My watershed of interest is the Diamond Fork River Watershed, located southeast of Spanish Fork, UT. Five individual reaches were identified for further analysis and are shown in the pages linked.

This watershed has an area of 403.13 sq. km and was delineated using the USGS StreamStats application as well as double checking with data that has already been provided to me for this study area. The total length of the major streams in this watershed is 161.88 km. The major streams are shown in the image below. The straight-line distance from the outlet to the furthest point in the watershed is approximately 32.28 km and the longest flow path in the watershed is about 32.12 km.

The highest elevation point in this watershed is 3099.1 meters and the lowest elevation point is 1502.96 meters. This was calculated using Google Earth as well a checking this on the 0.5 LiDAR DEM that has been provided to me for this study area. The mean annual flow is 45.3 cfs. The drainage network is dendritic.

The summers are hot, dry, and mostly clear, and the winters are freezing, snowy, and partly cloudy. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies between 20°F to 90°F (WeatherSpark.com).

History of the Diamond Fork River- Anthropogenic Influence

After the completion of the Strawberry Tunnel in 1915, water from the Uinta Mountains in the Green River drainage was introduced to Sixth Water Creek, a tributary of the Diamond Fork River. The water then flowed into the Diamond Fork River to provide irrigation water in Utah Valley. The 1992 Central Utah Project Completion Act stated that the diversion flows were to be removed from the river and re-directed through a series of pipes and tunnels (U.S Congress, 1992). The diversion flows were then passed through the new Syar Tunnel to be introduced lower on Sixth Water Creek in 1996. The building of the pipes and tunnels was completed in 2004, resulting in the trans-basin diversion flows bypassing the entire Sixth Water/Diamond Fork drainage. During this time, the large flow augmentation was turned off when the Central Utah Project Completion Act was completed. The Diamond Fork River under went artificial flow augmentation for 90 years, which makes studying this river an exceptional opportunity.

Diamond Fork Watershed

Physiographic Setting

USGS Gaging Stream Statistics

Monthly statistics of the Diamond Fork River by year from 2001-2021. I acquired this data from the USGS, which was from the gage Diamond Fork Above Red Hollow Near Thistle, UT. As you can see there was a major flood in May 2011 and two smaller floods in June 2002 and July 2003.

Longitudinal Profile

Just a quick longitudinal profile of the Diamond Fork Watershed going from the mouth of the Diamond Fork River through the Upper Diamond Fork River.

Vegetation