FAQ

What is a greenway?

A linear corridor located around a stream and adjacent land. They may be used to enhance bicycle and pedestrian access, generate economic activity, increase resilience to flooding, treat stormwater through stream restoration and daylighting, and provide valuable habitat for wildlife.

How did this process begin? How was it funded?

In 2019, a regional visioning effort to establish greenway corridors along our seven creeks was presented to the Salt Lake County Council of Governments. The Council of Governments recommended Wasatch Front Regional Council study the proposition. Led by Salt Lake County, a $135,000 grant from the Wasatch Front Regional Council’s Transportation & Land Use Connection Program funded the project. Salt Lake County and all eight municipalities (Cottonwood Heights, Holladay, Midvale, Millcreek, Murray, Sandy, Salt Lake City, and South Salt Lake) support the project and are, collectively, provide matching funds.

What is the timeline for this process?

The first phase of the Seven Greenways Vision Plan, Existing Conditions, takes place between Fall and Winter 2020. It creates the foundation for the Plan. The second phase, Community Visioning, takes place between Winter 2020 and Spring 2021. It provides the structure for the Plan—identifying restraints, opportunities, and creative solutions. The Seven Greenways Vision Plan is the third phase—between Spring and Summer 2021. The Plan will include goals, partners, opportunities areas, recommendations, best practices, precedents, funding mechanisms, and policy tools.

After completion of the Plan, we are tasked with implementing the ideas therein. This will occur separately under the jurisdiction of each municipality. The Plan will offer them concepts and resources for implementation and may become part of future general plans, park and trails plans, economic and capital improvement plans, and ordinances.

How can I get involved?

There will be a number of engagement opportunities throughout the vision process. Share your 100-year visions for the greenways and our creeks, and see what others are saying, on our Community Visions board. Click here to see where we are in the timeline. To sign up for our email list and stay up-to-date on future engagement opportunities, fill out the “Get Involved” form at the bottom of the website.

Who owns the land?

It is a patchwork of private and public land. Our streams flow through or underneath residential areas, commercial and industrial areas, and public lands, like parks and open space. Large stretches of the underground portions flow underneath roads.

Will my property be involved?

The Seven Greenways Vision Plan is a regional visioning effort. While Salt Lake County and the municipalities are supportive of the Plan, recommendations will not replace local land-use planning and zoning. The Plan does not have the authority, or intention, to exercise eminent domain to take away property from private owners. Private property rights will be respected in the Plan.

The Plan will highlight areas of opportunity in each of the seven greenways, recommend best management practices, possible policies for implementation, and include a toolbox of design concepts and guidelines. If you are a private property owner along one of the seven creeks and have questions, concerns, and/or visions, please fill out the private property owner form above.

With that being said, this vision cannot happen without voluntary participation from private property owners. Landowners may open properties to recreational use by formal or informal access agreements. Conservation easements can be sold or donated to protect all or a portion of the riparian corridor, while retaining flexibility in other rights. Greenways benefit surrounding properties and communities as a whole, including [01]:

• Protecting open space, wildlife habitat, and culturally significant areas for recreation, celebration, learning, and enjoyment;
• Improving quality of life and livability by encouraging healthy lifestyles;
• Increasing property values and business revenues;
• Providing access and community connection;
• Cooling surrounding air temperatures to mitigate the urban heat island effect; and
• Reducing flood risk and improving water quality through green infrastructure.

Sources:

1. Rockefeller, Citizens Guide to Creating Greenways (2018).

Will Utah’s stream access laws on private property affect this Plan?

All natural waterways are public under State of Utah law. Private individuals may own land adjacent to and beneath waterways. Navigable waterways must be accessible to the public for recreational floating and fishing while floating. They are defined as natural waterways with sufficient volume to float a vessel. Most portions of our seven creeks are typically too shallow to be considered navigable. Therefore, private property owners are not required to provide access.

Where navigable, private property owners must allow access. However, users do not have the right to trespass on private property to access waterways, such as walking along banks or streambeds. The exception is to portage around obstacles or incidental touching as required for safe passage. Property owners are not liable for users [01].

Sources:

1. Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Recreational access to Utah's public waters (2019).

What is stream daylighting?

Stream daylighting is the uncovering of a stream previously buried in a pipe. In the early 20th century, as urbanization gripped the Salt Lake Valley, creeks gave way to concrete and asphalt, bricks and mortar. Waterways were diverted from aboveground channels into stormwater pipes underneath our neighborhoods.

Stream daylighting aims to restore a naturally functioning waterway and riparian ecosystem—or to the most natural state possible. This depends on factors upstream, surrounding land-use, and the space available. Other forms of daylighting include architectural and cultural. Architectural daylighting brings a stream to the surface into an engineered channel, characterized by a concrete streambed and banks. Whereas, cultural daylighting celebrates a buried stream through markers or public art to showcase its historic path [01].

Sources:

1. Trice, Daylighting Streams (2016).

Will this increase flooding?

Urbanization markedly increased flooding during the 20th century. Imperviousness is categorized by changes in land-use that do not allow for precipitation to soak into the ground, such as roads, sidewalks, and buildings. Rather, water runs off the surface of our cities and into the stormwater system.

Historic 100-year floods double in size with 30 percent imperviousness [01]. Salt Lake County’s average impervious area is estimated at 33 percent [02]. Channeling and piping streams transferred impacts downstream, increasing flooding and erosion in our west-side communities along the Jordan River. Smooth concrete pipes and straightened, deepened streams speed up water velocity.

Culverts create choke points in the stormwater system. Evidence from flooding in 1983 suggests culverts became obstructed with flood debris, causing $34 million worth of damage County-wide [03]. In 2017, a 200-year precipitation event overwhelmed Salt Lake City’s stormwater system in areas surrounding our underground creeks, primarily the Ballpark and Sugar House neighborhoods, as well as the Jordan River corridor. Parleys Creek overtopped its culvert at Hidden Hollow, leaving five feet of water in the basement of the historic Sprague Library. Over 1,000 books ended up in the dumpster. Damage was estimated at $1.5 to $2 million, and the branch was closed for four months [04]. The Salt Lake City Fire Department estimated 100 homes were flooded. Over 5,000 customers experienced power outages. Utah Transit Authority reported delays as tracks and roads were submerged [05]. Salt Lake City School District estimated $2 to $3 million of damage at four schools [06].

