W3: Precipitation and Water Depletions

Metrics

Utah's Watershed Basins

W.3.1 Watersheds and basin areas

A map of Utah and the surrounding area showing watersheds and basin areas. The Bear River area is indicated in the northern central region of Utah, with Weber River bordering it to the south and Jordan River and Utah Lake south of that. The very northwestern corner of the state is occupied by the small Columbia River, the remainder of the northwestern third of the state is dominated by West Desert, and the central east portion is Uintah. The center of the state is split down the center, with Sevier River on the left and West Colorado River on the right. Cedar/Beaver is directly south of Sevier River, and Kanab Creek/Virgin River is directly south of Cedar/Beaver, occupying the southwestern corner of Utah. The entire southeastern corner of Utah is covered by Southeast Colorado River. The largest regions, in order, include West Desert, Southeast Colorado River, West Colorado River, Sevier River, and Uintah. Outlines indicate which of the areas included fall under one of two watersheds indicated on the map. The Great Salt Lake Watershed is composed of Bear River, Weber River, Jordan River, Utah Lake, Columbia River, and West Desert. The Colorado River Watershed is composed of Uintah, West Colorado River, Southeast Colorado River, Kanab Creek/Virgin River, and Cedar/Beaver. The only area not included in one of the two watersheds is Sevier River.

Precipitation and Depletions by Basin Area

The Utah Department of Natural Resources Water Budget Model gathers data from agricultural, municipal and industrial, wetland, reservoir, climate, and water supply inputs and calculates the major inputs and outputs for each sub-basin by year. Tables are broken down by basin area and contain annual precipitation, and categorical depletions for the years 2010-2022. Precipitation measures the amount of rain and snowfall within the region. Depletions in each category measure the amount of water drawn lost from the system due to consumptive use. Water is measured in acre-ft.

W.3.2 Cedar/Beaver basin (in acre feet)

Year Precipitation Agricultural Depletions Municipal and Industrial Depletions Mineral Depletions
2010 6,670,852.86 220,632.89 23,404.86 -
2011 4,500,150.53 207,678.49 23,573.60 -
2012 4,029,005.16 225,812.54 23,581.38 -
2013 4,179,570.40 218,748.06 23,589.30 -
2014 4,204,188.00 210,648.13 23,597.38 -
2015 4,632,036.90 206,705.05 22,441.53 -
2016 4,159,315.02 224,824.57 63,260.49 -
2017 4,397,591.12 209,617.88 49,840.76 -
2018 4,194,275.90 193,831.53 64,566.95 -
2019 5,542,285.65 231,775.19 45,224.47 -
2020 2,112,928.96 225,397.98 46,306.47 -
2021 5,304,898.33 198,510.65 48,135.40 -
2022 4,137,055.35 210,337.83 48,638.99 -

W.3.3 Kanab Creek/Virgin River basin (in acre feet)

Year Precipitation Agricultural Depletions Municipal and Industrial Depletions Mineral Depletions
2010 5,608,051.14 44,985.71 17,603.18 -
2011 2,814,075.56 42,859.03 17,698.87 -
2012 3,149,683.43 46,080.24 17,707.22 -
2013 3,225,423.25 43,185.07 17,716.24 -
2014 2,970,246.95 38,355.44 17,725.99 -
2015 3,882,318.82 37,770.57 18,086.82 -
2016 3,919,746.11 38,264.03 19,549.84 -
2017 3,051,904.22 33,751.75 19,666.93 -
2018 3,268,835.58 37,617.55 20,642.55 -
2019 5,253,698.80 34,116.07 18,539.70 -
2020 1,793,734.77 37,696.23 19,668.48 -
2021 4,088,234.49 36,840.52 19,836.14 -
2022 3,116,298.10 31,962.03 20,433.64 -

W.3.4 West Colorado River basin (in acre feet)

Year Precipitation Agricultural Depletions Municipal and Industrial Depletions Mineral Depletions
2010 9,942,720.11 178,954.77 40,064.98 -
2011 7,840,817.62 196,410.74 40,403.95 -
2012 6,378,647.87 173,173.03 40,405.96 -
2013 9,299,734.80 173,223.78 40,407.98 -
2014 7,455,383.82 196,690.65 40,410.02 -
2015 10,040,399.39 184,209.20 38,799.10 -
2016 8,223,825.76 182,721.97 29,960.48 -
2017 6,788,958.48 195,560.58 32,021.52 -
2018 6,524,514.94 169,225.15 30,355.69 -
2019 9,597,519.56 195,297.13 32,803.74 -
2020 4,074,818.17 191,202.90 29,070.86 -
2021 9,141,652.46 144,444.64 34,414.72 -
2022 6,618,809.34 184,012.93 31,308.70 -

