour maps are: USGS National Map – make map siteGoogle Earth app

Topographic maps show which way surface water flows, the paths it takes, and the steepness of terrain along the way. The region that “sheds water” meaning, the region whose area captures surface water that then flows past a point, is called a watershed. Thought questions: Why do historians talk about “watershed events”? Divides separate (divide) watersheds. Why is a ridgeline called a “divide”… what is it dividing?

Big concept: regions drawn on the basis of the hydrosphere are drawn based on drainages:

DIVIDE, watershed divide, drainage divide, continental divide – (sometimes it is an obvious ridgeline. Some places it can be subtle).WATERSHED or catchment DRAINAGE – a loose term - think of it as the stream that flows from an area ... or the surface area that contributes water to that stream DRAINAGE BASINS are regions based on surface water catchment areas – remember the definition of a region. Large areas with surface waters that drain to the same place. Basins of NTL Atlas also NtlAtlas Major Rivers of US

4. Rivers are fed by watersheds. Regions based on watersheds are called drainage basins. dittoUS Watershed units US drainage basins Utah watershed... to Jordan River Utah ’s rivers Management Units - DNR water plan Break out your official highway map of UtahFollow water upstream from Great Salt Lake following the big bold Bear River to its headwaters… in the Uinta Mounatins. Follow water upsteam from Great Salt Lake following the Jordan River – Provo River to its headwaters… in the Uinta Moutains. Follow water upstream from the confluence of the Green River and the Colorado River. Drainage means just what it sounds like… drainage of a bath tub, to drain – Merriam Webster from web: Identify the divide between the drainages of Great Salt Lake and those of the Colorado River drainage.

Utah's Rivers – location, place, interactions, movement, region. LINK Atwood on Miller Base Utah’s drainage basins: GOOD map Craig and Carr... on DEM base by Sterner Great Basin. Region of closed-drainage basins. Closed topographically, means water cannot flow out by surface water; and closed hydrologically, means water can only leave via evaporation. LINK... basin and range extension causes closed basin of Great Basin Colorado River basin -- Anderson LINK

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5. Understand the water cycle (a.k.a. hydrologic cycle) and be empowered. USGS Water CycleLocal... adaptation of Water Cycle to SLValley

Thought questions: Why is the hydrologic cycle so intuitive and simple versus the rock cycle?

The water cycle LINK to USGS; Evaporation, condensation (next week – subsystem = the atmosphere), Transpiration, (biosphere pumping water... then evaporated) Precipitation (next week - subsystem = the atmosphere), Surface water (think like a raindrop… this lecture) major rivers of Utah LINK Ground water (this lecture)

(Surface water is two words when a noun and 1 word as an adjective, also for ground water)

Coaching: seek empowerment through understanding… understand interactions… location, place, movement, regions.

6. The water cycle and Utah geography. Images:Power Board

Thought questions: Where is the line drawn between the Atmosphere and the Hydrosphere?Great basic source of info. LINK to USGS pdf

PRECIPITATION: Snow, Sleet, Rain, Dew … seasonality, quantity, spatial distribution – Atlas of Utah… for next week – the atmosphere. Utah ’s precipitation WSU-BYU-Greer-Atlas-p-066annual precipitation SURFACE WATER: Utah’s surface runoff Utah ’s snowmelt WSU-BYU-Greer seasonality of runoff 053 Utah's stream flow DNR FIg04

Emigration Canyon... surface waters. Flowing water: un-channelized flow (generally) becomes channelized flow Unchannelized = overland flow (general term); Sheet washChannelized flow = Ephemeral flow; Intermittent stream; Perennial flow / stream; River

WATER BODIES (very broad term, can imply slower moving… but not necessarily)Ponds – Standing water… even though it flowsFresh water lakes – Standing water… even though it flowsClosed-basin lakes – standing water, no outlet other than via evaporationSeasOceans

LOCATION and hydrology… follow on your highway map AtwoodOnMillerBaseMajor rivers:

Bear RiverWeberJordan River … Provo River

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Colorado River Green River Duchesne River (Strawberry River)

County - scaleMalad RiverLogan River Beaver River Sevier River Virgin RiverSan Juan River

Natural lakesGreat Salt Lake Utah Lake Bear LakeSevier (dry) Lake

Reservoirs… big and smallColorado River system in Utah including the Green River

Glen Canyon Dam, Flaming Gorge ReservoirLake PowellCentral Utah Water Conservancy Project

Great Basin rivers… dams and diversionsMountain Dell; Little Dell (Emigration Canyon) Bear Lake

GROUND WATERWater in rocks USGS Ground water flow - USGS WSS2242 Fig 05 Unsaturated - USGS Basics … not every hole that is connected is filled with water Saturated … below the water table… every hole that is connected to another hole is filled with water. Utah’s groundwater ATLAS052 keyUtah’s groundwater wells ATLAS052 Groundwater development UtPlan05

Unsaturated zone is important, particularly for plants… also for homes with basements... and contaminant flow.