Uncovering and restoring streams slows water velocity through meanders and rocky, vegetated banks. Especially with the inclusion of a floodplain, groundwater infiltration and storage are increased [07]. Removal of culverts alleviates choke points and can replace under-capacity or deteriorating culverts. Daylighting of Arcadia Creek replaced one such culvert in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Once an area that experienced frequent flooding, the channel now protects against the 500-year flood. Floodplain maps were redrawn post-project, and businesses no longer pay for flood insurance [08]. Streams are a key link in the green infrastructure network to retain, treat, and absorb stormwater where it falls.

Daylighting will be done only if it decreases flooding risk. Stream channels will carry the same or greater capacity of the culvert it is replacing. Another option is to preserve the existing stormwater infrastructure to convey high flows. The creek then serves as additional capacity.

Sources:

1. Hollis, The effect of urbanization on floods of different recurrence interval (1975).
2. Salt Lake County, 2015 Salt Lake County Integrated Watershed Plan (2017).
3. Hooton, Memorial Day Weekend 1983 (1999).
4. Stevens, Sugar House library re-opens after devastating flood that destroyed thousands of books (2017).
5. Williams, Waist-deep water floods homes, cuts power in Salt Lake (2017).
6. Mims, ‘Torrential’ thunderstorms flood East High School, SLC’s Sprague Branch, Wasatch Front intersections (2017).
7. Trice, Daylighting Streams (2016).
8. Pinkham, Daylighting: New Life for Buried Streams (2000).

Will this increase the risk of West Nile virus or other pests?

Stream daylighting involves careful engineering. Creeks are designed to keep water flowing, and this prevents the breeding of mosquitoes. They typically need about ten to 14 days of standing water to complete their lifecycle [01]. With the introduction of riparian habitat, mosquito predators--birds, dragonflies and other insects, amphibians, fish, and bats—increase. In addition, Salt Lake City and South Salt Lake Valley Mosquito Abatement districts monitor and control mosquito populations throughout the Salt Lake Valley, including our urban waterways.

About 80 percent of those infected with West Nile virus do not develop symptoms--less than one percent develop a serious illness [02]. The Culex species is the main vector for West Nile virus [03]. They are highly opportunistic in breeding. Often, they seek standing water around our cities, including our storm drains and culverts.

Mosquitos are best addressed in our developed areas. Ways to address mosquitoes [04]:

• Unclog roof gutters;
• Empty unused swimming pools or any other standing water;
• Change water in birdbaths and pet bowls regularly;
• Remove old tires or unused containers that hold water; and
• Clean and stock garden ponds with mosquito-eating fish or mosquito dunks.

Rodents are a common mammal along our creeks and become pests when they move to adjacent properties. As with mosquitos, increasing riparian habitat increases natural predators. The best way to prevent infestations is to remove the food sources, water, and items that provide shelter around your home.

Sources:

1. American Mosquito Control Association, Life Cycle (2020).
2. Utah Department of Health, Utah Weekly West Nile Virus Surveillance Update (2019).
3. Vector Disease Control International, West Nile Virus (2020).
4. Utah Department of Health, West Nile Virus Fact Sheet (2018).

Will uncovering our creeks become a safety issue?

As with all natural areas, there is inherent danger and risk of accident. Our streams are dynamic systems that should always be respected; not treated as swimming pools or fountains. Creeks should be enjoyed from a distance and designed with safety in mind. Steep banks should be made gradual (with the added benefit of preventing erosion and stabilizing the soil). Fencing and other barriers, intended to keep people out, often do the opposite. They prevent people from escaping dangerous situations.

From 1999 to 2018, per 100,000 Utahans, less than one person dies from drowning per year, many in swimming pools and bathtubs. Motor vehicle deaths: eleven [01]. The roads that intersect our communities are much more dangerous than the creeks that connect us.

Channelized and culverted creeks create dangerous safety hazards in our communities. Children and adults can get swept away in high-velocity, channelized waters. They can get sucked in pipes and pinned against grates, energy dissipaters, and other infrastructure. According to the Albuquerque Metropolitan Arroyo Authority, Albuquerque, New Mexico estimates a drowning occurs in its streams every two to three years. With 50 miles of concrete-lined channels and 100 miles of soft-lined ones, a much higher proportion of deaths occurred in the concrete-lined streams [02]. By uncovering and restoring creeks, water velocity is slowed and people are better able to escape dangerous situations.

Daylighting projects have a good safety record. Blackberry Creek was uncovered in a schoolyard, replacing a dilapidated and dangerous playground. Ann Riley explains [03]:

“The Blackberry Creek daylighting project sent the message that these kinds of projects were safe, even in school grounds, even if the creek was as much as 20 feet below existing ground elevation, and even if the side slopes were steep 2-to-1 and 1-to-1 slopes… [It] was well loved, used often, and played a central role in the science curriculum at the school. There are no reports of injuries or accidents at the creek, which is certainly a safer play environment than the playground it replaced.”

Sources:

1. Utah Department of Health, Utah Death Certificate Database (2018).
2. Riley, Restoring Streams in Cities (1998).
3. Riley, Restoring Neighborhood Streams (2016).

Does uncovering our streams jeopardize water quality?

Approximately 87 miles of our seven creeks are impaired under the Clean Water Act. An estimated 21 miles are buried in underground stormwater pipes [01]. Water quality impairments include degraded aquatic habitat condition, Escherichia coli, heavy metals, pH, low dissolved oxygen, temperature, and total suspended solids. [02]

Placing streams in underground culvers eliminates ecological processes. Without vegetation, streams do not filter air and water pollutants, both in-river and along streambanks. They no longer deposit sediments on banks. Pollutants, nutrients, and sediments are transferred downstream. Culverting carries impairments eight times further downstream and reduces nutrient retention by 39 percent [03]. Harmful algal blooms develop as a result and affect downstream low-income communities along the Jordan River. They are a health risk for children and pets, a detractor of recreation and agriculture, and an ecological disaster for wildlife [04].

Conversely, daylighting streams revitalize ecological systems. Sunlight breaks down bacteria [05]. Streamside vegetation cleans water pollution through nutrient retention, streambank deposition, and groundwater infiltration [06]. Thereby, harmful algal blooms are mitigated by removing pollutants at the source—before concentrating downstream. Riparian forests filter air pollutants and cool temperatures [07].

