Watershed Symposium 2024

Commissioner Brian Steed and Deputy Commissioner Tim Davis will provide an update on the implementation of the Great Salt Lake Strategic Plan, current conditions of the lake, and the next steps for the long term health of the lake.

Come and learn about the challenges of implementing a large-scale river delta restoration close to a major urban area in Utah County.

Full Abstract:
The Provo River Delta Restoration project is one of the largest ecological restoration projects completed in the Jordan River watershed. After 10 years of planning and almost 5 years of construction, this ambitious project has been completed and is now open to the public. The Delta was re-created where the Provo River enters Utah Lake and now provides habitat for the threatened June sucker to grow from larvae to juvenile and provides many recreation opportunities for residents and visitors to the area. With nearly five miles of new river channel, two-hundred acres of open waters, and complete public access to all areas, this will be a resource that is valued for generations to come. This presentation will provide insights into how to develop the needed partnerships to achieve something at this scale and we will discuss some of the challenges of implementing such a large project so close to a highly urbanized area. It required an ambitious vision, perseverance in the face of challenge, and lots of public outreach to get this project done. We hope you can go visit and get on the water, walk with your family, observe the abundant wildlife, and maybe drop in a fishing line at this great location that balances the needs of both fish and people. Check us out at www.provoriverdelta.us.

Ever wonder what’s really going on in Utahns’ minds and hearts when it comes to water? A new values study conducted by Envision Utah, Utah Water Ways, and others helps us understand not just what Utahns care about, but why Utahns care about the things they do. These findings are invaluable for anyone in water policy or public messaging.

Full Abstract:
Envision Utah and Utah Water Ways, along with other partners around the state, just completed a landmark research project to understand what’s in Utahns’ hearts and minds when it comes to water issues. Our findings tell us not just what Utahns care about, but why Utahns care about the things they do. This research will provide invaluable insights for anyone involved in water policy or public messaging.

Among other things, we found that:

• Utahns have high awareness and concern about water issues — though not quite as high as some other western states.
• Many Utahns have a high sense of self-efficacy when it comes to water — they believe they can make a meaningful difference in water conservation.
• Utahns believe that state and municipal governments bear a lot of responsibility to reduce individual water use. 
• Utahns have some significant misconceptions about how water is used and what strategies would do the most to reduce household and community water use. 

In addition, our findings also include “values maps” that represent how Utahns connect water to their deeply held priorities. We also have findings related to landscaping preferences, effective messages to motivate individual behavior changes, and even the words and phrases that Utahns best respond to.

Attendees will learn the answers to these important questions (i.e., learning objectives):

• What does the public understand — and misunderstand — about key water issues?
• What water-related issues do Utahns most care about? Why do Utahns care about those issues?
• What are the deeply held values and beliefs that motivate their priorities? 
• What kinds of tradeoffs are Utahns willing to make to serve their priorities?
• How do priorities, values, and tradeoffs differ by region or other demographics?
• How do we most effectively communicate about water-related issues to motivate behavior change? 

This research is hot off the presses — symposium attendees will be among the first to see the results. The research was conducted with a week-long online focus group and a random-sample survey of 800 Utahns.

A recent survey across the Intermountain West found that the foremost challenge facing wetland managers was increasing temperatures and drought. Through a survey of wetland managers working in state and federal agencies, we identified how changes in temperature and precipitation are affecting the region's wetlands and how managers are responding to those changes. Participants will learn about the most common strategies employed and the predictions that wetland managers have for the future. The session will give participants a chance to share ideas about how the results might be used to inform future policies to improve wetland sustainability in one of the driest regions of North America.

A native walk of the Bear River with the ancestors of the Bear River and the life ways it provided and must still provide.

Full Abstract:
The Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation has lived in the Bear River Watershed for over 13,000 years. The Bear River was the most important resources to our ancestors. It gave life. It was abundant with game, wetlands, drinking water, fish, and was a trail system for our people, and it always flowed into the Great Salt Lake. We would like to discuss our Tribal History of the Bear River and how we used it historically, how we used the Great Salt Lake, and how the depletion of these resources would be catastrophic to every in the Wasatch Front. We want to discuss food we used, grounds we farmed, and all the native plants that existed and how losing them is causing us to lose the river and a depletion in the Great Salt Lake. It'll be a native walking experience of the Bear River.

As Utah faces water scarcity, reevaluating water allocations to reflect the highest social value is crucial. By integrating social values into aquifer storage and recovery projects, communities can boost water's contribution to well-being, ensuring security, resilience, and equitable access for future generations.

Full Abstract:
Water resource management regimes allocate water across different users and, at least implicitly, across time. The traditional focus has been on satisfying the demands of municipal, residential, agricultural, and commercial uses. Increasingly, demands for water in Utah to support ecological functioning have been recognized. However, as communities grapple with the challenges of water scarcity, there is a growing recognition for the need to assess whether current allocations reflect highest and best use of water now and into the future. What is needed are allocations that get the most social value for each acre-foot buck. This requires determining a “social value of water” in each of its uses, including use now versus use in the future and in different circumstances — for example, in good and bad years for precipitation. This presentation explores the concept of assessing social values of water in the context of aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) projects. We show that by properly accounting for social values across all situations, the total contribution of water to social wellbeing in communities can go up, even as the physical amount of water is unchanged. Current approaches may be severely missing that mark. The presentation will highlight the importance of understanding and quantifying the broader economic and social dimensions ASR projects and other management actions and their potential to enhance water security, community resilience, equitable access, and economic activity for present and future generations.

