Bountiful, Utah — The Bear River Commission announced that it will hold a series of public meetings in conjunction with its 20-year review of the Bear River Compact. The Bear River Compact created the Bear River Commission and is the chief document which controls the allocation and distribution of waters of the Bear River between the States of Idaho, Utah and Wyoming.  Regional meetings include:

Oct 3, 2017; 7 p.m.                                    Oct. 12, 2017; 7 p.m.

Uinta County Library                                  Oregon/California Trail Center

701 Main St,                                                 320 North 4th St.

Evanston, WY 82930                                  Montpelier, ID 83254

Written comments are due by Monday, December 4, 2017.  Whether or not people participate in the public meetings, they are encouraged to provide written comments. Additional information regarding the Compact, the Commission and this 20-year compact review effort, as well as information regarding the public meetings and how to participate in the process and provide input, can be found on the Commission’s website:  www.bearrivercommission.org.

The U.S. Constitution provides that states can enter into interstate agreements, or compacts, with Congressional consent.  The Bear River States first entered into a compact on the Bear River in 1958.  The Compact was amended in 1980.  The Compact provides that at least every 20 years the states shall review its provisions to determine whether or not it should be amended.  The Compact was last reviewed in 1997.  At that time the states found that there was not a need to amend the Compact but, as a result of the public review, the Commission amended its by-laws to add a water quality committee and increase its public outreach and involvement efforts. 

At its annual meeting in April 2017, the Commission officially entered into the Compact review process.  The announced public meetings are part of that process. 

“The public meetings will allow individuals to learn more about the roles and authorities of the Commission and the Compact and allow them to give input on whether or not the Compact needs to be amended,” said Don Barnett, the Commission’s Engineer-Manager.  “It is hoped that not only those who believe that the Compact should be amended, but also those who believe that it should not be amended, will participate in the meetings and provide comments,” Barnett noted. 

Jody Williams, the federal representative on the Commission and the Commission’s Chair, added: 

“The public meetings and the written comment period will provide important information that will allow states’ representatives to determine whether the Compact needs to be amended at this time.  The Commission is very interested in what the public has to tell us.”

The Bear River, which is the largest river in North America that does not flow to an ocean, arises in the Uinta Mountains in Utah, flows into Wyoming above Evanston, back into Utah near Randolph, then back into Wyoming above Cokeville before entering Idaho above Montpelier, thence west above Bear Lake before turning south and re-entering Utah between Preston, Idaho and Logan, Utah before discharging to the Great Salt Lake at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.  In its circuitous path it crosses state lines five times.  In all, it flows nearly 500 miles yet ends up only 90 miles from where it started.  The Bear River has an annual water supply of about 1.8 million acre-feet and provides water to cities, industries, hundreds of irrigation canals and four wildlife refuges, as well as water for hydropower, aesthetic and recreational uses.  It is truly the lifeblood of the regions that it traverses.