Escherichia coli contamination caused frequent beach closures at Indiana Dunes State Park in Porter County, Indiana. The culvert, containing Dunes Creek, was an incubator for the bacteria. The culvert was removed and the creek uncovered--replacing a surface parking lot [08]. Sunlight, vegetation, and micro-organisms reduced E. coli levels. Fewer beach closings (if any) are anticipated, increasing revenue for the park [09].

In Seattle, Washington, urban runoff was increasing sediment loads and degrading water quality downstream in Thornton Creek. Redevelopment on a surface parking lot prompted daylighting. A series of swales and pools slow and treat stormwater from the adjacent 680-acre drainage. Sediments and pollutants are settled out and retained by wetland vegetation, which provides habitat for birds, insects, and other wildlife. The facility will achieve a 40 to 80 percent removal of total suspended solids (sediments and pollutants) [10].

Open streams are more easily monitoring and managed. After uncovering Blackberry Creek in Berkeley, California, it was found the creek was being polluted with sewage. Previously, this sewage was being sent to the San Francisco Bay, unbeknownst to all. The issue was quickly addressed once nearby elementary students lobbied local officials [11].

Sources:

1. Seven Canyons Trust, Creek Channel Alignment Data (2018).
2. Salt Lake County, 2015 Salt Lake County Integrated Watershed Plan (2017).
3. Pennino, Effects of urban stream burial on nitrogen uptake and ecosystem metabolism (2014).
4. United States Center for Disease Control & Prevention, Harmful Algal Bloom Associated Illness (2020).
5. Pinkham, Daylighting: New Life for Buried Streams (2000).
6. Salt Lake County, Stream Care Guide (2014).
7. Buchholz, Urban Stream Daylighting Case Study Evaluations (2007).
8. Trice, Daylighting Streams (2016).
9. Hohman, Daylighting in the Dunes (2007).
10. City of Seattle, Thornton Creek Water Quality Channel Final Report (2009).
11. Riley, Restoring Neighborhood Streams (2016).

Why do our creeks run dry during certain months?

Our creeks are dynamic, natural systems. Along a stretch of creek, reaches are gaining, meaning groundwater is added to the flow, through springs and seeps. Others lose flow through groundwater infiltration. Streams can become dewatered (a stream without flowing water) through a losing reach and receive water through a gaining reach.

With that being said, portions of our creeks are artificially dewatered. This is caused by water rights for irrigation, hydropower, and drinking water. Diversions seasonally dewater portions of both Big and Little Cottonwood creeks. From November to March, half of Big Cottonwood Creek is dewatered through the Salt Lake Valley. Little Cottonwood Creek has little flow from July to March, becoming fully dewatered in dry years. Canals bring in some water to these creeks from the upper Jordan River and Utah Lake. This has seriously degraded water quality and the riparian ecosystem [01].

In our Basin and Range geography, perennial streams were historically rare [02]. Urbanization concentrated flow in our streams through stormwater inputs and runoff on impervious surfaces, like roads, parking lots, and buildings. Due to a lack of historical data, we do not know the pre-urbanization creek conditions. Certain creeks, like Red Butte and Emigration, may have been intermittent or dry during certain seasons. Flow came during snowmelt runoff and precipitation events. Whereas, larger streams would have been perennial—flowing throughout the year.

Sources:

1. Salt Lake County, Stream Care Guide (2014).
2. Penn State University, Intelligence Analysis, Cultural Geography, and Homeland Security: The Basin and Range Subregion (2020).

What is green infrastructure?

As defined by the Clean Water Act, green infrastructure is “the range of measures that use plant or soil systems, permeable pavement or other permeable surfaces or substrates, stormwater harvest and reuse, or landscaping to store, infiltrate, or evapotranspirate stormwater and reduce flows to sewer systems or to surface waters" [01].

Sources:

1. Environmental Protection Agency, Green Infrastructure (2021).

What are the benefits?

Green infrastructure can be a cost-effective, resilient tool to manage water in our cities. Conventional approaches, or “grey” infrastructure, utilize pipes to convey water away from the built environment as fast as possible. This has led to the degradation of our creeks—erosion, water quality impairments, and outright burial. Green infrastructure reduces and treats water at its source while improving the health of our creeks and delivering additional benefits.

By reducing the amount of runoff, green infrastructure reduces the frequency and severity of flooding [01]. Flooding in 1983 resulted in an estimated $34 million in damages through Salt Lake County [02]. In 2017, a 200-year precipitation event, in Salt Lake City, resulted in $1.5 to $2 million in damages to the historic Sprague Library and $2 to $3 million in damages to four schools. One hundred homes were flooded and over 5,000 customers experienced power outages [03].

By re-establishing naturally functioning ecosystems, water velocity is slowed through meanders and rocky, vegetated banks. Especially with the inclusion of a floodplain, groundwater infiltration and storage are increased [04]. Groundwater is an increasingly important source of drinking water with climate change uncertainty.

Natural creeks retain nutrients and clean water quality through streamside vegetation, streambank deposition, and groundwater infiltration. Bioswales and constructed wetlands catch runoff, filtering pollutants and trapping sediment. Permeable pavements and green roofs allow water to soak into the soil, rather than running off into the storm drain and then to our creeks.

Evaporation and shade from trees and other vegetation can decrease surrounding air temperatures to mitigate the urban heat island effect. Moreover, vegetation improves air quality by putting out oxygen and filtering pollutants [05]. By focusing the canopy increase in areas with low tree density, such as those on the west-side along our buried creeks, we can strengthen communities by decreasing pollution-related health impacts, providing shade, reducing noise from nearby freeways and railroads, soaking up carbon emissions, and adding economic value.

Green infrastructure improves habitat value and increases coverage of riparian areas, such as those along our creeks. In the western United States, riparian areas occupy less than two percent of the landscape--in Salt Lake City, only 1.2 percent [06]. However, this habitat provides critical ecosystem services for human and wildlife populations. An estimated 80 percent of Utah species rely on riparian areas for a portion of their lifecycle [07].