W.3.5 Southeast Colorado River basin (in acre feet)

Year Precipitation Agricultural Depletions Municipal and Industrial Depletions Mineral Depletions
2010 11,688,185.99 34,926.09 4,544.39 -
2011 7,787,316.35 30,741.67 4,968.82 -
2012 6,451,450.89 34,556.39 5,017.39 -
2013 10,361,524.79 26,909.22 4,990.65 -
2014 7,502,902.90 25,365.35 4,991.14 -
2015 13,794,074.75 27,860.72 4,445.80 -
2016 9,364,980.43 30,966.30 4,257.18 -
2017 7,453,219.90 30,707.79 3,863.86 -
2018 7,212,611.03 27,585.75 3,442.20 -
2019 11,291,343.51 35,763.41 3,779.34 -
2020 4,800,896.45 29,628.25 3,419.05 -
2021 9,457,485.01 23,297.71 3,402.95 -
2022 8,488,298.79 22,880.94 3,114.90 -

W.3.6 Uinta basin (in acre feet)

Year Precipitation Agricultural Depletions Municipal and Industrial Depletions Mineral Depletions
2010 11,845,343.79 422,585.45 9,223.81 -
2011 11,345,429.70 447,350.04 9,499.77 -
2012 7,315,686.45 386,580.81 9,508.77 -
2013 9,781,317.83 408,634.35 9,517.97 -
2014 10,101,707.79 389,541.75 9,106.22 -
2015 11,028,626.74 444,333.58 8,296.63 -
2016 11,492,630.97 427,974.51 28,716.90 -
2017 9,820,698.37 480,840.71 24,615.98 -
2018 7,846,571.19 399,533.01 29,927.26 -
2019 12,248,240.00 461,286.12 11,072.96 -
2020 6,097,238.84 448,491.16 12,876.77 -
2021 11,771,512.84 371,768.62 12,140.09 -
2022 9,730,635.50 428,308.19 14,704.22 -

W.3.7 Bear River basin (in acre feet)

Year Precipitation Agricultural Depletions Municipal and Industrial Depletions Mineral Depletions
2010 9,526,605.00 824,984.68 32,444.89 -
2011 9,508,094.32 800,772.22 32,715.65 -
2012 6,975,978.35 912,165.95 32,725.56 -
2013 6,301,025.56 839,333.41 32,735.60 -
2014 10,294,662.52 799,126.37 32,745.78 -
2015 8,051,354.78 744,953.60 27,285.92 -
2016 10,145,513.29 809,932.69 27,793.70 -
2017 11,196,162.02 891,685.32 29,263.40 -
2018 6,843,050.71 995,984.98 32,092.28 -
2019 10,217,422.26 839,046.90 30,195.29 -
2020 6,764,716.26 952,054.77 35,166.58 -
2021 8,436,673.41 986,085.06 33,441.20 -
2022 7,681,217.49 950,223.65 31,573.66 -

W.3.8 West Desert basin (in acre feet)

Year Precipitation Agricultural Depletions Municipal and Industrial Depletions Mineral Depletions
2010 14,031,140.22 152,034.08 8,306.12 83,831.67
2011 12,690,796.29 151,548.32 8,473.85 107,111.41
2012 10,765,479.58 191,953.68 8,483.49 104,775.32
2013 10,805,614.75 197,329.33 8,496.61 119,060.06
2014 13,017,388.84 179,912.56 8,508.97 75,594.94
2015 13,367,911.02 182,284.37 6,740.58 116,508.87
2016 13,390,987.60 204,637.78 6,805.69 80,208.66
2017 12,483,297.48 150,288.69 7,190.71 62,705.88
2018 10,406,940.86 133,373.70 8,408.48 84,747.64
2019 17,229,204.20 159,322.42 7,302.74 65,670.49
2020 6,482,933.35 165,742.98 7,179.12 85,986.55
2021 12,101,354.76 146,732.08 6,365.62 65,373.34
2022 10,414,754.01 135,867.17 6,673.75 120,955.74

W.3.9 Sevier River basin (in acre feet)

Year Precipitation Agricultural Depletions Municipal and Industrial Depletions Mineral Depletions
2010 11,363,629.61 560,334.66 35,292.27 -
2011 9,371,904.52 513,046.44 36,125.29 -
2012 7,639,750.19 613,360.90 36,137.63 -
2013 8,317,781.03 557,828.74 36,150.11 -
2014 8,411,597.07 547,187.45 36,162.74 -
2015 8,265,413.35 545,613.22 37,655.40 -
2016 7,662,917.71 590,835.28 26,708.00 -
2017 7,856,806.80 523,352.52 28,684.17 -
2018 7,409,199.83 519,710.38 28,331.67 -
2019 10,266,087.92 517,144.97 26,174.19 -
2020 4,112,432.22 573,602.37 26,378.80 -
2021 9,621,313.58 516,487.91 25,239.85 -
2022 7,137,013.33 511,647.96 24,523.41 -

