HIDDEN HOLLOW
1229 E WILMINGTON AVE
In 1990, a group of Hawthorne Elementary students, part of the school’s Kids Organized to Protect the Environment (KOPE) program, stumbled upon this stretch of Parley’s Creek, while on a field trip. The site had been neglected over the decades, becoming a community dumping grounds. Students began cleaning up the trash and construction debris littering the area. Research discovered the area was slated for development. The creek was to be covered by a large mall or parking garage. Students reached out to City officials to learn how to protect the site. These efforts help to rezone the property as open space. In 2000, Utah Open Lands placed a conservation easement over the three acres, protecting Hidden Hollow in perpetuity.
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SUICIDE ROCK DAM
C. 1907
In 1891, Salt Lake City built a reservoir on the east side of Suicide Rock, originally designed by Brigham Young. The reservoir was intended to trap spring run-off for irrigation use. Farmers in the canyon still owned much of the water rights, leaving only a small amount for use in the city. A fight for water rights ensued. By 1900, no farmers remained. Population growth required the construction of a dam further upstream in 1917, the Mountain Dell Reservoir. Flooding in 1897 and 1922 partially washed out the dam. After the 1922 floods, the Suicide Rock dam was abandoned for the one upstream, which was more reliable at controlling flooding. Parley’s Creek, and children during the summer “shooting the tube,” is all that remains in the area.
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MILL CREEK CONFLUENCE
2902 S 900 W
Six acres of neglected public lands sits at the confluence of Mill Creek and the Jordan River. The north-side of the property is designated a levee by the Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. No woody vegetation can be present here, meaning the bank is highly managed with intense chemical applications and herbaceous weeds have moved in. The south-side has been invaded with noxious weeds, such as Russian olive, tamarisk, Siberian elm, puncturevine, and Scotch thistle. A water treatment plant upstream discharges directly into Mill Creek, further stressing the channel and replicating ten-year flood events each day. The banks are actively eroding.
The Seven Canyons Trust is excited to announce it has received a $20,000 grant from the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food’s Invasive Species Management Program. In partnership with the Jordan River Commission, Salt Lake County, and South Salt Lake, the Trust will reverse the invasion of noxious weeds at the site. Seed mixes of native grass species will be pilot on the north, levee-side of the property. This will present a more aesthetically-pleasing alternative to ecologically damage herbicide applications to fight invasive infestations. On the south-side, seed mixes of native trees, shrubs, and grasses will be spread to restore habitat value to the site.
Looking towards the future, the site can be transformed into a series of interpretative, constructed wetlands. The wetlands would soak up nutrients from the nutrient-rich waters of Mill Creek, mitigating health-hazardous and ecological degrading algal blooms. Native riparian vegetation would further enhance the habitat value for migratory birds and the other wildlife of the Jordan River corridor. Finally, the site could become a living laboratory for nearby students and a amenity for the surrounding neighborhood.
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WATER TRIVIA
SQUATTERS BREWING CO.
147 W 300 S
MARCH 2 @ 6PM - Are you a watershed wizard? Test your Wasatch water knowledge with the Seven Canyons Trust at Water Trivia! Grab a team of up to four, and head Downtown to Squatters Brewing on March 2nd at 6PM. If you plan to play, please register beforehand. Registration is not required if you do not plan to play. Everyone is welcome! Local micro-brews will be available for purchase and enjoy free appetizers, courtesy of Squatters Brewing.
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LOVE, PROTECT UTAH
A. FISHER BREWING CO.
320 W 800 S
March 30 @ 5PM - Save the date! Celebrate the revival of Salt Lake City’s first brewery, and support organizations working to protect Utah’s air, land, water, and wildlife! Enjoy brews from A. Fisher Brewing Co., bites, and tunes at this free event with HawkWatch International, HEAL Utah, Save Our Canyons, Seven Canyons Trust, TreeUtah, Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, and WildUtah Project. Love Utah Give Utah, on March 30th, is Utah’s own day of giving, raising millions of dollars to make Utah a better place to live, work, and play!
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BECOME A FRIEND OF THE RELAY!
Want to support the continued hosting of the Range 2 River Relay for years to come? Purchase a Friend Sponsorship, and lock down your team’s registration for 2017! With the purchase of a Friend Sponsorship, you will receive a free team registration, three free event tees, your name recognized under the Friend category on our website, and more! One hundred percent of the proceeds will be invested back into the Relay, so you can compete year after year. Read more...
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THE HERMAN FRANKS PARK CONCEPTS ARE HERE!
The Seven Canyons Trust, with support from Bockholt Landscape Architecture and the Franks Family Foundation, is crafting a community-based design vision to uncover Emigration Creek at Herman Franks Park. Opportunity exists to daylight 1,000 feet of the creek at the perimeter of the park to activate the space between the baseball diamonds and the surrounding roads. The restored creek channel will create a beautiful backdrop for the current uses at the park, without disrupting them in any way.
There is currently a stormwater pipe that directs surface water underground and carries it beneath the park, without anyone being the wiser. This is a lost opportunity to capitalize on one of the most attractive commodities that draws people to public spaces - water. Read more...
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"Growing up in Salt Lake City, I was under the impression that water was a rarity in our hot and dry valley. Little did I know, I had been walking on the concrete that has buried this water beneath us. I support the Seven Canyons Trust because of their hard work and commitment to uncovering the seven creeks, restoring beauty back to our valley!"
-VALERIE SQUIRE
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STRAWBERRY CREEK
BERKELEY, CA
Regarded as one of the first daylighting projects in the nation, an abandoned freight rail right-of-way was transformed into a four-acre nature park and 200-foot creek channel. The Public Works department was originally concerned with the safety of digging up a creek formally locked up in an underground culvert. Regardless, the landscape architects presented a design option that featured the creek and renamed the site, Strawberry Creek Park, to further draw attention to the culverted creek. Public approval of the plan was virtually unanimous and City officials were eventually swayed. In 1983, the entire park was built at a cost of $650,000. The creek restoration costed approximately $60,000. No one has died, nor been injured in the creek. In fact, this project has facilitated five additional daylighting projects in the county. Strawberry Creek Park is now filled with children, seniors, dog walkers, and birds, and has facilitated reinvestment in this neglected area.
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FOLSOM CORRIDOR
28 S 800 W
During the redevelopment of the Gateway, a Union Pacific rail-line was straightened in exchange 12 acres of land. Salt Lake City placed an overflow City Creek culvert through the corridor and a temporary gravel trail over the culvert. Originally proposed in 1993, The Gateway Specific Plan envisioned a paved trail running adjacent to a daylight City Creek. The proposed Folsom Corridor will connect underserved west-side neighborhoods to employment and services in Downtown Salt Lake City. This trail will provide a direct and comfortable connection for walking and bicycling between communities that are currently separated by railroad tracks, two freeways, and a redeveloping industrial area. Through the daylighting of City Creek adjacent to the trail, the project will alleviate water quality impairments, improve access to nature, and mitigate flooding concerns. The project will spark economic investment in the neglected area to create a more livable city.
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