Green infrastructure reduces the need for costly grey infrastructure [08]. In Kalamazoo, Michigan, city engineers found uncovering the creek would be cheaper than excavating, replacing, and reburying the deteriorating culvert [09]. The life cycle costs associated with the construction, maintenance, and replacement of underground culverted systems often prove more expensive, or only marginally less, than uncovering the stream (without the additional benefits of daylighting).

Green infrastructure creates jobs in plumbing, landscaping, engineering, building, and design. Conservation corps and other entry-level jobs build capacity and technical expertise for community members. Efforts can lead to fulfilling careers in improving their neighborhood health and resiliency.

Sources:

1. Center for Neighborhood Technology, The Value of Green Infrastructure (2010).
2. Hooton, Memorial Day Weekend 1983 (1999).
3. Mims, ‘Torrential’ thunderstorms flood East High School, SLC’s Sprague Branch, Wasatch Front intersections (2017).
4. Trice, Daylighting Streams (2016).
5. Klapproth, Understanding the science behind riparian forest buffers (2009).
6. Poff, Threats to Western United States Riparian Ecosystems (2012).
7. BIO-WEST, Inc., Salt Lake City Riparian Corridor Study: City Creek Management Plan (2010).
8. Center for Neighborhood Technology, The Value of Green Infrastructure (2010).
9. Trice, Daylighting Streams (2016).

How will this Plan address noxious weeds?

In the Salt Lake Valley, all of our urban ecosystems have been altered by humans. The term “novel ecosystems” is often used to describe the unique assembly of species and environmental conditions from intentional or unintentional alterations, such as introduced species or hydrologic changes to our creeks. This creates a new ecosystem trajectory and makes returning to a previous trajectory nearly impossible. Novel ecosystems are self-sustaining in composition, structure, and services [01].

Our natural areas in Salt Lake Valley have become novel ecosystems. Many introduced species would require costly and land-intensive mitigation to remove. They are likely here to stay.

Considering that, vegetation should be managed based on their habitat value, rather than the native versus non-native dichotomy. When noxious weeds or other vegetation are removed, a diversity of species in different sizes and ages should be used to replace. Removal and revegetation efforts should be phased to not undermine habitat value through clear-cutting. Oftentimes, birds can be seen using Russian olive and tamarisk, two notorious noxious weeds along our creeks, in absence of indigenous vegetation.

Biodiversity is an important factor to combat the effects of climate change for wildlife as species migrate and others are not able to adapt. Stream daylighting creates new riparian habitat and biodiversity in areas that were once developed or degraded. Restoration repairs impacted ecosystems to increase biodiversity.

Species can be chosen based on their benefits to pollinators and other wildlife, as well as their requirements for little-to-no irrigation and maintenance. If land management needs move towards a values-based approach, environmentally destructive herbicides can be phased out. There would be less need to broadly address non-native species through clear-cutting, broadcast spraying, and other destructive management techniques.

Sources:

1. Morse, Novel ecosystems in the Anthropocene (2014).

How is climate change considered in this Plan?

The Salt Lake Valley is already experiencing impacts of climate change. Predictions estimate a 60 percent loss of snowpack water storage within the next three decades [01]. Moreover, expected population growth, longer growing seasons, and hotter temperatures in the Salt Lake Valley may increase water demand.

The snowpack is the most important feature of our drinking water conveyance system. It acts as a reservoir and provides drinkable water as the snow melts. Snow often totals over 500 inches in Little Cottonwood Canyon [02]. Most known for its renowned ski conditions, the “Greatest Snow on Earth” has provided a reliable water source for thousands of years of habitation in the Salt Lake Valley.

However, climate change is impacting the amount of water we have, when snow melts, and its quality. With every degree Fahrenheit increase in temperature, a 3.8 percent decrease in overall water volume is expected in our creeks [03]. 2018 was Utah’s driest on record and only one other year was warmer [04]. In response, Salt Lake City issued a Stage 1 Drought Advisory.

Climate models show precipitation more frequently arriving in the form of rain, rather than snow [05]. Additionally, smaller snowpacks are forecasted to melt earlier, all while demand is expected to increase. Climate-driven drought and changes in the hydrologic cycle will challenge the water resource redundancies in our water system.

Increases in frequency and severity of extreme weather events have significant costs to governments, community members, and our ecosystems. Over 100 homes were flooded and 5,000 customers in Salt Lake County experienced power outages during a 200-year precipitation event in 2017 [06]. The storm overwhelmed Salt Lake City’s stormwater system in areas surrounding our underground creeks, primarily the Ballpark and Sugar House neighborhoods, as well as across the Jordan River corridor. Damages required costly stream restoration efforts, as well as repair of a public library and two schools, estimated at $5 million [07].

By 2050, Salt Lake City’s temperatures are predicted to rise ten degrees—what Las Vegas feels like today [08]. This will severely impact our flora and fauna species as air and water temperatures increase, precipitation regimes change, and drought is extended. Roughly half of the species on the plant are on the move—those on land at an average of 10 miles per decade [09].

The Salt Lake Valley’s ecosystems will shift over time as new species colonize, while other species may not be able to adapt in time. New arrivals can outcompete indigenous flora and fauna. Pests and diseases are also migrating, moving into new areas, and impacting natural ecosystems and agriculture [10].

Pests also impact humans. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Lyme disease is trending upward in Utah due to the warming climate. Confirmed cases jumped from three in 2000 to 19 in 2016. West Nile Virus and other mosquito-borne illnesses are also on the rise [11].

Wildfires are predicted to increase with climate change. In 2020, over 1,500 fires burned over 300,000 acres, the worst on record for human-caused fire starts [12]. The forest area susceptible to wildfire has doubled since 1984 due to higher temperatures and less rainfall. Furthermore, the fire season has been extended by six weeks, compared to a few decades ago [13]. Hospital visits spike as air pollution from smoke gets trapped in the Salt Lake Valley [14].

Wildfires in our natural areas in the Salt Lake Valley are especially dangerous and costly with development and infrastructure nearby. In 2020, the 13,000-acre Knolls Fire spread into residential areas in Saratoga Springs, destroying a home and displacing many. In 2018, wildfires burned 500,000 acres across Utah at a cost of $150 million in suppression [15].

Nearly nine percent of Utah adults and six percent of children have asthma. During air pollution days, more emergency room visits and hospital admissions occur. Climate change threatens to make pollution worse. Higher temperatures due to climate change will increase extreme heat events and wildfires. Summertime PM 2.5, created by wildfire smoke, decreases air quality and the health of residents. In some cases, it can lead to premature death [16].

