Provo • An overflow crowd — spurred by a businessman’s protest — turned out to discuss the future of the Provo River.
The June Sucker Recovery Implementation Program will schedule another open house to discuss what to do with the lower Provo River after the water is diverted north to create a river delta.
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"I don’t think we’ve had this much interest in a restoration project before," said Reed Harris, the June sucker recovery program director. The fish is an endangered species and is native to Utah Lake.
More than 100 people were crowded into the Utah Lake State Park meeting room Thursday night, and others lined the hallway, kept out of the meeting because of fire safety rules.
Ben Allen, owner of CLAS Ropes Course, took some credit for the standing-room-only crowd. Allen organized a protest, arguing that diverting the river would hobble his business and hurt river users and farmers who rely on the river for water.
"That’s a good sign that people care about this," Allen said of the crowd.
State officials say the existing river channel does not provide sufficient food or protection for young June suckers.
The solution is to create a delta, a fan-shaped deposit of sand and silt with small streams running through it. The state created a similar one on Hobble Creek.
The alternatives for the existing river channel are to fill it in and use it as a trail, create ponds there or cut its flow to 5 cubic feet per second — which Allen said would be a useless trickle.
Harris said none of the options is locked in, and the state is more than willing to hear what people have to say.
Allen organized a protest rally outside the park’s main building. About 80 people stood outside, waving signs with slogans such as "Share the River" and "People [are greater than] fish."
Allen initially said there would be 200 people at the protest. Afterward, he said there were about 30 protesters inside the building securing seats at the open house.
One of those who braved the cold was Paul O’Connor. The Provo resident said he is sympathetic to preserving the suckers, but added that the delta plan appears to be "railroaded" through.
He said there needs to be a reasonable solution, such as allowing enough water past the delta diversion to keep the existing channel available for recreational users.
Twitter: @donaldwmeyers
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