Project Details

Wetlands in Snake Valley serve as important habitat for four Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) species including two mollusk species, longitudinal gland pyrg, and sub-globose snake pyrg, and two Conservation Agreement species, least chub and Columbia spotted frog. All four species depend on permanent surface water and are severely threatened by habitat loss caused by declining water table levels resulting from groundwater development. Snake Valley became the focus of concern due to the Southern Nevada Water Authority's application for 50,680 acre-feet per year of groundwater withdrawals from Snake Valley near the Nevada-Utah border and additional water from the next valley west. Although that plan appears indefinitely delayed, local applications for increased groundwater pumping continue. These local applications are of concern to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and to Utah wildlife and water managers.

In 2009, the UGS installed a network of shallow wells, referred to herein as "piezometers," in Snake Valley to collect hydrologic data. The primary goal of this network is to provide baseline data on the magnitude and timing of surface water and groundwater fluctuations in wetlands crucial to SGCN species. UGS recently finalized a report, Snake Valley Hydrologic Monitoring: Ten-Year Report, summarizing data collected by the project and recommending studies that could utilize the existing data to better link groundwater levels to wetland habitat and ultimately to species population responses. The report also recommended continued collection of hydrologic monitoring data across the network to establish baseline information under different climate scenarios, serve as data for modeling and analysis, support future water rights application protests, and inform water rights administration.

Wetlands in Tule Valley provide breeding habitat for Columbia spotted frog and, along with wetlands in Snake Valley, have supported some of the more stable frog populations in the Central Basin and Range region. Recently, biologists noticed that one of the large wetland complexes in Tule Valley, Coyote Springs, appears to be drying and that count numbers for Columbia spotted frog egg masses have been lower than average. The BLM asked the UGS to install wells in Tule Valley in 2018 to characterize wetland water levels and better understand their sensitivity to climate and anthropogenic stressors.

Piezometers must be visited twice annually to download transducer data, collect manual measurements for calibration, ensure the piezometer screens are open to the surface water, and to replace or repair transducers as needed.

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.

1. Amendment to the 2005 Conservation Agreement Strategy for the Least Chub (Iotichthys phlegethontis), February 2014. 
A. Conservation Action to address groundwater withdrawal: "UDWR agrees to coordinate with Utah Geological Survey and U.S. Geological Survey to assess current piezometer data and monitor groundwater levels at Snake Valley least chub population sites. UDWR will also coordinate with these agencies to install additional piezometers, as needed." The proposed work directly addresses this Conservation Action. 
B. Conservation Action to address climate change/drought: "The UDWR agrees to coordinate with Utah Geological Survey and United States Geological Survey to monitor piezometers and surface flow gages at the Snake Valley wild population sites in order to evaluate the changes in groundwater levels and spring discharge rates, respectively." The proposed work directly addresses this Conservation Action.

2. Conservation Agreement and Strategy for Columbia Spotted Frog (Rana luteiventris) in the State of Utah (2009) A. Conservation Element C, Restore Hydrologic Condition: "Identify water needs in current and potential Columbia spotted frog habitats" and "Maintain natural hydrologic conditions." The proposed work will provide data that will allow for identification of water needs. B. Conservation Element F, Monitoring: "Monitor additional parameters (e.g., water level, precipitation), as necessary, to help interpret population fluctuations." The proposed work will provide hydrologic monitoring data that could support this type of analysis.

3. Conservation Agreement for Springsnails in Nevada and Utah: Objective 2, "Identify, assess, and reduce known and potential threats to springsnail populations and their associated habitats at occupied sites." The proposed work will summarize hydrologic data from wells near habitat for sensitive springsnails, which could be used to better identify and assess current and potential future threats.

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.

Task 1: Download and process data: Surveyors will visit each well (and associated barometers) once each in the fall and the spring, measure water level, stick-up height, and electroconductivity using a handheld meter and download pressure transducer data onto a computer tablet via a Solinst application. Transducer data will be corrected for barometric pressure and drift using existing processing scripts and added to the UGS Groundwater Monitoring Data Portal. We likely have enough transducers on reserve to replace unresponsive transducers, though we would need to send failed transducers to Solinst to retrieve data.
Task 2. Data sharing and meetings: Raw data will be available for download from the UGS online groundwater portal. Upon request, UGS can also summarize data, calculate custom metrics, or provide technical expertise. UGS will also attend the least chub and Columbia spotted frog conservation team meetings and help lead stakeholder meetings. These meetings will determine the future of the hydrologic monitoring network and discuss research priorities with the existing hydrologic data.

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.

This project aligns with goals identified in the Conservation Agreements for least chub and Columbia spotted frog by identifying species' water needs, and monitoring water levels to better understand threats from groundwater withdrawal, climate change, and drought. The UGS regularly presents at Conservation Team meetings for both species and continues to receive Conservation Team support.
The Fisheries Experiment Station (FES) is in the initial stages of a research project linking Columbia spotted frog egg mass data with hydrologic and climate parameters. UGS recently assisted by sharing our existing climate and hydrologic data with FES. We hope FES will be able to use this existing data, as well as identify other hydrologic parameters derived from our data, to better establish a relationship between water levels and Columbia spotted frog populations.
The Endangered Species Mitigation Fund (ESMF) has provided funding for past field work and we have applied to ESMF again for FY22 funds supporting this work.

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.

Data downloads, field water level measurements, and data processing on a biannual basis will be necessary for the life of the network. Field visits are necessary to obtain depth-to-water measurements to correct instrument drift and perform routine maintenance including battery failure and livestock interference with piezometers. Data processing on a regular basis ensures that data issues are resolved in a timely manner and that data become available as soon as possible.
UGS understands stakeholders want predictive surface water level models to assess how changes in the extent of surface water would affect SGCN species. Currently, groundwater models for the region identify changes to groundwater levels rather than surface water levels. The 10-Year report identified several possible studies that would improve our understanding of the relationships between water levels, aquatic habitat, and SGCN species. Through stakeholder meetings, we will identify the highest priority studies and potential options to fund these studies.

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.