Saturated zone means: WHERE there are voids (open spaces “porosity”) in rock (sediment or bedrock) and IF the open spaces are connected (“permeability”) THEN the open spaces will be full of water.

HYDROSPHERE-GEOSPERE interactions: not only landforms make a difference to the hydrosphere, so do Earth materials. For example, the pore spaces of geologic materials make a big difference to the amount of water that is stored and accessible for human use. Aquifer: a rock body (sediment or bedrock) that has more water than others of the region.Artesian well: well that taps groundwater under pressure Flowing well: a type of flowing well, a well that taps groundwater under sufficient pressure that the water rises to the land surface

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7. Case: hydrology is rarely simple... . Reminder... sediments and bedrock affect the amount of space available for water in rockPermeability is the capacity for water to flow through rock... through pores, cracks, and/or caverns (NOT as underground rivers) Great Basin hydrology case study... Salt Lake ValleyNote sediments and bedrok of basin and range:. USGS Basin Range Structure and materials Image: Arnow Remind yourself of what you know: Precipitation… Surface water… Ground water… fluid flow… aquifers… confined and unconfined. Case: Water is generally complex and Salt Lake Valley 's hydrology is very complex. Imagine the challenges of environmental issues. Hydrology of a type of valley found in upper reaches of the Bear, Provo, Weber, Green, and Duchesne RiversRocky Mountain recharge for Colorado River drainage or Great Basin drainageExample... Emigration Canyon (actually much more complex... this is very simplified) USGS for regional example

Hydrology of Colorado Plateau terrain of Colorado River drainage basin USGS schematic for Colorado Plateau hydrology For example, of Moab region... mountains such as the La Sal Mountains; discharge by springs.Note the effect of bedrock (some are aquifers, others are "aquitards" or "aquicludes"Note the effect of deeply incised canyons that literally "drain" the region. And some sections of rivers "gain" water and others are losing streams... USGS schematic of gaining streams in upper reaches of Colorado River drainage basin (or upper reaches of Great Basin watershed of Uinta Mountains) and losing reaches downstream... often in urban areas.

8. County-scale hydrology… what you should know or be able to figure out Image

a. Classify by region… Utah’s regions on the geosphere are the three physiographic provinces… in contrast… Utah regions on the hydrosphere are drainage basins. Physiographic provinces versus drainage basins: Physiographic provinces:

Colorado Plateau: a river runs through itRocky Mountain physiographic province: rivers run from itBasin and Range: rivers run to it.

Drainage basinsColorado River drainage basinGreat Basin

b. Classify by drainage system, Utah ’s water management basins Utah’s Water Plan LINK http://www.water.utah.gov/waterplan/SWP_pff.pdf

c. Knowing regional setting, observe terrain and scenery for characteristics of the hydrosphere.

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Bowen Tooele County looking East Bowen Dagget looking west Bowen San Juan Mexican Hat Hamblin-BYU Terrace Mountains, Basin and Range Hamblin-BYU -BearRiverDelta Great Salt Lake Hamblin-BYU - Roan Cliffs - Colorado River drainage basin Hamblin-BYU-KingsPeak-ColoRiverDrainage Basin versus Mirror Lake Identify patterns, watersheds and divides… generalities… from highway map.Look for evidence of snow, runoff, standing water, erosion / deposition, evaporation, human footprint (agriculture, dams/reservoirs, diversions).

Does the surface water of the scene looks like it runsTo the scene Through the sceneFrom the sceneIdentify features of surface water: (standing water; rivers; drainage patterns, evidence of flowing water; vegetation):

d. Infer… ground water (easy to mis-interpret… optional… embrace uncertainty). The intimate connectedness of conditions of the geosphere and hydrosphere mean definitional complexity. Earth scientists who understand hydrology have good jobs and interesting lives.

IBowen Tooele County looking East Bowen Dagget looking west Bowen San Juan Mexican Hat Hamblin-BYU Terrace Mountains, Basin and Range Hamblin-BYU -BearRiverDelta Great Salt Lake Hamblin-BYU - Roan Cliffs - Colorado River drainage basin Hamblin-BYU-GoosenecksHamblin-BYU-KingsPeak-ColoRiverDrainage Basin versus Mirror Lake

9. Utah is a water-scarce state with highly uneven distribution of the resource. Of course it is managed. Abundant information exists on Utah’s water resources.

Utah History Encyclopedia LINKUtah’s Water Plan LINK Anderson 2002, The Colorado River, Utah’s perspectiveUtah - Water plans by basin -- Terrific for county level info. http://www.water.utah.gov/planning/waterplans.aspLand use, water use by basin, for example, Weber Basin, LINK to DNR Salt Lake City ’s website LINK SLCity water; history of SLCity water development LINK to analysis -- Isaacson UBEBR LINK Discussion of water politics "conservative" (broken) LINK to Utah Foundation (broken link)

Overview of issues from the Utah Water Plan Per capita consumption UtPlan09 Population projections UtPlan07

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Population centers UtPlan08 Demand projections for Municipal and Industrial UtPlan10 Uses of water UtPlan11; Uses of water by basin UtPlan12