Summertime algal blooms in Utah Lake and the Jordan River, due to an increase in temperature, have become the new norm. In 2016, an algal bloom on Utah Lake made over 100 people sick. Farmers scrambled to find alternative water sources and, ultimately, had to make difficult decisions regarding their crops [17]. Conditions are forecasted to continue, threatening all our reservoirs, like Sugarhouse Pond and Liberty Lake, and our high-alpine lakes critical to drinking water quality [18].

Sources:

1. Fyfe, Large near-term projected snowpack loss over the western United States (2017).
2. University of Utah, Hidden Water – A Survey of Salt Lake Valley Survey Water: Little Cottonwood Creek (2021).
3. Biskupski, Testimony before the Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change (2019).
4. Maffly, Utah just experienced its driest year since scientists have kept records (2018).
5. Utah Rivers Council, Crossroads Utah (2012).
6. Williams, Waist-deep water floods homes, cuts power in Salt Lake (2017).
7. Mims, ‘Torrential’ thunderstorms flood East High School, SLC’s Sprague Branch, Wasatch Front intersections (2017).
8. Alberty, Climate study predicts in 30 years, Salt Lake City weather will be like the Nevada desert’s is today (2019).
9. Chen, Rapid Range Shifts of Species Associated with High Levels of Climate Warming (2011).
10. Welch, Half of All Species Are on the Move—And We're Feeling It (2017).
11. Penrod, Lyme-carrying ticks and other dangerous pests are creeping into Utah, thanks to climate change (2018).
12. Williams, Wildfire season recap: 2020 produced most human-caused fires on record in Utah, $60M in costs (2020).
13. Gehrke, A changing climate demands a holistic response to preventing wildfires — not a partisan one (2020).
14. Biskupski, Testimony before the Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change (2019).
15. Maffly, The coronavirus pandemic is behind Utah’s record number of human-caused wildfires, officials say (2020).
16. Utah Department of Health, Asthma basics (2014).
17. Associated Press, Huge toxic algae bloom sickens more than 100 in Utah amid heatwave (2016).
18. Biskupski, Testimony before the Committee on Energy and Commerce Sbcommittee on Environment and Climate Change (2019).

Who will maintain the greenways?

For existing facilities, maintenance is often shared between the local municipality and Salt Lake County. Responsibilities are determined by these entities based on land ownership, funding availability, and organizational capacity. Community organizations and volunteers are important in augmenting these responsibilities, making public dollars go further. Formal agreements with dedicated funding can legitimize partnerships to achieve critical maintenance needs.

Programs, like the Wasatch Front Urban Rangers, can further supplement maintenance. This is a volunteer trail ambassador program coordinated by the University of Utah. They provide community outreach along the Bonneville Shoreline and Jordan River Trails and assist managers by reporting data, hazards, and picking up litter.

Who will provide the funding for the greenways?

The Seven Greenways Vision Plan will identify funding sources for the creation and maintenance of the greenways, including a mix of federal, state, regional, and local sources.

Will greenways attract individuals experiencing homelessness?

According to 2019’s Point-in-Time count, approximately 1,844 people are experiencing unsheltered homelessness on any given night in Salt Lake County. Public parks and open spaces sometimes provide more comfortable spaces for those experiencing homelessness, when compared with resource centers. In our greenways, evidence of homelessness can be seen as unsanctioned encampments.

The most immediate impact can be belongings within encampments. While the belongings do not present an ecological impact, the visual impact can affect user experience. Public complaints to park managers, health departments, and police enforcement lead to costly clean-up and removal of camps, belongings, and waste left behind. However, for individuals living on as little as $11 a day, belongings are not easily replaced [01].

Additional ecological impacts from encampments may include bank erosion when regrading or digging into the creek bank is involved, trampling of sensitive habitat areas, and water quality issues related to microplastics and Escherichia coli from feces running into waterways. According to researchers, these impacts may be overstated to justify removal and clean-up mitigation efforts. Drug paraphernalia presents a safety hazard for volunteer groups without experience handling sharp materials.

Wildfires are possibly the largest risk of encampments in natural areas. Fires easily get out of hand in the summertime when vegetation is dry. Natural areas frequently burn along the Jordan River, jeopardizing habitat, utilities, and other infrastructure. For example, an acre of wildlife habitat, in a restoration project at the Mill Creek Confluence, burned in 2017 and then again in 2020. Fires were linked to campfires in encampments at the site [02].

Conventional mitigation strategies for unsheltered homeless often have the opposite effect. They increase dependency on parks for residency with displacement and loss of belongings. Housing can take longer than six months to secure [01]. A comprehensive strategy to address unsheltered homeless in our greenways will be required. Limiting clean-up of camps and longer posting times would mitigate loss of belongings. Helping individuals get access to services or having service providers respond to public complaints would address the underlying reasons of homelessness.

Efforts are underway to provide resources and facilities for unsheltered folks. Practitioners along Red Butte Creek are exploring platforms that could serve as unsanctioned campgrounds. To provide bathroom facilities for those experiencing homelessness, park managers are developing easily cleanable portable toilets housed within established framed outhouses. Showers can be an added amenity to support transitions into finding employment and housing.

Sources:

1. Neild, An exploration of unsheltered homelessness management on an urban riparian corridor (2018).
2. Seven Canyons Trust, Mill Creek Confluence Adaptive Weed Management Plan (2020).

Are greenways safe?

Our communities are grappling with designing parks and open space for safety while balancing goals for access, wildlife habitat, and water quality. According to Blueprint Jordan River Refresh Survey Findings, 24 percent said they don’t feel safe visiting the Jordan River Trail. When surveying by gender, females’ concern for safety went up to 35 percent. Out of 100 points, females spent 17 points on safety, the highest of their allocation to improve the Jordan River corridor. Most did not feel safety prevented them from using the river corridor [01].

The Parks & Public Lands Needs Assessment shows some inconsistencies. Most respondents felt safe alone in their neighborhood parks during the day and at night. When asked about the two major trail networks in Salt Lake City, 73 percent felt safe alone during the day and 44 at night on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. On the Jordan River Trail, 43 percent felt safe alone during the day and 16 at night [02].

