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Utah Geological Survey

SAGA OF SNAKE VALLEY: BATTLING OVER UTAH WATER

KCSG.com

Dean Baker, a rancher and activist for the protection of water rights in west-central Utah’s Snake Valley, could become wealthy by selling his property to the Southern Nevada Water Authority. The principal communities in the Snake Valley, from north to south, are Callao, Trout Creek, Partoun, EskDale, Baker, and Garrison.

“People don’t understand me,” Baker said, referring to his refusal to sell.

What makes Baker’s property valuable is that it is a coveted water source. But after 55 years of ranching, Baker isn’t ready to give up his home or see his agriculture and livestock suffer because of underground pumping.

According to the Great Basin Water Network, the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA), the water agency for Las Vegas and Henderson, Nev., proposes to pump up to 200,000 acre-feet annually from eastern Nevada and western Utah and send it through 300 miles of pipeline to support larger cities. This comes to about 65 billion gallons of water per year.

Ecologists and hydrologists estimate the water table will drop as much as 100 feet in the first 10 years of the pipeline, killing the current vegetation and wiping out the wildlife and livelihoods of the rural communities including the Snake, Spring, Cave, Dry Lake and Delamar valleys.

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Utah Geological Survey

REPORT WARNS OF SHRINKING AQUIFER WEST OF CEDAR CITY

sltrib.com

Just as a bank account dips when withdrawals exceed deposits, so the water table in the Cedar Valley Aquifer has been dropping over the past 70 years as discharge rates have exceeded recharge, and the losses likely will continue unless measures are taken to plug the problem.

That was the conclusion of a report delivered Thursday night to a meeting of the Central Iron County Water Conservancy District in Cedar City.

The report, compiled by senior geologist William Lund and his staff with the Utah Geological Survey (UGS), was commissioned by the conservancy district in 2009 after a ground fissure nearly 4 miles long was discovered snaking through a subdivision in the city of Enoch.

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Utah Geological Survey

UTAH GEOLOGIC CALENDAR AVAILABLE NOW

sltrib.com

Some of Utah’s most scenic geologic wonders from slot canyons to glaciers are featured in the Utah Geological Surveys 2011 calendar.

The calendar, on sale for $4.95 at the Department of Natural Resources Bookstore at 1594 W. North Temple or online at www.mapstore.utah.gov, features more than 50 photos of Utah taken by staff members on assignment.

The pictures are accompanied by geologic descriptions and location information. Topics include igneous mountains, bridges, arches, the Green River Formation and geologic hazards.

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Utah Geological Survey

CEDAR VALLEY WATER

sltrib.com

Big cracks are forming in the floor of Cedar Valley. They’ve already undermined one unfinished subdivision north of Enoch, and they’re still growing. One is 2.4 miles long. If unchecked, they could threaten Enoch itself, not to mention local roads and buried utility lines.

This is not a Halloween story, or the movie “Tremors.” It’s scarier, in fact, because it’s real. Fortunately, the Utah Geological Survey knows what the cause is, and if the people who pump water from the many wells in the area can cooperate, the problem is fixable. But a solution will require both community spirit and self-sacrifice, because people will have to use less water.

Since 1939, according to the UGS report, more water has been taken from the aquifer below Cedar Valley than Mother Nature has funneled back in. The water table has dropped by as much as 114 feet. This has caused the underground sediments in the aquifer to compact. The fissures and sinkholes visible on the surface of the ground are evidence of subsidence, that is, ground settling. The ground has sunk by as much as four feet over a broad area of Cedar Valley.

This settling has caused about 4 miles of cracks or fissures in the ground, particularly in the area of Enoch (north of Cedar City) and around Quichapa Lake. There may be other fissures that are not yet visible.

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Utah Geological Survey

Keeping Zion National Park Visitors Safe from Geologic Hazards

A new geologic-hazards investigation, published by the Utah Geological Survey, could help Zion National Park (ZNP) keep its 2.5 million annual visitors safe. The results of the investigation will provide the National Park Service (NPS) with geologic-hazard information for future park management.

Zion National Park is subject to a variety of geologic hazards that may affect park development and visitor safety. “One of the nation’s scenic jewels, Zion National Park, is also home to a variety of geologic hazards. By supporting this study of geologic hazards in high-use areas of the park, the National Park Service has taken a proactive approach to protecting visitor safety,” says William Lund, UGS Senior Geologist.

