Burntfork River Basin GIS–Based Water Rights Management

Management of the Burntfork River basin requires that water rights be administered both in Utah and Wyoming, regardless of state lines. In the past, each state administered this river basin as two separate units, and each state used a different water rights administration system. Many conflicting permits were issued in one state without regard to other, resulting in an over–appropriation of water. Additionally, the State of Utah issued Utah stream diversion water right permits that overlapped Wyoming water rights.

RTi acquired data, designed and developed a GIS database, and used the GIS to develop a series of tools for water rights management for the Burntfork River basin. The new system uses maps in ArcView to identify irrigated parcels, their water rights, and associated head gates. An interface was developed in ArcView to allow user access to database records.

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