Under natural conditions, the flood plains of our waterways eliminate the need for designed flood control. In recent history, however, man has built structures in these areas that both reduce the ability of the flood plain to absorb flood waters and require additional human effort to protect them.
Consequently, local governments in Utah enter our stream corridors and manipulate them in order to keep flood waters within stream banks.
As a matter of practice, these activities, conducted with the permission of the state under a blanket stream-alteration permit, can be extremely damaging if certain conditions are not followed.
Under an unnecessarily aggressive flood-control effort in mid-May, Salt Lake County flood control workers damaged a cherished segment of Parley's Creek in Parley's Historic Nature Park and spoiled wildlife habitat adjacent to and within the creek.
Parley's Creek is home to a conservation population of Bonneville cutthroat trout, a sensitive species protected under a conservation agreement to which the state is a signatory. While it is clear that the most recent fish kill in this same stream segment caused much more immediate damage, the county's destructive modus operandi deserves equal attention because it applies to not only Parley's Creek, but to every other stream under the county's jurisdiction.
In 2005, when the Utah Division of Water Rights authorized a comprehensive stream alteration permit to Salt Lake County for flood-control work on its waterways, it imposed several conditions on the permitted work.
To avoid more than minimal damage to our streams, DWR prohibited the use of heavy equipment in-stream (without prior notification) and the destruction of streamside vegetation. It prohibited work during periods of high flow and required measures to avoid muddying waters. On May 18, the county ignored these conditions.
Everyone deserves a second chance. Unfortunately, the work at Parley's Creek is not the first time the county has disregarded state and federal law. Many will remember its work in 2001 in Emigration Canyon with similar circumstances.
The county worked far outside the scope of its state-issued stream-alteration permit and caused a small, but damaging, fish kill.
The Clean Water Act, under which these permits are authorized, exists because the citizens of our country have demanded clean water sources. It isn't just chemical spills that threaten the integrity of our waters. The destruction of streamside vegetation, the dredging of waterways and the elimination of flood plains all contribute to poor water quality for us and the wildlife we all enjoy. Utah's natural resources attract worldwide attention; it only makes sense to protect these resources.
On June 18, the county requested a permit extension and DWR denied it. This means that in the future the county must apply for a separate permit each time it wishes to conduct flood control on waterways under its jurisdiction.
Does this resolve the damage to Parley's Creek? Is it enough to keep the county from working outside the scope of future permits? We don't think so. The Utah Rivers Council commends DWR for denying a new comprehensive permit, but we strongly urge DWR to issue a restoration order that addresses the damage inside Parley's Historic Nature Park.
There are numerous opportunities for the county to work with local user groups to reverse the damage they have caused and make improvements to the area's natural features. Not only would such action restore a cherished resource, but it would go far in maintaining the public trust in our local and state agencies.
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* AMY DEFREESE is river defense coordinator for the Utah Rivers Council in Salt Lake City.
