About the Project

The Bear River begins in the Uinta Mountains of Utah, winding through parts Southwest Wyoming and Southeast Idaho, before draining into the Great Salt Lake. The headwaters are an important high-elevation source of cold, clean water to create a climate change refugia for Bonneville cutthroat trout. But access to this refugia is blocked by a series of diversion dams that irrigate hay and pasture lands.

The Western Native Trout Initiative (WNTI) formed in 2006 as a collaborative of public and private entities working to conserve native trout across the West. In coordination with the interagency Bonneville Cutthroat Trout Conservation Team and western state agency biologists, WNTI has initiated a multi-phase project that will remove at least 21 in-stream barriers on the river, restore habitat connectivity, improve water quality, and enhance the river’s resilience to a changing climate.

The Bear River diversion removal effort is an example of collaboration across state lines and between ranching and fisheries interests. WNTI and its partners are creating a regional model for improving irrigation systems while providing benefits for fish. For several landowners, the irrigation upgrades have actually reduced the cost and workload associated with water diversions.

To date, multiple push-up dams and other diversion structures and barriers have been replaced with fish-friendly infrastructure that facilitates the diversion of irrigation water at key times, benefitting the river and the people and fish that depend on it.