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<br />MuiSO
<br />
<br />sodium carbonate, is the
<br />ninth most widely used
<br />chemical in the United
<br />States and is used as a
<br />chemical raw material to
<br />produce other industrial
<br />and consumer products.
<br />More than 50 percent of
<br />Wyoming's soda ash is
<br />used in the manufacture
<br />of glass products and the
<br />remainder in many diverse
<br />manufacturing processes.
<br />Production of oil and nat-
<br />ural gas and the generation
<br />of power at PacifiCorp's
<br />2,000 megawatt capacity
<br />Jim Bridger Power Plant,
<br />along with the many other
<br />service and supply business-
<br />es that support the mineral
<br />and energy industries,
<br />have vitally important
<br />employment, tax and eco-
<br />nomic ramifications to
<br />Wyoming's economy.
<br />Nearly 5 million visitors
<br />visit Wyoming each year,
<br />flocking to the state's pop-
<br />ular vacation and recre-
<br />ation attractions. Water-
<br />based recreation plays a
<br />significant role in the eco-
<br />nomic base of the basin.
<br />Flaming Gorge, Fontenelle,
<br />Fremont Lake, Green
<br />River and the Alpine areas
<br />of the Wind River Range
<br />support fishing, hunting,
<br />power boating, sailirig,
<br />canoeing, rafting, skiing,
<br />hiking, mountaineering
<br />and wildlife observing.
<br />Across the entire state
<br />there are two national
<br />parks, two national monu-
<br />ments, two national recre~
<br />ation areas, 10 state parks,
<br />seven national forests and
<br />nearly 270,000 surface
<br />acres of lakes. Wyoming
<br />has 22 species of game
<br />fish, including six kinds of
<br />trout that find the clear
<br />and cold streams and lakes
<br />to their liking - rainbow,
<br />brook, cutthroat, brown,
<br />
<br />golden and mackinaw.
<br />A 1991 survey by the
<br />Wyoming Game and Fish
<br />Department estimated
<br />that 915,600 angling days
<br />occurred in Wyoming's
<br />portion of the basin.
<br />Fishing success is general-
<br />ly high and Wyoming is
<br />well known as an out-
<br />doorsman's paradise.
<br />To help maintain exist-
<br />ing stream environments
<br />and fisheries, the
<br />Wyoming
<br />Legislature enact-
<br />ed an instream
<br />flow law in 1986,
<br />making instrearn
<br />flow, provided
<br />either from natur-
<br />al stream flow or
<br />from storage
<br />water, a beneficial
<br />use of water. To
<br />date, two instrearn
<br />flow permits for
<br />stream segments
<br />within the basin
<br />have been issued
<br />by the Wyoming
<br />state engineer and
<br />eight applications
<br />are pending.
<br />Construction of
<br />Fontenelle Dam
<br />induced changes
<br />in the Green
<br />River which
<br />Congress antici-
<br />pated when it
<br />established the
<br />Seedskadee National
<br />Wildlife Refuge in 1965 to
<br />help offset the loss of habi-
<br />tat due to the construction
<br />of Fontenelle and Flaming
<br />Gorge dams. The refuge
<br />exists on about 14,000
<br />acres adjacent to the
<br />Green River. Hundreds
<br />of thousands of pioneers
<br />crossed the Green River
<br />as they followed the
<br />Oregon and Mormon
<br />trails, which traversed
<br />lands now within the
<br />refuge.
<br />Although Wyoming's
<br />portion of the basin
<br />encompasses 16 percent of
<br />
<br />CRWUA
<br />
<br />the land area in Wyoming,
<br />it is home to 13 percent
<br />(62,000) of the state's
<br />population. Communities
<br />served by Green River
<br />Basin water include
<br />Pinedale, Big Piney,
<br />Farson, Kemmerer, Green
<br />River and Rock Springs.
<br />The largest trans basin
<br />diversion of Colorado
<br />River system waters is
<br />into the overappropriated
<br />North Platte River Basin
<br />
<br />whom Lake Mead was
<br />named) was largely
<br />responsible for writing
<br />Wyoming's water laws. It
<br />has not been found neces-
<br />sary to change much in
<br />those laws during the 100
<br />years of statehood that
<br />have followed, and
<br />Wyoming's water laws
<br />formed the basis of water
<br />law in many other western
<br />states. Due to being a
<br />headwaters state,
<br />
<br />
<br />to replace diversions for
<br />municipal use by the city
<br />of Cheyenne (13,981 acre-
<br />feet in 1990). In addition,
<br />two minor transbasin
<br />diversions occur for irriga-
<br />tion use.
<br />Wyoming became the
<br />first state in the union to
<br />claim state ownership of
<br />water when the state con-
<br />stitution was ratified in
<br />1890. Wyoming's water
<br />law is based on the prior
<br />appropriation doctrine.
<br />Wyoming's first territorial
<br />engineer and state engi-
<br />neer, Elwood Mead (who
<br />later became commission-
<br />er of the U.S. Bureau of
<br />Reclamation and for
<br />
<br />Wyoming is a party to
<br />seven interstate compacts
<br />and two U.S. Supreme
<br />Court decrees which gov-
<br />ern her rights to beneficial-
<br />ly use water, including the
<br />Colorado River Compact
<br />of 1922 and the Upper
<br />Colorado River Compact
<br />of 1948, which apportioned
<br />14 percent of the Upper
<br />Basin water supply to the
<br />state of Wyoming.
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