Availability of ground water in the Bear River valley, Wyoming, with a section on the chemical quality of the water

Abstract

The Bear River valley is in southwestern Wyoming on the east side of the Great Salt Lake basin. The river flows in a valley underlain by unconsolidated Quaternary alluvium flanked by consolidated bedrock formations ranging in age from Pennsylvanian to early Tertiary. The pre-Laramide rocks generally are steeply dipping and the post-Laramide rocks are horizontal or gently dipping. The valley fill is the largest potential source of ground water in the area. Its thickness exceeds 185 feet in places, and the material generally is coarse and permeable. The water table is close to the land surface. Wells producing as much as 1,100 gallons per minute have been constructed, and larger yields are possible. Most of the waters sampled for chemical analysis are chemically suitable for irrigation but are hard. INTRODUCTION PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF THE INVESTIGATION A program of ground-water investigations in Wyoming was begun in November 1940 by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the State of Wyoming. As part of this program a study of the ground-water resources of the part of the Bear River valley that is in Wyoming was begun in August 1955 in cooperation with the Wyoming Natural Eesource Board and the Wyoming State Engineer. The primary purpose of the study was to determine the availability of ground water for irrigation and industrial use. Consequently, fieldwork was concentrated on the unconsolidated Quaternary sediments that afford the best possibility of yielding large supplies of water, and little information was collected on the consolidated bedrock formations. The fieldwork and collection of data for the report were done by the authors under the direct supervision of H. M. Babcock and E. D. Gordon, successive district supervisors of the Ground Water Branch for Wyoming. VI V2 CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE HYDROLOGY OF THE UNITED STATES Studies of the quality of water were made under the general supervision of J. G. Connor, district chemist of the Quality of Water Branch for Utah. LOCATION AND EXTENT OF THE AREA The Bear River valley is in the southwestern part of Wyoming, east of the Great Salt Lake basin. The Bear River rises on the north flank of the Uinta Mountains in Utah and flows generally northward through Uinta County and part of Lincoln County, Wyo. About 4 miles north of Cokeville, in Lincoln County, the river swings northwest and enters Idaho. It flows north and near Soda Springs, Idaho, turns sharply southwest, reenters Utah about 45 miles farther south, and discharges into Great Salt Lake. The river, whose course is more than 300 miles long, crosses State borders five times and discharges into Great Salt Lake at a point only about 90 miles northwest of its headwaters. Plate 1 shows the Bear River valley in Wyoming. Figure 1 shows the drainage basin of the Bear River and figure 2 shows the location of the area of this investigation and other investigations in Wyoming. This report covers only the part of the Bear River valley that is in Wyoming. For the purpose of this report, the part of the Bear River valley between the south border of Wyoming and The Narrows, about 15 miles north of Evanston (pi. 1), is referred to as Bear River valley, and the area between the river's reentrance into Wyoming and Border, Wyo., where the river enters Idaho, is referred to as northern Bear River valley. PREVIOUS INVESTIGATIONS Several investigations of the geology and ground-water resources of the general urea made previously have been concerned primarily with the geology and only to a limited extent with the water resources. However, the results of these studies have been very useful in the preparation of this report, and the geology of the area shown on plate 1 was adapted largely from reports of previous workers, as indicated on the map. Veatch (1907) described the geology of part of the Bear River valley in Wyoming and included some data on ground water; the geologic map of southern Bear River valley is adapted from his report. Gale and Richards (1910) described the geology of part of the Bear River valley south of Cokeville in a report on phosphate deposits in southeastern Idaho and adjacent areas. Geologic mapping of the Montpelier quadrangle in Idaho and Wyoming by Mansfield (1927) included part of the Bear River valley north of Cokeville. The GROUND WATER IN BEAR RIVER VALLEY, WYOMING V3