It is used extensively for irrigation along its course, with the consequence that Sevier Lake is usually dry. The reservoir holds up to 71,826 acre feet (88,596,000 mBy the early 1900s, the Lower Sevier often dried up below the Parts of the Upper Sevier, and its higher tributaries and feeder lakes, are good trout waters, particularly in National Forest lands. Pika and marmot are found near mountain peaks and flying squirrels can be found in the Navajo Lake area.The foothill and transition zones support a wide variety of vegetation types. Most Native Americans in the area were moved to the By summer 1872 many towns in the area had been resettled, and the white population increased rapidly for a number of years. During this time, Richfield grew into the largest city in the Sevier Valley, sometimes referred to as "the hub of Central Utah".The first irrigation along the Sevier River was established in the spring of 1850, on the Sanpete County stretch of the river. Coal, rock salts and other minerals have been mined from the Gold was mined at several places along the river starting in the late 19th century. In 1896 the Sevier Railroad was extended to the gold mining area of Uranium was first discovered in Piute County in 1948.Trains stopped running regularly on the Marysvale Branch in 1972, and in 1983 heavy flooding washed out much of the tracks along the Sevier River. The Sevier River is a 385-mile -long river in the Great Basin of southwestern Utah in the United States. In June 1909 heavy snowmelt broke the Gunnison Bend Dam and flooded the town of Heavy water use led to the drying up of Sevier Lake as early as 1880; dust blowing off the dry lake bed has become a persistent source of particulate pollution as far as Along with agriculture, the Sevier basin has had a long history of mining and resource extraction, which continues in some areas of the basin today. Most of these slaves were Paiutes that had been captured by more aggressive Ute bands.In 1821, the Sevier River basin became Mexican territory following the The first Mormon settlers arrived in the Sevier Valley in late 1849 under the direction of Between 1865 and 1872 more than 150 violent confrontations occurred between Mormon settlers and various Native American groups including the Utes, Paiutes, The tribes were ultimately defeated with the intervention of the US government in 1870, although minor confrontations and skirmishes continued until about 1872. The Spanish traded manufactured goods and guns for furs, hides, horses and slaves from the Native Americans. The Sevier Ri Irrigation in Millard County began in 1859.Agriculture was made difficult by frequent flooding of the Sevier River. Gunnison Bend Reservoir is visited by thousands of In the high mountains and plateaus above 8,000 feet (2,400 m) elevation, conifer-aspen forest prevails in the alpine zone with forests of The high country is home to small mammals such as ground squirrels, red squirrels, snowshoe hare, chipmunks and porcupine. Many of these habitats have been replaced by agriculture, but there are still an estimated 92,000 acres (37,000 ha) of wetland and aquatic habitat extant in the basin, of which about half is located in Millard and Sanpete counties alone.Because the Sevier River provides some of the only water-based habitat in a large desert area, it is used by abundant migratory waterfowl including geese, ducks, cranes and shorebirds. Otter Creek Reservoir was constructed between 1897 and 1901 by a consortium of ten irrigation companies in the Sevier Valley.Piute Dam was constructed on the Upper Sevier River between 1908 and 1914, forming Piute Reservoir. The Sevier Fault and Elsinore Fault run mostly parallel to the upper Sevier River above Gunnison, and the Paunsaugunt fault runs in the same general direction further east, passing through Bryce Canyon.Large mineral deposits occur in various areas of the basin, including There has been relatively recent volcanic activity in the Sevier basin between 1000–1500 AD, when Due to the semi-desert climate, the valleys of the Sevier River basin were historically mostly grassland and shrubland, with the seeds of The Sevier River historically supported large areas of wetland and riparian zones, especially where it formed a delta at the northern end of Sevier Lake. The Sevier River is formed by the confluence of Minnie Creek and Tyler Creek in The Sevier continues north past The Sevier River drainage basin is on the border of the The Sevier River basin is bordered to the south by the drainage basins of Most of the Sevier drainage is rural, composed of small farming communities.The Sevier River corridor is a major transportation route, with Surface rock in the Sevier River basin is composed mostly of Significant vertical displacement has occurred on several north-south faults in the basin.