Hydrology and water resources of Capitol Reef National Park, Utah : with emphasis on the middle Fremont River area

Abstract

The water resources of the Capitol Reef National Park area include the middle Fremont River, other perennial and ephemeral watercourses, isolated springs, tinajas, and lakes fed by precipitation on surrounding plateaus, as well as ground water in alluvial, basalt, and sedimentary aquifers fed by recharge from precipitation and stream channel losses. The difference between streamflows at Bicknell (79.2 million m³/yr) and Caineville (67.8 million m³/yr) can be attributed to evapotranspiration by riparian vegetation and cultivated crops and ground-water recharge, which exceeds 1.5 million m³/yr. Regional ground-water movement is eastward from Thousand Lake Mountain and southward along the Waterpocket Fold. Ground-water quality is generally brackish while surface water is fresh, both degrading east of the Waterpocket Fold due to agricultural uses, evapotranspiration and long aquifer residence times. Along the middle Fremont River agricultural use causes a mean salt load increase of 16,100 metric tons/year, turbidity increases three-fold, and fecal coliforms generally increase.