What is Great Basin?
[[Image:greatbasinmap.png|thumb|right|250px|Map of the Great Basin]] The '''Great Basin''' is a [[desert]] area in the western [[United States of America]], part of the [[Basin and Range]] Province. It is very dry and very large, occupying most of the state of [[Nevada]] and extending into [[California]], [[Idaho]], [[Oregon]], [[Utah]], and a small part of [[Wyoming]]. In all, is about 200,000 square miles (520,000 square kilometers) in size. It is an 'endorheic' [[Basin (geology)|basin]], which means that there is no outlet to the ocean. The Great Basin runs from the highest land in the [[Sierra Nevada (US)|Sierras]] and [[Rockies]] in the west, down to lowland deserts in the east. The Great Basin's longest and largest river is the [[Bear River (Utah)|Bear River]] of {{convert|350|mi|km|abbr=on}},<ref name=Bear>{{cite web |title=Bear River watershed description |url=http://www.bearriverinfo.org/description/ |publisher=Bear River Watershed Information System |accessdate=2010-04-28 |archive-date=2011-07-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719052043/http://www.bearriverinfo.org/description/ |url-status=dead }} (an additional ~1% is in the SW corner of WY)</ref> and the largest single watershed is the [[Humboldt River]] drainage of roughly {{convert|17000|sqmi|km2|abbr=on}}. Most Great Basin precipitation is [[snow]]. The water that neither [[Evaporation|evaporates]] nor is taken for human use will sink into [[groundwater]] [[aquifer]]s. Evaporation occurs from [[sink (geography)|geographic sinks]].<ref name=NPS>{{cite web |title=Great Basin |url=http://www.nature.nps.gov/Geology/usgsnps/province/brgrbas.html |work=Geologic Provinces of the United States: Basin and Range Province |location=nature.nps.gov |publisher=[[National Park Service]] |accessdate=2009-01-10 |archive-date=2009-01-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090116142424/http://www.nature.nps.gov/geology/usgsnps/province/brgrbas.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Lake Tahoe]], North America's largest [[alpine lake]],<ref>{{cit