Water History of Bear Lake

The Bear River starts in Utah's Uintah Mountains, crosses state boundries 5 times, has tributaries in Idaho, Utah and Wyoming, and finally empties into the Great Salt Lake. In an 1877 survey of Bear Lake by US Army Corps of Engineers 1st Lt. George M. Wheeler, the Bear River runs through the North East corner of Bear Lake Valley, but does not empty into the lake! A latter survey in 1909 by the USGS established the lake's natural level at 5924 feet above sea level. Currently the accepted "full" or upper limit of storage is 5923.65 feet.

As early as June 11, 1889, in Bloomington, Bear Lake County, Territory of Idaho, an enterprising Mr. W.D.B. Jones claimed all of the waters of Bear Lake and the streams and springs flowing into the lake, and the Bear River!

In 1878, Major John Wesley Powell asked Congress for laws governing priorities and beneficial use of water to be included in the homestead laws. Again, in 1889, as Director of the United States Geological Survey, he reported to the US Secretary of Interior, "Here is a river (the Bear) crossing state lines five times, its waters furnishing subsistence for scores of communities differing in laws and customs, flowing first through grazing countries where its waters are lavishly used for raising hay, then through broad valleys where it is again robbed of its waters to raise the hardier grains and vegetables - - - . In times of scarcity, who is to apportion this water? How much belongs to this community and how much to that corporation? What protection do the present users enjoy against the stronger and richer canal companies or the aggressive adventurers at the headwaters? These questions are seriously disturbing the minds of the inhabitants of that country . . .".