The ZNP geologic-hazards study area is a 154-square-mile area that encompasses Zion Canyon, Kolob Canyon, Kolob Terrace, the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway corridor, and all developed and high-use areas of the park. This investigation includes nine 1:24,000-scale geographic information system (GIS)-based maps that show areas subject to flooding, debris flows, rock fall, landslides, surface faulting, liquefaction, collapsible and expansive rocks and soils, and/or soil piping and erosion.

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Utah Geological Survey

SURVEY NOTES volume 42 number 3

This Issue Contains:

  • Utah’s Glacial Geology
  • Utah’s Pleistocene Fossils: Keys for Assessing Climate and Environmental Change
  • Glad You Asked: Ice Ages – What are they and what causes them?
  • Survey News
  • Teacher’s Corner: Teaching Kits Available for Loan
  • GeoSights: Glacial Landforms in Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons, Salt Lake County, Utah
  • Energy News: Uranium – Fuel for the 21st Century?
  • New Publications

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Utah Geological Survey

DISCOVERY OF DINO SKULLS IN GRAND-STAIRCASE WILL HAVE 'HUGE IMPACT'

sltrib.com

The skulls of Utah’s prehistoric lizards keep rolling out of the country’s largest national monument with the two newest ones so unusual that when unveiled this week, their discovery will have a global impact.

That was the message during last week’s lecture from paleontologist Scott Sampson, author, research curator for the Utah Museum of Natural History and host of the children’s science program “Dinosaur Train” on PBS.

Although the names of the new species of horned dinosaurs will not be announced until Wednesday at the museum in Salt Lake City, Sampson said their significance lies in helping scientists determine that horned dinosaurs living at the same time in different areas of the continent evolved differently.

“It [the discovery] will have a huge impact,” Sampson said last week at a public lecture at the Kanab visitor center of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

His findings will be published Wednesday in PLoS, an online scientific journal.

One complete skull made from pieces of several skulls will be unveiled, along with a replica of the other.

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Utah Geological Survey

UTAH RANKED NO.3 NATIONALLY FOR MINERALS PRODUCTION

deseretnews.com

On the same day a group of lawmakers was pressed about the need to increase “mineral literacy” in Utah, a new report showed the state now ranks No. 3 in the nation for the value of non-fuel minerals produced in 2009.

Overall, Utah’s contribution was logged at 7 percent of the total value of the country’s production, according to a report issued Wednesday by the Utah Geological Survey.

It is the first time, Utah geologists believe, that the state has been able to edge out rival California, which has historically come in third behind Arizona and Nevada because of its production of industrial minerals for the construction industry.

“Because of the recession, California fell from three to four, and we moved up to three,” said Ken Krahulec, senior geologist with the Utah Geological Survey. “I would not be surprised if this was the first time ever. Historically, we are in the top 10, but I think four is as high as we have been before.”

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Utah Geological Survey

UTAHNS WARMING TO SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEMS

sltrib.com

nvironmentalists long have dreamed of a time when the massive coal-fired plants that generate much of the nation’s electricity will fall idle, replaced by small, nonpolluting power production on individual homes and businesses.

For a slowing growing number of Utahns that dream no longer seems so far-fetched.

When Doug Shipley of Intermountain Wind & Solar opens the power bill for his 2,400 square-foot home in Farmington, most of the time it shows he hasn’t taken any energy off of the state’s power grid during the month.

Instead, the 24 solar panels on his property — installed at a cost of approximately $24,000 — produce all the electricity his family needs.

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Utah Geological Survey

IRON COUNTY POSTPONES VOTE ON GEOLOGIC ORDINANCE

sltrib.com

The Iron County Commission was poised to vote Monday on a geologic hazard ordinance that has been in the making for about six months when Commissioner Lois Bulloch threw a wrench in the works.

Bulloch recommended that an independent group review the proposed ordinance and make recommendations.

“I’ve heard a lot of consternation over this issue and had input in letters and calls and am just not comfortable moving forward,” said Bulloch. “Sorry to drop this bomb.”

Bulloch suggested that a committee with representatives of the county’s six municipalities, a city attorney and engineers look at the ordinance line by line and make specific changes.

“This way we won’t be accused of not listening,” said Bulloch.

Bill Lund, a geologist with the Utah Geological Survey, told commissioners a review by new eyes is a good idea and recommended including an official of a city or county in Utah that has already dealt with a similar ordinance.

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