W.3.10 Columbia River basin (in acre feet)

Year Precipitation Agricultural Depletions Municipal and Industrial Depletions Mineral Depletions
2010 732,607.38 11,161.37 2.10 -
2011 600,845.71 12,260.03 4.34 -
2012 578,930.57 16,194.42 4.36 -
2013 493,361.65 19,671.70 4.37 -
2014 828,088.89 17,182.10 4.38 -
2015 669,716.26 18,647.00 3.55 -
2016 800,071.46 21,514.23 3.56 -
2017 910,645.63 11,002.74 3.57 -
2018 666,867.97 9,582.26 3.58 -
2019 1,032,385.84 10,202.60 0.51 -
2020 630,151.51 10,944.67 0.37 -
2021 696,837.26 10,911.90 0.29 -
2022 678,902.91 8,689.45 0.28 -

W.3.11 Utah Lake basin (in acre feet)

Year Precipitation Agricultural Depletions Municipal and Industrial Depletions Mineral Depletions
2010 4,252,792.78 222,273.29 63,564.06 -
2011 3,713,625.41 196,510.85 64,129.43 -
2012 2,969,833.72 259,789.69 64,192.33 -
2013 2,816,034.03 227,097.87 64,261.39 -
2014 3,662,927.43 198,520.55 64,337.25 -
2015 2,951,061.53 218,346.63 62,310.91 -
2016 3,237,628.19 236,498.16 66,532.91 -
2017 3,872,002.75 177,630.74 74,651.53 -
2018 3,307,059.33 249,783.44 68,333.87 -
2019 4,610,443.10 186,160.13 75,705.15 -
2020 1,915,329.30 245,930.12 83,812.16 -
2021 3,819,275.24 244,068.56 77,350.49 -
2022 3,163,330.07 208,122.00 82,604.46 -

W.3.12 Jordan River basin (in acre feet)

Year Precipitation Agricultural Depletions Municipal and Industrial Depletions Mineral Depletions
2010 1,124,306.86 17,319.86 197,554.04 -
2011 1,150,283.31 14,700.50 197,535.95 -
2012 820,241.64 21,950.81 197,535.95 -
2013 819,334.01 19,681.59 197,535.96 -
2014 989,594.32 12,863.09 197,535.96 -
2015 953,486.83 14,641.63 190,259.43 -
2016 965,041.94 15,186.45 184,777.67 -
2017 1,087,204.01 10,715.55 187,728.68 -
2018 921,482.28 15,022.38 186,996.16 -
2019 1,453,964.87 10,010.10 158,430.56 -
2020 644,005.40 15,683.25 152,237.64 -
2021 1,074,799.49 14,496.93 137,786.76 -
2022 925,623.70 12,606.21 136,299.21 -

W.3.13 Weber River basin (in acre feet)

Year Precipitation Agricultural Depletions Municipal and Industrial Depletions Mineral Depletions
2010 3,894,741.32 159,044.14 67,856.94 136,284.08
2011 3,896,362.46 141,173.83 68,024.13 98,408.18
2012 2,792,724.48 203,329.78 68,029.31 141,477.95
2013 2,561,133.22 184,789.51 68,034.57 128,187.38
2014 3,560,415.05 147,477.37 68,039.92 139,938.04
2015 3,112,197.46 142,852.37 62,657.30 108,832.87
2016 3,625,607.03 154,594.99 66,325.93 71,332.78
2017 4,148,921.14 147,281.37 65,210.91 122,853.63
2018 2,724,973.18 180,718.49 68,459.95 119,410.46
2019 4,213,144.56 131,142.33 61,212.21 92,291.31
2020 2,245,854.70 182,278.40 80,552.15 119,973.71
2021 3,446,322.73 183,980.40 67,300.43 104,015.03
2022 3,245,873.22 158,400.92 63,707.61 74,092.70

References

  1. Utah Division of Water Resources. (2022). Water Budget Data. [Data set]. Utah Department of Natural Resources. https://dwre-utahdnr.opendata.arcgis.com/pages/water-budget-data
  2. Esri. (2024). Water Related Land Use Dashboard. [Data set]. Utah Department of Natural Resources. https://dwreutahdnr.opendata.arcgis.com/pages/wrlu-apps

A sunset over a mountain lake

RUTH LAKE, HIGH UINTAS WILDERNESS | KORI KURTZEBORN

On This Page