10. Wet water versus paper water… water resources versus water rights. Uneven distribution of waterUneven distribution of peopleUneven distribution of power

Understand: water rights, water exchanges

Concept of WATER RIGHTS. LINK to Wikipedia on the subject: Water Rights Riparian... it's there, along a stream, stream bank owner has a right NOT UTAHUtah… water belongs to the state… Water right, is the right to use the water. The State of Utah “appropriates” the right.Restated: Utah’s water belongs to the state; you can petition to have a right to use it... and if you get that right, you will have a right to a certain amount of water, a certain time of the year, and with lesser priority to others who already have rights. Petition for a water right: based on point of diversion, based on beneficial use, based on your ability to put it to usePrior appropriation (first in time, first in right) means your right to use water is subservient to those who already have rights.Water rights may be exchanged: exchange the right to use water (location, time, purpose)… for a right to use different water (location, time, purpose).

11. Case history… where the UofU drinking water comes from… History of Salt Lake City’s development of water supplies.

Case history – SALT LAKE CITY (not county, the city)When I say “give me the chorus…” I want you to say… mentally or out-loud “MORE WATER!!”

History of the development of Salt Lake City 's water supplies... draft... for use in Geog3330. Refer to a wonderful web site for SLC water (broken link) development histories that have been thoroughly checked for accuracy. This is my version... 90% accurate...

   

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Pre-pioneer. Before water development. c. 1800

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1850s

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1880s

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1890s

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1900-1920

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1930s - 1950s

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1960s - Central Utah Project

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2000 - water developments in the news

PRWUA system (the board I serve on)... Provo River Water Users Association

Central Utah Water Conservancy - Utah Lake system Eastern region (collection) and Western region (collect and distribute) 

 

 

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FINAL SECTION OF THIS CHAPTER… So What? How the HYDROSPHERE matters to the physical and human geographies of Utah.

Know where you are, know who you are. And be empowered to lead a good life… that’s the underlying assumption of UofU GEOG3600-Geography of Utah.

Let me count the ways!! By using the 15 x 15 matrix.

For the five subsystems of Earth systems….Feedback loops and interactions are so numerous it can be difficult to articulate where hydrosphere ends, for example, and atmosphere (weather and climate) begin. Good luck.

For the 5 themes of geography… these are pretty straightforward… location… place… interaction… movement/migration… and regions. Water flow is all about movement/migration. Location of Utah communities is largely dictated by availability of water. “Place” may offer a challenge but I can think of connections including a mission to have Utah “Bloom like a rose”… a sense of place.

For the 5 issues of social and behavioral sciences (economics; demographics; political science; sociology; and quality of life): this chapter provides some insights on political science, sociology, and quality of live with respect to the hydrosphere. Economics may not have been covered directly, here are a couple LINKS.

LIST of “The 15 Words”LocPlaceMigraInterRegion

GeoHydroAtmoBioAnthro

EconDemogPoliSciSociolQLife

SELF QUIZBy the end of this chapter… you should:Understand what the HYDROSPHERE includes, and that it is one of the five subsystems of Earth systems (physical geography). • Understand why Utah's regions based on the hydrosphere have boundaries that differ from physiographic provinces.• Be able to adapt concepts of the water cycle to Utah. • Be able to name and approximately locate about 20 features of Utah’s hydrosphere and… gold star… be able to explain why these features are where they are. Utah's major river systems (Malad, Bear,

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Weber, Jordan, Provo, Sevier, Duchesne, Green, Colorado, San Juan, Virgin and Santa Clara Rivers). Be able to draw these, approximately. • Given images of Utah, describe hydrologic features and processes. • Water management: know where to find information about the management of Utah’s watersheds. • Water politics - that “liquor is for drinking and water is for fighting” • How and why surface waters are diverted... water right• Be able to give a very general description of where water that is in the sinks and water fountains of Marriott Library, UofU might come from… on a hot summer day.SUMMARY:Regions of Utah based on the hydrosphere and geosphere have different boundaries. Physiographic provinces – based on landforms –topography, scenery, resources, hazards. Basin and Range (rivers run to it)Rocky Mountain (rivers run from it)Colorado Plateau (rivers run through it)Drainage basins – based on watersheds of the hydrosphere – water quantity, seasonality, water rightsColorado River BasinGreat BasinAnd a very small part of the Snake River / Columbia River Basin.

These regions are defined based on watersheds, using terrain, and, specifically using contoured elevation data. Utah’s hydrologic resources are unevenly divided and include regions with less than ??10?? inches of precip to regions with over a couple hundred inches of snow (__ rain water equivalent). Utah’s population and water use also is unevenly distributed. Water is allocated using a system of water rights that originated in LDS pioneer times. Prior appropriation vests a right to use water based on when the right was perfected, meaning, the applicant showed they could use the water for ‘beneficial use,” had the resources to convey the water to where it would be used, and that they have the right in the order of filings: first in time, first in right.

The case history of Salt Lake City illustrates community’s voracious appetite for water and how water diversions bring water to a thirsty populace..

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