The East Canyon Watershed Committee is a group dedicated to protecting and enchancing the water quality in the East Canyon Watershed. It has been active since the early 1990’s and comprises state agencies, federal agencies, and local interest groups.
Members of the East Canyon Watershed Committee at the fall meeting - East Canyon Resort - October 2009
Back row: Mary Perry, Mike Luers, Dave Tripp, Michael Boyle, Louis Cooper, Ray Loveless. Front row: Kari Lundeen, Carol France, Julie Howe, Lars Christensen.
The original group, known as the East Canyon Technical Advisory Committee, provided oversight, input, and direction into the development of the 1999 Clean Lakes Study on East Canyon Reservoir and the 2000 Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) studies for East Canyon Creek and Reservoir. These studies documented water quality impairments to the cold water fishery and made recommendations for improvement. The committee began at once to pursue those recommendations.
Water quality improvement projects throughout the East Canyon Watershed have included a Stream Visual Assessment Protocol to evaluate overall stream health and riparian condition; studies into feasibility of augmenting stream flow; streambank stabilization and re-vegetation; sediment detention basins; fencing; and farm runoff improvement projects.Informational and educational efforts have included programs for developers to reduce sedimentation from construction sites; working with ski hills and golf courses to reduce erosion and nutrient inputs to the stream; and public outreach such as curriculum development for local schools, educational field trips, educational signs on trails, a “Scoop the Poop” campaign, and this website.
Water quality improvement does not come cheaply, but the committee and its members have been successful in securing over $2 million in federal funding towards water quality improvements in the watershed. The committee has also procured over $6 million in state and local match through volunteer hours and money spent on project work by stakeholders including the Snyderville Basin Water Reclamation District, Swaner EcoCenter, Park City Municipal Corporation, The Canyons, and Park City Mountain Resort.
The committee recently oversaw the revisions to the East Canyon Creek and Reservoir TMDL studies (2009). These studies described measurable improvements to the water quality in East Canyon Creek and East Canyon Reservoir. However, more must be done to restore the cold water fishery. Given that recommendation, the East Canyon Watershed Committee is actively implementing additional projects.
For a list of active stakeholders and participants, please click on our Participant Directory.
To become a participant, please attend our next meeting! An archive of past meeting minutes and information on upcoming meetings is available under Meetings.