According to the National Recreation and Park Association, “keeping park and recreation facilities safe is a key to community wellness and has a direct relationship to their usage rate.” Integrated approaches are required to create and maintain safer parks and open spaces, including design, programming, maintenance, and engagement [03]. Efforts should address safety equally in all genders and cultures.

Activation is one of the key ways to improve safety. Programs, events, maintained landscaping, infrastructure, and facilities, particularly in low-income and diverse neighborhoods, draw more users to green spaces [04]. Events bring positive activity.

Through programming, participants interact with and learn about our creeks and the surrounding riparian environment. Education teaches about ecosystems, issues they face, and ways humans cause harm. Participants are empowered through teachings to take action, become stewards, and improve ecosystems around them.

Goals for our greenways can be contradicting. Healthy riparian habitat with a dense vegetation structure, including ground, shrub, understory, and canopy layers, can feel wild and unmaintained with plenty of places to hide. However, removal of all or some of these layers can diminish habitat value.

Nevertheless, greenways can be pleasant, welcoming, and well-used spaces. Graffiti, vandalism, and littering in natural, outdoor spaces are less frequent than comparable vegetation-devoid spaces [05]. There is a link between vegetation and lower crime in residential areas, particularly low-income and diverse urban neighborhoods. The presence of trees and well-maintained understory can strengthen ties among neighbors, increase informal surveillance, and deter crime [06].

Sources:

1. Envision Utah, Blueprint Jordan River Refresh Survey Findings (2020).
2. Salt Lake City, Parks and Public Lands Needs Assessment (2019).
3. National Recreation and Park Association, Creating Safe Park Environments to Enhance Community Wellness (2012).
4. Dolash, Factors that influence park use and physical activity in predominantly Hispanic and low-income neighborhoods (2015).
5. Brunson, Resident Appropriation of Defensible Space in Public Housing (1999).
6. Kuo, The Role of Arboriculture in a Healthy Social Ecology (2003).

How will this Plan address environmental injustices?

Our creeks slip underground as they flow west, passing unseen through west-side neighborhoods until spilling into the Jordan River within buried culverts. Three of the top five most diverse cities in Utah fall within the project area: South Salt Lake, Midvale, and Salt Lake City [01].

In South Salt Lake, Mill Creek is impaired for Escherichia coli, dissolved oxygen, and degraded aquatic habitat condition (observed-to-expected bioassessments). In Salt Lake City, City, Red Butte, Emigration, and Parleys Creeks flow underground as they pass underneath Interstate-15 and the central city core. Additionally, the lower watersheds of the creeks are impaired for E. coli and degraded aquatic habitat condition (observed-to-expected bioassessments). Midvale features only a small portion of Little Cottonwood Creek, which is impaired for E. coli, cadmium, temperature, total dissolved solids, and degraded aquatic habitat condition (observed-to-expected bioassessments) [02]. Loss of green space due to creek burial and water quality impairments have left many residents on the west-side without access to nature or connectivity via riparian corridors and pathways.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, environmental justice is “the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.” In the United States, communities of color are three times more likely than white communities to live in a place that is nature deprived. An estimated seventy percent of low-income communities live in nature-deprived areas [03].

Put simply, the conditions of our creeks that flow through wealthy areas should be the same as those that flow through our lower-income communities. That is not the case in Salt Lake County. According to the Environmental Justice Screening and Mapping Tool, many of the environmental justice parameters—particulate matter 2.5, ozone, traffic, Superfund sites, hazardous waste, and wastewater—are concentrated along western stretches of the creeks, particularly along the Interstate-15 corridor and west [04].

Air quality is the Salt Lake Valley’s biggest environmental injustice. Atmospheric inversions cause acute air pollution days and limit urban outdoor activity. Travel east to higher elevations and one can see the thick layer of pollution in the western part of Salt Lake County. In December 2019, a red-level day registered particulate levels nine times greater than Los Angeles [05].

Pollution is the leading cause of disease and death in the world, contributing to nine million deaths in 2015 alone. Health effects caused by pollution are most severe among low-income and underrepresented communities [06]. The Utah Society for Environmental Education conducted a study asking west-side residents about problematic issues in their community. The most noted problem was air quality [07].

Geography plays a role as pollution settles in the lower parts of the Salt Lake Valley. Additionally, the largest emitters are located in west-side neighborhoods—factories, highways, and refineries. A 2014 study found higher pollution days increase school absenteeism. By cutting pollution in half, the Salt Lake City School District would save $426,000 per year. Benefits would be greatest in schools located in underrepresented areas [08].

Nearly nine percent of Utah adults and six percent of children have asthma. During air pollution days, more emergency room visits and hospital admissions occur [09]. Climate change threatens to make pollution worse. Higher temperatures due to climate change will increase extreme heat events and wildfires. Summertime PM 2.5, created by wildfire smoke, decreases air quality and the health of residents. In some cases, it can lead to premature death [10].

The urban forest plays a key role in improving air quality. Yet, tree coverage, in Salt Lake County, reduces in neighborhoods with higher percentages of underrepresented populations—residents who are most impacted by poor air quality [11]. In new neighborhoods, there is no relationship between household income and vegetation abundance. However, as neighborhoods age, time strengthens the relationship as low-income residents do not have the financial resources or social capital to replace trees after their natural life span [12].

According to the Parks & Public Lands Needs Assessment, the Central, Northwest, and West Salt Lake communities, in Salt Lake City, are the highest need planning areas. These are Salt Lake City’s most diverse and lowest income. The Central Community has the least access to parks and trails and is slated for the most future growth. An estimated 94 acres of new green space, throughout Salt Lake City, is required to meet future needs at the same level of service [13].

Communities on the west-side have high numbers of park acres and amenities due to the Jordan River corridor. However, west-side residents are less likely to visit parks. When they do, they are more likely to travel and use east-side parks [14]. Many west-side residents feel their parks and open spaces do not get the same level of maintenance. In Reimagine Nature, Salt Lake City is committed to investments in capital improvements and maintenance on the Jordan River Trail that matches Liberty Park, acre for acre [15].

