Bear River and Last Chance Canal

Posted by Jim Stagge on July 13, 2016

The entire David Rosenberg Lab packed up for a day long field trip to learn more about water management in the Bear River. In particular, we were curious about the Bear River in Idaho, a portion that we had previously not modeled.

We all managed to squeeze into one car and left Logan for:

Last Chance Canal

This is a major irrigation canal just over the Utah border in Idaho. We were given a fantastic tour and learned about the management schemes used by this canal company.

After a full morning learning about Last Chance Canal, we stopped by the nearby Niter Ice Caves and drove on towards Alexander Reservoir.

Group with Bear River and Last Chance flume in the background.

Last Chance Canal flume with group.

Alexander Reservoir and Bear Lake Migratory Bird Refuge

After lunch in Soda Springs, ID, the group stopped at the nearby Alexander Reservoir. This reservoir, managed by Pacificorps was constructed for hydro-electric generation in 1923 and consists of a 103 foot high concrete dam.

After a quick walking tour, the group packed up again for our final stop - the Bear Lake Migratory Bird Refuge. This is a beautiful managed wetland with nearly 80,000 acres of marsh, open water, uplands, and mudflats. Our group took a portion of the auto tour route before packing up and heading back to Logan.

All in all, it was a fun and helpful field trip for all of us involved in water management for this region.

Soda Dam at Alexander Reservoir.

Bear Lake Migratory Bird Refuge.

Just for fun

If you’ve made it this far in my post, you deserve some fun. Here is another use of the Last Chance Canal flume.

• ← Previous Post
• Next Post →