Scientific Approach to Watershed Protection

The Wasatch National Forest is one of the most highly used forests in the United States.  Salt Lake City's Department of Pubic Utilities is gathering scientific data to ensure quality drinking water for future generations.

September 12, 2001

(Mesquite, Nevada) - Today, attendees of the American Water Works Association Intermountain Section Annual Conference heard a presentation on the progress of Salt Lake City's efforts to obtain scientific data in its quest to protect the quality of its drinking water supply.  City water officials view the potential of water degradation as a serious threat as the Wasatch Front continues to grow, spilling over into the Wasatch Canyon watersheds, located east of the city.  According to public utilities water quality and treatment administrator Florence Reynolds, “There is concern that the watersheds will be adversely impacted by growing throngs drawn to the mountain watersheds seeking their beauty, solace and recreational opportunities.” 

Salt Lake City’s water officials believe that modern technology, in the form of water quality testing, may be the strongest tool to manage the watersheds and ensure a continued supply of drinking water into the future. "Currently, the technology and standards used to predict watershed degradation are not keeping pace with drinking water technology and standards," says public utilities director, LeRoy W. Hooton, Jr., noting, "…the scientific data from the current study will aid the City in improving watershed management by developing scientific pollution indicators and measurements.”

Protection of the City's drinking water quality has long been the focus of City officials. "The citizen has a right to demand pure water. Our various sources of water must be kept strictly clean.  Whenever there is any contamination of water …vigorous measures must be taken under the ordinances to abate the evil," said Mayor Ezra Thompson in 1900.  The desire to protect the valley's limited water supply has resulted in a century old history of watershed protection measures. Sanitation, regulations and state and federal acts have contributed to the protection of 185 square miles of mountain watershed that today provide invaluable drinking water, scenic beauty and recreational opportunities for millions of people.

In 1988, Salt Lake City adopted a comprehensive Watershed Management Plan to protect the City's watersheds.  The Plan was updated in 1999. One of the recommendations was to “develop a new, comprehensive water quality monitoring program utilizing state-of-the-art technology.”  This recommendation was made during the ’99 Plan update, as it became apparent that additional scientific evidence was necessary to enact future regulatory programs in the watersheds. The environmental community, recreationist and the ski industry expressed the need for more scientific data to verify the impact of various activities prior to trying to regulate them.

The engineering firm of Brown and Caldwell was hired to assist Salt Lake City in developing the scientific data.  A “Blue Ribbon” panel of national and local water experts was assembled to study the watersheds and recommend a water quality action plan.  The first and most critical need was to identify the actual peak bacteriological impact to the treatment facilities.  During the last 40 years the watershed-monitoring program was designed to look at the average impact of the water quality arriving at the intakes of the treatment plants.  The panel suggested that the greatest impact and the most significant problem times were when the plants were seeing the highest level of pollution. To monitor this impact, the sampling timing sequence had to be adjusted.  Since the travel times from the headwaters of the canyon streams to the plants were minimal, the sampling periods were adjusted to gather samples that had seen the highest recreational impact. 

Along with the sampling of the peak usage times, the City is concentrating on the holiday and weekend usage periods with a wider range of microbial contaminants. Thirty-five sites are monitored monthly and 18 sites weekly. Nineteen sites are targeted during weekends and holidays, spring run-off and storm events. 

Initial data indicates a significant difference between the old monitoring program data and the new program data.  The bacterial counts show significantly higher impact from enteric organisms during high recreational usage periods. When the canyons are full, as during holiday weekends, this impact is notable.  The monitoring program was initiated in April 2001 and will continue for the next two years when the data will be evaluated and indicators will be determined for long term studies.

The study is a critical part of Salt Lake City's plan to protect its drinking water supply into the future. "Scientifically defensible strategies will provide long-term protection of our water resources," said Reynolds.  "The monitoring plan will provide us the scientific data that is necessary to ensure that water quality in our canyon streams will continue to provide drinking water that meets and exceeds federal drinking water standards into the future."

Related links: www.slcclassic.com/utilities/news10172000.htm