View source for Sevier Lake

{{short description|Intermittent lake in Millard County, Utah, United States}}
{{Infobox body of water
 | name = Sevier Lake
 | image = Sevier Lake UT.jpg
 | caption = Sevier Lake aerial view from the north
 | image_bathymetry = 
 | caption_bathymetry = 
 | location = [[Millard County, Utah|Millard County]], [[Utah]],<br>United States
 | coords = {{coord|38|56|20|N|113|09|43|W|type:waterbody_region:US-UT_source:gnis_scale:250000|display=inline,title}}
 | type = [[Intermittent river|intermittent]]  [[endorheic]]
 | inflow = [[Beaver River (Utah)|Beaver]] and [[Sevier River|Sevier]] rivers
 | outflow = 
 | catchment = 
 | basin_countries = United States
 | length = 
 | width = 
 | area = 
 | depth = 
 | max-depth = 
 | volume = 
 | residence_time = 
 | shore = 
 |elevation = {{convert|4550|ft|m|abbr=on}}
 | islands = 
 | cities = 
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| pushpin_map             = Utah#USA
| pushpin_label_position  = 
| pushpin_map_alt         = Location of Sevier Lake in Utah, USA.
| pushpin_map_caption     = 
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'''Sevier Lake''' {{IPAc-en|s|ɛ|ˈ|v|ɪər}} is an intermittent and [[endorheic]] lake which lies in the lowest part of the [[Sevier Desert]], [[Millard County, Utah]], United States. Like [[Great Salt Lake]] and [[Utah Lake]], it is a remnant of [[Pleistocene]] [[Lake Bonneville]].  Sevier Lake is fed primarily by the [[Beaver River (Utah)|Beaver]] and [[Sevier River|Sevier]] rivers, and the additional inflow is from the lake's watershed that is part of the [[:Category:Escalante-Sevier region|Escalante–Sevier hydrologic subregion]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Escalante–Sevier Watershed |url=http://water.usgs.gov/lookup/getwatershed?16030009 }}</ref>  The lake has been mostly dry throughout [[recorded history]] and its dry lakebed is a source of wind-blown dust.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_8941298 |title=Archived copy |access-date=2014-07-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810124711/http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_8941298 |archive-date=2014-08-10 }}</ref>

==History==
The first recorded observation was in 1872, which stated that the lake's surface area was {{convert|188|sqmi|km2}}, salinity was measured at 86 parts per thousand, two and a half times that of the ocean, and maximum depth was {{convert|15|ft|m}}. In January 1880, the lake was nearly dry and had been so for the past one or two years. The Sevier River, which once flowed to the lake, is now largely diverted for irrigation. In 1987 however, the lake was again similar to the recorded description of 1872.

The [[Domínguez–Escalante expedition]] named it "Laguna de Miera" after [[Bernardo de Miera y Pacheco]], a cartographer on their 1776 expedition.  In 1825, trappers working for [[William Henry Ashley]] trapped the region, and [[Jedediah Smith]] named it after him, the Ashley Lake.  On some maps, it was named after [[Joseph Nicollet]] in the mid-19th century.  The lake is currently named for the river, which is derived from "Río Severo" (wild river [Wild in modern Spanish is Salvaje or Silvestre]), a local name given by early [[Spanish language|Spanish]] explorers.<ref>Van Cott, J. W., 1990, Utah Place Names, {{ISBN|0-87480-345-4}}</ref>

==Water==
In late 2011, due to an unusually wet year, many man-made reservoirs in Millard County began dumping excess water through the [[Sevier River]] onto the Sevier Lake bed.<ref>{{ cite web |title=Sevier River Surplus Water |url=http://millardccp.com/sevier-river-surplus-water-p1608-1.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120325235018/http://millardccp.com/sevier-river-surplus-water-p1608-1.htm |archive-date=2012-03-25 }}</ref> Standing water existed on the [[Dry lake|playa]] for the first time since 1984 and extended down past Needle Point, which is the feature seen on the west edge of the lake. In the deepest points, water levels were over three feet deep. Due to high salinity content, of over 20% TDS, the water never fully froze from the winter temperatures, which were well below {{cvt|32|F|||}}, except near the inlet of the Sevier River.

==Potash mining==
In 2018, [[Crystal Peak Minerals, Inc.]] (CPM) announced a development-stage [[potassium sulfate]] (SOP) project for Sevier Dry Lake.<ref>{{cite web |title=Crystal Peak Minerals |publisher=Crystal Peak Minerals |year=2017 |url=http://crystalpeakminerals.com }}</ref> The company stated that extensive exploration drilling and other test work had been completed across the playa. In 2018, CPM also published an [[National Instrument 43-101|NI 43-101]] feasibility study for the production of [[potassium sulfate]]. The study forecasted average annual SOP production over the 30-year life of the project of approximately 298,000 metric tonnes of [[potassium sulfate]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Crystal Peak Minerals Inc Announces Filing of the Feasibility Study for its Sevier Playa Potash Project |publisher=Globe News Wire |year=2018 |url=https://globenewswire.com/news-release/2018/02/21/1372455/0/en/Crystal-Peak-Minerals-Inc-Announces-the-Filing-of-the-Feasibility-Study-for-Its-Sevier-Playa-Potash-Project.html | access-date=January 4, 2019}}</ref>
The federal government approved the project in August 2019. Reporting in 2019 suggested that, over the project's 30-year life, potash production could reach 372,000 tons a year.<ref>{{cite web |title=Feds approve massive potash mine on dry Utah lakebed; it could bring hundreds of jobs, millions in sales |publisher=Salt Lake Tribune |year=2019 |url=https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2019/08/28/feds-approve-massive/ }}</ref>

