'The Logan River Observatory: A Lab In Our Own Backyard'
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The Logan River is quickly becoming one of the most heavily-instrumented watersheds in the American West. Beginning as a high gradient, sub-alpine stream in Northern Utah’s Bear River Range, this river is fed by many large karst springs and surface tributaries while descending ~3,000 feet through Logan Canyon. The mountainous portions of the watershed support expansive rangeland and recreational use while delivering much needed water to Cache Valley’s urban area, adjacent farmland, and eventually the Great Salt Lake. The snow dominated hydrology, extreme porosity, and high gradients of the limestone and dolomite canyons provide significant groundwater and facilitate surface/groundwater exchanges. Important ecosystems rely on these unique characteristics. Beginning with stations established as part of the innovative Urban Transitions and Aridregion Hydrosustainability (iUTAH) project, the Logan River Observatory (http://lro.usu.edu) is now comprised of 35 aquatic and climate monitoring sites that provide publicly available, 15-minute, quality-controlled data. This rich data set spans the montane stream to valley bottom wetland and includes the increasingly urbanizing area surrounding Logan City. These fundamental climate, hydrologic, and water quality measurements make our backyard an ideal study area where results can be widely generalizable to the many similarly situated, snowmelt-dominated regions of the world facing an increasingly uncertain hydrologic future.
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