The H2Oquirrh Vision Plan harnesses attention on the Oquirrh range’s washes and creeks and channels it into impactful improvements that have both environmental and community benefits. This talk will present the final version of the study, focusing on the vision, goals, and strategies that will steer the implementation of the plan.

Full Abstract:
There is heightened attention on water in the Great Salt Lake Basin, with dwindling water resources and a shrinking lake making national news. Drought has caused intermittent streams to have longer dry periods and changes in stormwater runoff have exacerbated issues with water quality and flooding. During this session, we will share the vision, goals, and recommendations developed for H2Oquirrh, a comprehensive vision plan for the waterways of Southwest Salt Lake County and the Oquirrh Mountain Range. The H2Oquirrh Vision Plan is an opportunity to harness attention on critical natural resources and channel it into impactful improvements that have both environmental and community benefits. It is one of the first plans to facilitate collaboration across jurisdictions with the goal of preserving open space, supporting natural hydrology, and connecting people to the outdoors in creative ways. The creeks and washes in the Southwest portion of the Salt Lake Valley, including Bingham, Rose, Midas, Butterfield, and Barney’s, Juniper, Wood Hollow, and Beef Hollow, have received less attention than the creeks flowing out of the Wasatch Range. Originating in the Oquirrh foothills, these waterways are significant environmental and natural systems that provide community benefits. Bringing attention to these creeks through the H2Oquirrh Vision Plan presents an exciting opportunity to build community-led solutions and explore new ways of supporting the interface between cities and their waterways. Over the last year, the project team has pulled topical expert feedback, community inputs, and design and engineering strategies to create a vision plan with a holistic regional approach. The plan identifies environmental, economic, and social goals to guide cities as they plan for future open space and development surrounding the waterways, as well as targeted strategies and actions that can steer implementation of the plan in the next five years. Small steps and grand visions work together to create this vision, with ideas ranging from aquifer recharge and native vegetation enhancement to low impact development (LID) and trail systems to benefit the entire downstream watershed. This talk will present the final version of the study, focusing on the vision, goals, and strategies that will steer the implementation of the plan. The multi-disciplinary presenters will provide a variety of perspectives on what went into the making of this plan.

The poster session is a forum for presenters to highlight programs and to share successful ideas with colleagues by presenting a research study, a practical problem-solving effort, an innovative program, and more.

Posters are listed alphabetically by title. ==> See Full Abstracts

Establishing a Functional Flows Framework for the Great Salt Lake Basin
Farah Nusrat, Utah State University
Functional flows are components of flow regimes that sustain river, wetland, and the Great Salt Lake (GSL) ecosystems, including hydrological, ecological, geomorphic, and biogeochemical processes. Natural resource managers can utilize this framework to design strategies for increasing resilience of GSL Basin waterbodies to climate change.

Great Salt Lake Playa Dust Suppression via Artificial Surface Crusting
Zachary Claerhout, University of Utah / Department of Atmospheric Sciences
Kevin Perry, Department of Atmospheric Sciences / University of Utah
Dust from the exposed portions of the Great Salt Lake (GSL) lakebed poses a potential health risk that may need to be mitigated if the lake level remains low. This study investigates the efficacy of artificial surface crusting via surface soil saturation as a potential dust suppression mechanism on the GSL playa.

Novel Rapid Lead and Copper Detection Method in Drinking Water
Nick Halverson, e-sens
This abstract presents new viable alternative lead and copper methods for reliable and portable testing applications that would allow much greater access for water and wastewater testers.

Rio Tinto Reduce Reclaim Remediate
Kiani Ellingson, Rio Tinto
Julie LeFevre, Rio Tinto
Rio Tinto Kennecott is committed to environmental water stewardship. From the metering and measuring of everyday water use, the preservation of the Inland Sea Shorebird Reserve, and our donation of water to the Great Salt Lake, these efforts benefit Utah, the community where we operate.

The Southwest Sustainability Innovation Engine (SWSIE)  envisions a thriving future for the Southwest as a hub of green innovation, with industries and communities supported by clean water and renewable energy with STEM-enabled jobs and economic growth accessible to all.

Full Abstract:
University of Utah along with six core academic partners are part of a multi-institutional enterprise to confront the climate challenges facing the Southwest and spur economic development in the region. The Southwest Sustainability Innovation Engine (SWSIE) addresses sustainability-driven innovations with an integrated, systems-level approach to equitably transform water security, renewable energy, and net carbon emissions and use of carbon directly captured from the atmosphere.

The mission is to transform the Southwest region into a national innovation hub, leading not only to positive climate impacts, but also to high wage jobs, economic growth, and technology-based startups and venture capital investments. The SWSIE Team envisions a thriving future for the Southwest as a hub of green innovation, with industries and communities supported by clean water and renewable energy with STEM-enabled jobs and economic growth accessible to all. To unleash this potential, SWSIE is building an ecosystem of researchers, innovators, educators, and decision-makers to harness STEM innovation and grow a workforce pipeline for the net zero economy.

This presentation will provide an overview of the innovation of SWSIE, with a focus on water. The presentation will discuss SWSIE strength in translation of research to commercialization and connecting academia with industry. This includes a roadmap for success, workforce development, and more. Further, the presentation will provide examples of projects and future initiatives. Core academic partners in SWSIE are University of Utah, Arizona State University, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the Desert Research Institute, the Water Research Foundation, SciTech Institute and Maricopa Community Colleges.