In December 2021, CPM was absorbed by the Canadian gold company Western Exploration and announced a focus solely on gold mining at the Aura site north of Elko, NV. The companies made no further mention about plans for potash mining at Sevier Dry Lake.<ref>{{cite web |title=Crystal Peak Minerals Inc. in its reverse takeover by Western Exploration |url=https://www.osler.com/en/about-us/representative-work/crystal-peak-minerals-inc/ |publisher=Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP. |date=December 22, 2021 }}</ref>

On July 31, 2023, the [[Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance]] filed a lawsuit alleging that the [[Bureau of Land Management]] "failed to consider alternatives that would cause fewer environmental impacts" when it approved a proposal by [[Peak Minerals, Inc.]] to mine potash from the lake.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.kuer.org/health-science-environment/2023-08-01/environmentalists-sue-to-stop-sevier-lake-potash-mine-in-millard-county |title=Environmentalists sue to stop Sevier Lake potash mine in Millard County |first=Sam |last=Clark |publisher=KUER/Associated Press |date=August 1, 2023 }}</ref>

==Climate==

{{Weather box
|location = years 1987–1993 Sevier Dry Lake, Utah (elevation 4,550 ft)
|single line = Yes
|Jan record high F = 68
|Feb record high F = 69
|Mar record high F = 78
|Apr record high F = 86
|May record high F = 91
|Jun record high F = 102
|Jul record high F = 104
|Aug record high F = 102
|Sep record high F = 94
|Oct record high F = 87
|Nov record high F = 77
|Dec record high F = 60
|year record high F = 104
|Jan high F = 35.6
|Feb high F = 40.7
|Mar high F = 56.6
|Apr high F = 65.7
|May high F = 75.1
|Jun high F = 87.4
|Jul high F = 96.2
|Aug high F = 91.3
|Sep high F = 82.7
|Oct high F = 70.2
|Nov high F = 49.5
|Dec high F = 36.1
|year high F = 65.6
|Jan low F = 8.9
|Feb low F = 13.7
|Mar low F = 30.6
|Apr low F = 35.4
|May low F = 42.8
|Jun low F = 52.1
|Jul low F = 61.5
|Aug low F = 56.0
|Sep low F = 46.3
|Oct low F = 36.4
|Nov low F = 23.5
|Dec low F = 10.7
|year low F = 34.8
|Jan record low F = -18
|Feb record low F = -31
|Mar record low F = 9
|Apr record low F = 14
|May record low F = 25
|Jun record low F = 32
|Jul record low F = 49
|Aug record low F = 30
|Sep record low F = 28
|Oct record low F = 20
|Nov record low F = -7
|Dec record low F = -21
|year record low F = -31
|Jan precipitation inch = 0.38
|Feb precipitation inch = 0.39
|Mar precipitation inch = 1.05
|Apr precipitation inch = 0.46
|May precipitation inch = 0.78
|Jun precipitation inch = 0.56
|Jul precipitation inch = 0.38
|Aug precipitation inch = 0.75
|Sep precipitation inch = 0.49
|Oct precipitation inch = 0.89
|Nov precipitation inch = 0.45
|Dec precipitation inch = 0.36
|year precipitation inch = 6.96
|Jan snow inch = 5.0
|Feb snow inch = 5.3
|Mar snow inch = 2.0
|Apr snow inch = 0.0
|May snow inch = 0.0
|Jun snow inch = 0.0
|Jul snow inch = 0.0
|Aug snow inch = 0.0
|Sep snow inch = 0.0
|Oct snow inch = 0.0
|Nov snow inch = 1.6
|Dec snow inch = 6.9
|year snow inch = 20.8
|source 1 = The Western Regional Climate Center<ref name="WRCC">{{cite web
| url =http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?ut7747| title =Seasonal Temperature and Precipitation Information | access-date =March 29, 2013 | publisher =Western Regional Climate Center }}</ref>
|date=March 2013}}

[[Image:Sevierrivermap.png|thumb|Map of the Sevier Lake drainage basin]]

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Sevier Lake Utah September 2013.JPG|Sevier Lake after a late summer thunderstorm
File:SevierDryLake-2009-ByPhilKonstantin.jpg|As seen from US 50 in 2009
File:SevierLake.JPG|Aerial view from the east in 2011
</gallery>

== References ==
{{commons category}}
<references/>
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060504071701/http://www.engineering.usu.edu/uwrl/atlas/ch6/ch6sev.html Terminal Lake Systems - Sevier Lake]. ''Utah Water Research Laboratory, [[Utah State University]]''
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060902134218/http://www.media.utah.edu/UHE/s/SEVIERLAKE.html Utah History Encyclopedia].
*[http://www.waterhistory.org/histories/delta3/ Sevier River Flooding 1983-1984]. ''WaterHistory.org''

{{Deserts}}
{{Utah}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Endorheic lakes of Utah]]
[[Category:Intermittent lakes]]
[[Category:Lakes of the Great Basin]]
[[Category:Lakes of Millard County, Utah]]
[[Category:Great Basin National Heritage Area]]
[[Category:Pleistocene United States]]
[[Category:Quaternary Utah]]
[[Category:Lakes of Utah]]