Jordan River Project Blog

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This blog is devoted to the Jordan River Restoration Project--a  hands-on experimental pilot of the Earth Restoration Project.

THIS Jordan River, unlike its namesake flows through the west side of Salt Lake city on its 50-mile journey--like its namesake-- from freshwater Utah Lake, to saline, shallow, "terminal" Great Salt Lake.

Along the way it passes gigantic trophy homes (in the midst of the Turkey Run golf course and resort),  plunges into a canyon called Jordan Narrows, pouring from one beaver-pond to the next;  wanders across farmland and tract housing and condo developments, plunges into the heart of the largest metropolitan area in the intermountain west--and finally emerges from a quiet green tunnel into the brilliant sunshine in the vast wetlands area where its delta fans out into the Great Salt Lake.

Since the Mormon pioneers entered Salt Lake Valley in 1847, the damage to natural systems throughout the river corridor has been extreme.   It has been all but dewatered, with 75% of its average annual flow siphoned off into a parallel "surplus" canal.  It has become deeply entrenched due to dredging of the sediment that flows increasingly from housing developments and city streets all over the valley.

And it is loaded to the gunwales with trash.

Join us here and offer your thoughts as to how this important migratory bird flyway can be protected, and its battered ecosystem, restored over time.