Experts Study Wasatch Watersheds

Bulletin Board

Seeking to protect drinking water quality for future generations

October 17, 2000

Dr. Cynthia L. Paulson and Julie Vlier, both with B&C, look for invertebrates in City Creek.

A panel of water quality experts toured the Wasatch Canyons along eastern Salt Lake County from October 3-5 to get a first hand look at the source of water supply for 400,000 residents. After the tour they held a workshop to brainstorm ideas to monitor and protect water quality in one of the highest used forests in the United States. The panel was formed as part of the implementation of the “1999 Canyon Watershed Master Plan,” adopted by the City Council on September 7, 1999.

The Wasatch Canyons watershed is unique. Situated east of the Great Basin Desert, the mountain range receives up to 60-inches of precipitation at the higher elevations during the winter months in the form of snow. The narrow, steep canyons generate fast moving cold water streams that flow into the populated Salt Lake valley, where the precious liquid is diverted for irrigation and municipal water uses. Moreover, the canyon watersheds are popular outdoor recreation areas. Also within the canyons are residential and commercial developments. Historically, Salt Lake City has strived to protect the canyon’s water resources.

The last comprehensive watershed evaluation was made in 1949, when a board of water engineers conducted a sanitary survey of Salt Lake City’s canyon watersheds, including the Deer Creek Reservoir drainage. The results of that study guided the City’s

Expert panel members discuss water quality issues in Little Cottonwood Canyon.

watershed policies for the next one-half century.

The panel includes nationally recognized water quality experts and academicians from Utah and Colorado universities. Their task -- how to stop a water quality problem before serious degradation takes place. To start the process, the panel will conduct a comprehensive evaluation of each of the canyon watersheds, then develop a monitoring and response plan to accurately measure the various watershed use impacts on the environs and water quality.

The Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities (DPU) contracted with the engineering firm of Brown and Caldwell (B&C) to develop the “Monitoring and Response Plan.” The task will serve two main purposes: (1) paint a representative picture of the water quality in the canyon streams by collecting the appropriate data, and (2) develop the best methods to protect water quality based on that picture. According to B&C project leader Tom Jacobs, PE “Part of the first purpose, painting an accurate picture, is to provide the necessary scientific basis and guidance for monitoring activities, such as determining how, when and where to monitor water quality to get the most representative data. The ‘scientific basis’ of the plan will build on the current monitoring activities and will address the impact of increasing demands, current and future, on the watershed canyons.”

Left Dr. Edwin E. Geldreich, nationally recognized microbiologist and right Dr. Charles P. Gerba, University of Arizona, Department of Soil, Water & Environmental Sciences.

Dr. Edwin E. Geldreich, former EPA chief microbiologist, residing in Cincinnati, Ohio and Dr. Chuck P. Gerba, University of Arizona, are leading watershed experts in environmental microbiology. Dr. Geldreich is acknowledged by many as the dean of environmental microbiology with a distinguished career with EPA and Dr. Gerba is renowned for his work in environmental microbiology, having done extensive work on watersheds in California, Arizona and Colorado. Dr. Cynthia Paulson, with B&C, brings extensive watershed experience to the panel. Included on the panel are some of the best local minds from Utah's universities: Robert Alder, environmental attorney and Dr. Don Hayes, University of Utah; Dr. LaVere Merritt, Brigham Young University; and Dr. David Stevens and Dr. Darwin Sorensen, Utah State University. Completing the panel is Dr. Robert Ward from Colorado State University.

Lead person for the DPU is Florence Reynolds, Water Treatment and Quality Administrator. Also representing DPU are Russ Hone, Watershed Administrator and Linda Moss, Process Control Analyst. Representatives from other stakeholders, include the State of Utah Division of Drinking Water, Salt Lake Valley Health Department and the U.S.Forest Service.

At the conclusion of the 3-day workshop, B&C assembled pages of notes for inclusion in the work plan.

One of the first recommendations made by the panel is to change the long-standing routine monitoring program (set day and time of day sampling) to one that measures

Left Robert W. Alder, University of Utah Environmental Law Professor, and right, Dr. LaVere Merritt, Brigham Young University.

peak microbiologic (Coliform bacteria) events, such as during storms or high use weekend events. Routine sampling may or may not detect these events, but the peak event monitoring may prove to be more representative of the pollution loads reaching the treatment plants.

DPU Director, LeRoy W. Hooton, Jr. told the panel that their work was of vital importance to Salt Lake City’s future. “As we have benefitted from the efforts of those who have preceded us, it is our responsibility to ensure future generations clean and safe drinking water,” said Hooton. Citing future growth projections along the Wasatch Front, and the impacts of that growth on the canyon watersheds, Hooton told the panel that (their) “work will help the City meet its greatest challenge -- protecting the watersheds from pollution and maintaining the purity of its drinking water supply.”

The panel will be reassembled at a later date to further the study.