Project Details

This project is supplemental to Project #3422. Unfortunately, although the Weber River gauging team funded the construction of the gauges, as promised in that project.  All of the project partners have struggled to secure the necessary funding needed to sustain the data collection into the future.  In order to support the entire gauging effort, we are hoping to secure additional funding to sustain the O and M of the gauges.

The Weber River watershed has experienced a long history of water development.   Although critically important for our communities, many of the developments have had unforeseen impacts to the aquatic ecosystem, which also contributes greatly to our collective quality of life.  One of the most significant challenges we face when managing and restoring the Weber River and its many tributaries is to strike the balance between these critical services, such as providing safe, reliable and sustainable water supply, and the protection and enhancement of the ecological and recreational values of the watershed.  This challenge will become increasingly complex in the future, as long-term trends suggest that our water supply is declining and human demands on these increasingly scarce water resources is expected to rise significantly in the future.

A critical strategy now in place, to ensure that the needs of diverse interests within the watershed are being met is the formation of the Weber River Partnership.  One of the primary accomplishments of this organization is hosting an annual conference to provide a forum for communication to allow diverse stakeholders to communicate with each other.  During the inaugural conference in 2014, water and wildlife managers, conservation organizations and private landowners clarified the need for collaborative participation toward mutual goals and objectives, and agreed that water supply and in-stream flows were among the most pressing issues in the watershed.  As a result of that conference, it is clear that steps need to be taken to more-effectively manage and deliver finite water supplies, while also seeking to balance ecological and recreational needs, such as the needs of recreational fishing and the needs of native fish species of special conservation concern.

This need was made abundantly clear during the summers of 2012-2015, when water supplies have been low and as a result, water budgets have been with water being delivered with narrow tolerances for error.  Unfortunately, in many instances, the existing real-time measuring infrastructure has been lacking to provide the necessary information for water managers and conservation interests to monitor river flows effectively.  This has necessitated  water managers to observe in-stream flows in-person, rather than in real-time using advanced web-based tools provided by real-time stream gauge stations.  These events highlighted the need for additional stream gauges at seven strategic locations in order to more effectively monitor in-stream flows in real-time.  Without those seven gauge stations, we have documented over 10 inadvertent de-watering events that have taken place in the Weber River mainstem. Each of those six events temporarily de-watered a high priority reach of the Weber River that extends from the mouth of Weber Canyon downstream to the confluence with the Ogden River.

This reach of the Weber River supports one of the few known remaining "fluvial" populations of Bonneville cutthroat trout, a thriving brown trout sport fishery, as well as the Weber River stronghold for native bluehead suckers, a species of special conservation concern.

This project seeks to continue to leverage the broad-based partnerships among watershed partners in order to effectively balance the water delivery needs of water users while providing for the in-stream flow needs of important sport fish species and native fish species of concern.

Provide evidence about the nature of the problem and the need to address it. Identify the significance of the problem using a variety of data sources. For example, if a habitat restoration project is being proposed to benefit greater sage-grouse, describe the existing plant community characteristics that limit habitat value for greater sage-grouse and identify the changes needed for habitat improvement.

Provide an overall goal for the project and then provide clear, specific and measurable objectives (outcomes) to be accomplished by the proposed actions. If possible, tie to one or more of the public benefits UWRI is providing.

LOCATION: Justify the proposed location of this project over other areas, include publicly scrutinized planning/recovery documents that list this area as a priority, remote sensing modeling that show this area is a good candidate for restoration, wildlife migration information and other data that help justify this project's location.

TIMING: Justify why this project should be implemented at this time. For example, Is the project area at risk of crossing an ecological or other threshold wherein future restoration would become more difficult, cost prohibitive, or even impossible.

List management plans where this project will address an objective or strategy in the plan. Describe how the project area overlaps the objective or strategy in the plan and the relevance of the project to the successful implementation of those plans. It is best to provide this information in a list format with the description immediately following the plan objective or strategy.

If applicable, detail how the proposed project will significantly reduce the risk of fuel loading and/or continuity of hazardous fuels including the use of fire-wise species in re-seeding operations. Describe the value of any features being protected by reducing the risk of fire. Values may include; communities at risk, permanent infrastructure, municipal watersheds, campgrounds, critical wildlife habitat, etc. Include the size of the area where fuels are being reduced and the distance from the feature(s) at risk.

Describe how the project has the potential to improve water quality and/or increase water quantity, both over the short and long term. Address run-off, erosion, soil infiltration, and flooding, if applicable.

Description of efforts, both completed and planned, to bring the proposed action into compliance with any and all cultural resource, NEPA, ESA, etc. requirements. If compliance is not required enter "not applicable" and explain why not it is not required.

Describe the actions, activities, tasks to be implemented as part of the proposed project; how these activities will be carried out, equipment to be used, when, and by whom.

Describe plans to monitor for project success and achievement of stated objectives. Include details on type of monitoring (vegetation, wildlife, etc.), schedule, assignments and how the results of these monitoring efforts will be reported and/or uploaded to this project page. If needed, upload detailed plans in the "attachments" section.

List any and all partners (agencies, organizations, NGO's, private landowners) that support the proposal and/or have been contacted and included in the planning and design of the proposed project. Describe efforts to gather input and include these agencies, landowners, permitees, sportsman groups, researchers, etc. that may be interested/affected by the proposed project. Partners do not have to provide funding or in-kind services to a project to be listed.

Detail future methods or techniques (including administrative actions) that will be implemented to help in accomplishing the stated objectives and to insure the long term success/stability of the proposed project. This may include: post-treatment grazing rest and/or management plans/changes, wildlife herd/species management plan changes, ranch plans, conservation easements or other permanent protection plans, resource management plans, forest plans, etc.

Potential for the proposed action to improve quality or quantity of sustainable uses such as grazing, timber harvest, biomass utilization, recreation, etc. Grazing improvements may include actions to improve forage availability and/or distribution of livestock.