Greenways are important to mitigate environmental injustices experienced by many in Salt Lake County. Through daylighting and restoration, creeks—and adjacent riparian forests—can more effectively clean water and air quality. Downstream communities on the west-side are faced with pollution from the more affluent east-side, including fertilizers, lawn debris, and other floatables that enter the storm drain. Natural creeks retain nutrients and clean water quality through streamside vegetation, streambank deposition, and groundwater infiltration [16]. Increasing the urban forest and tree coverage, through the greenways, would filter air pollutants in the most impacted communities [17]. Whereas, underground streams provide no filtering of air and water through vegetation, both in-river and along streambanks.

Greenways will link west and east-side communities from the Wasatch Range to the Jordan River. Connections to destinations, regional transit systems, and other active transportation corridors reduce reliance on vehicles to commute, run errands, and recreate. Corridors will provide access to services, jobs, entertainment, recreation, and leisure with a focus on adding parks, open space, and trails in the highest need communities.

Meaningful engagement requires building trust and a forum for dialogue. Addressing environmental injustices requires hearing from the populace that solutions would benefit. Programming should partner with existing community groups to engage residents through existing and trusted channels while building capacity for the future.

Sources:

1. U.S. Census Bureau, 2015-2019 ACS 5-Year Estimates (2021).
2. Salt Lake County, Integrated Watershed Plan (2015).
3. Borunda, How ‘nature deprived’ neighborhoods impact the health of people of color (2020).
4. Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Justice Screening & Mapping Tool (2020).
5. Biskupski, Testimony before the Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change (2019).
6. The Lancet, Commission on Pollution & Health (2017).
7. Chand, Environmental Racism (2018).
8. Mendoza, Impact of low-level fine particulate matter and ozone exposure on absences in K-12 students and economic consequences (2020).
9. Utah Department of Health, Asthma basics (2014).
10. Biskupski, Testimony before the Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change (2019).
11. Lowry, Spatial Analysis of Urbanization in the Salt Lake Valley (2010).
12. Martin, Neighborhood socioeconomic status is a useful predictor of perennial landscape vegetation in residential neighborhoods and embedded small parks of Phoenix, AZ (2004).
13. Salt Lake City, Parks & Public Lands Needs Assessment (2019).
14. Salt Lake City, Parks & Public Lands Needs Assessment (2019).
15. Salt Lake City, Reimagine Nature Preliminary Engagement Findings (2020).
16. Salt Lake County, Stream Care Guide (2014).
17. Klapproth, Understanding the science behind riparian forest buffers (2009).

How will art and cultural events integrate into the greenways?

Greenways provide spaces for cultural activities, as well as space for artists to perform, create, and display their works. For example, at the Three Creeks Confluence in Salt Lake City, community designs were laser cut into steel plates featured on the east-west bridge that spans the uncovered creeks. Efforts showcase local west-side artists and designs that represent the surrounding community while offering artists generous stipends for their work. At the recently acquired Allen Park in Salt Lake City, beautiful mosaic pieces and historic homes dot the property along Emigration Creek.

The Range 2 River Relay, hosted by the Seven Canyons Trust, explores the conditions of the Salt Lake Valley’s waterways, from pristine headwaters to buried creeks and channelized canal to meandering river. Competitors bike, boat, and run from the Wasatch Range to the Jordan River, mapping a drop of water through our hydrology from City Creek to the Jordan River. It gets residents outdoors and active in family-friendly fun, and highlights recreational activities along our waterways.

Can I boat or float along the greenways?

Our creeks provide unique opportunities for swimming, wading, fishing, paddling, and floating, where feasible. Long-time residents of the Salt Lake Valley have fond memories of visiting swimming holes along our creeks to escape the summertime heat. Channelization, lack of access, and water quality concerns have diminished the safety and interest in these activities.

However, water-based recreation is growing. Nearly 90 percent of respondents report being very or somewhat interested in paddling opportunities in the Blueprint Jordan River Refresh Survey Findings [01]. Several informal boat ramps exist along the Jordan River with plans to improve them for the future, legitimize access, and create new ramps into a formal water trail.

At the Little Confluence Trailhead in Taylorsville, where Little Cottonwood Creek meets the Jordan River, a boat ramp was constructed with a turnaround for vehicles pulling trailers. Paddlers can travel upstream on Little Cottonwood Creek until culverts, street crossings, or dams turn them around.

Navigational hazards, like dams, culverts, grates, pipes, and other debris, present dangerous conditions for boaters. In the Jordan River, partners are mapping and mitigating the significant hazards. The deadly “Winchester Hazard,” a pipe-river crossing that claimed a life in 2010, was re-engineered in 2015. The resulting rapid is now a safe and fun feature for boaters.

Seasonal opportunities exist on the lower portions of Mill, Big Cottonwood, and Little Cottonwood Creeks for in-water recreation, including canoeing, kayaking, and floating. These would connect into efforts on the Jordan River. Opportunities also exist for paddling in ponds along our creeks, like the rentable paddle boats in Liberty Pond.

Sources:

1. Envision Utah, Blueprint Jordan River Refresh Survey Findings (2020).

Can I fish along the greenways?

In 2019, 17 percent tried fishing in the United States. According to the Outdoor Industry Association, fishing is one of the most popular “gateway” activities—accessible activities that lead to other forms of outdoor recreation [01]. Our creeks provide accessible angling opportunities in our backyards.

The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources is committed to creating more community fisheries; places where youth, families, and community members can walk, bike, or ride transit to catch a fish. For example, Fairmont Pond, in Salt Lake City, was dredged and created into a community fishery in 2018. Rainbow trout were stocked, and elevated boardwalks and walkways circle the pond. Community fisheries dot the Jordan River corridor and can dot our creeks in the future, allowing residents to toss a line right in their backyards.

Sources:

1. Outdoor Industry Association, Special Report on Fishing (2020).

Will dog parks be included?

Demand for dog parks has dramatically increased in our cities over the last decade. Since 2009, there has been a 40 percent increase in dog parks across the United States. In Utah, 36 percent of households own dogs [01].

Salt Lake County and many municipalities are rapidly developing plans for more dog parks. However, they are a relatively new phenomenon in parks and open spaces. Best management practices are slow to follow. Design, operation, and maintenance are still evolving through trial and error, creating issues with water quality, erosion, and user conflicts.

In areas with high dog use, streambank erosion is often evident and ground vegetation trampled. This can jeopardize larger vegetation along banks—shrubs and trees. Increased sediment loads, due to erosion, affect water quality for Bonneville cutthroat trout downstream. Dogs also carry harmful bacteria and pathogens, like Escherichia coli. Dog feces left near our creeks wash into the water and create impairments harmful to humans and pets alike. Finally, dogs discourage wildlife from remaining in or returning to a natural area.

The Parleys Historic Nature Park Comprehensive Use and Management Plan points out, “While most dog walkers are responsible, some of the problems pointed out are a lack of understanding on the boundary, little enforcement of the leash policy in on-leash areas, violators of the two-dog limit (often professional dog-walking services), and leaving dog waste behind” [02].

In the Parks & Public Lands Needs Assessment, Salt Lake City residents were split on whether dogs create conflicts with other trail users. Approximately 30 percent of respondents agree dogs cause conflicts. Yet, 17 percent of those who agreed are dog owners [03]. This suggests issues could escalate as population increases and more conflicts occur.

In identifying strategies, almost half of respondents agree with more enforcement and fines for not following off-leash regulations. Approximately 36 percent wanted more off-leash dog areas to lessen conflicts. Salt Lake County’s Off-Leash Dog Park Master Plan suggests protecting environmentally sensitive areas and improving enforcement. High dog use areas should be constructed away from areas and buffer zones used to protect sensitive and erodible areas. Access should only be given at controlled points. Seasonal closures should be considered for nesting, breeding, and rearing of wildlife [04].

For enforcement, regulations should be posted prominently at dog parks and on applicable websites. Phone numbers of enforcement should be posted prominently underneath regulations. Volunteer groups could assist with clean-up of dog parks and education around regulations. Finally, a fee forfeiture schedule, similar to parking tickets, could offer an alternative to criminal prosecution when taking enforcement action [04].

At Parleys Historic Nature Park, restoration efforts worked to mitigate the impacts of dogs and protect Parleys Creek. The riparian corridor was closed off except at designated access points. Education signage and periodic enforcement further decrease impacts [02].

In addition, golf courses along our streams can provide communities with more benefits than just hitting the links. Off-leash dog days at courses can increase the acreage of dog-friendly areas in our cities. Efforts should balance stream protection, access, and dog use.

Sources:

1. American Veterinary Medical Association, Pet Ownership & Demographics Sourcebook (2018).
2. Salt Lake City, Parleys Historic Nature Park Comprehensive Use and Management Plan (2011).
3. Salt Lake City, Parks & Public Lands Needs Assessment (2019).
4. Salt Lake County, Off-Leash Dog Park Master Plan (2008).

What other amenities and activities will be included in the greenways?

In addition to trail-based activities, in-water recreation, and angling, the greenways can provide a variety of amenities and activities, such as wildlife watching, sites for outdoor dining, cookouts, space for works of art, community gathering, sports fields and courts, golf and frisbee golf courses, and much more. Through this process, we hope to identify what you would like to see most. Share your 100-year visions for the greenways and our creeks, and see what others are saying, on our Community Visions board.

How will this Plan address gentrification?

The phenomenon of green gentrification can be an unfortunate impact of investments in our urban ecosystems, such as greenway creation, stream restoration, and daylighting. Efforts create desirable places to live, work, and play that attract wealthier, and often white, populations. Without comprehensive strategies in place to prevent displacement, the residents these strategies are designed to benefit can be excluded [01].

Policy strategies at the city, county, and state level are needed to prevent displacement due to gentrification. In redevelopment projects adjacent to greenways, efforts should ensure the same amount of housing stock, based on income level. Put simply, if replacing low-income housing, the same amount of low-income housing should be provided in the redevelopment. Additional affordable housing stock should be a critical part of any creek-side development. Rent subsidies, well-devised forms of rent control, and community land trusts to protect low-income and affordable housing are important city-wide tools to prevent displacement.

Sources:

1. Wolch, Urban green space, public health, and environmental justice: The challenge of making cities ‘just green enough’ (2014).

How can developers contribute to goals?

Creek-side properties are desirable areas to live, work, and play. The $8.4 million restoration project along the Ogden River, in 2011, has seen a significant return on investment. Between 2000 and 2017, the number of housing units around the project area increased by 37 percent, the number of jobs increased by 36 percent, and the area’s median income increased by 34 percent. This is compared to increases across the entire city of 21, 16, and 28 percent, respectively [01].

The 60-acre River Bend Redevelopment Project Area plans to channel the momentum from the restoration project to create a mixed-use and mixed-income urban riverfront neighborhood. Residential developments, such as The Meadows at Riverbend and The View on 20th, have popped along the restored Ogden River, as well as retail spaces, like Gear:30, Ogden River Brewing, Slackwater, and others [02].

Trail-oriented developments fulfill the desire of residents and businesses to live and locate along waterways, trails, and other amenities. They bring density to corridors and offer amenities beyond the norm, such as bicycle storage, workrooms, rentals, and shower/locker facilities. They serve as an important tool in implementation, especially in urban areas where land is scarce and expensive.

Developers can be incentivized to uncover and restore creeks as an amenity for tenants and to improve property value. Furthermore, they can build publicly accessible trails and other recreation opportunities along the creeks. Design standards can further require implementation of recommendations through ordinances, overlay zones, or other strategies.

Privately-owned public spaces are important for implementation of greenways. Through partnerships with landowners, access has been granted in formal or informal agreements. Corporate centers, commercial areas, and large apartment complexes can provide access on private property for tenants and other users.

For example, a trail winds along Big Cottonwood Creek through the Cottonwood and Old Mill Corporate Centers. The landowner donated rights-of-way as a means for tenants to access the creek and recreation opportunities [03]. The trail connects the city of Cottonwood Heights, the Old Mill Open Space, and the mouth of the Big Cottonwood Canyon underneath Interstate-215 to Knudsen Park and the rest of the city of Holladay.

Schools, churches, and other community institutions can create additional quasi-public private space for the greenways. Access agreements, with Bonneville First Ward, have extended the Miller Bird Refugee and Nature Park into Bonneville Glen along Red Butte Creek to create access on both sides of the park to the surrounding neighborhood.

Sources:

1. Hinners, The Socio-Economic Impacts of the Ogden River Restoration (2019).
2. Shaw, Ogden Riverbend project still moving along, with new apartment complex possible (2017).
3. Chakraborty, 5-mile trail coming to foothills near you (2006).