Project Name:  Jordan River Restoration Project

Sponsoring Organization Name(s):  Jordan River Restoration Project

Director:  Ray Wheeler, ray.wheeler@earthlink.net

Web Address:  http://www.earthrestoration.net/topics/view/11160/

Contact Info:  801-355-6236

Geographic Location:  North America, USA, intermountain region, Utah state, Salt Lake County.

Project Area Description:  Riparian/wetlands corridor of the 55 mile-long Jordan River, which flows from south to north down the length of Salt Lake Valley, draining Utah Lake into the "terminal", Great Salt Lake.   River flows through three counties and 15 municipalities.

Ecoregion classification

• Biome: Nearctic
• Biome subcategory:  Deserts and Xeric Shrublands
• Ecoregion (see ecoregion classification system):  Great Basin Shrub Steppe

Ecoregion description:

• Major urban/hub area of the semi-arid Great Basin region at an elevation of 4,200 feet above sea level;
• Surrounding/adjacent lands are urban, primarily residential, some light industrial.  Intermittent string of recreational park lands, golf courses, and some farm lands.
• Headwaters of the river are in the adjacent, north-south trending Wasatch Mountain Range at the western edge of the Rocky Mountain cordillera of North America
• drains a freshwater lake into a "terminal" inland saltwater lake
• Situated along the axis of two overlapping migratory bird flyways--the Central and Pacific flyways of North America
• extensive fresh water and salt water wetlands surround the river delta where it drains into the Great Salt Lake

Restoration goals summary:  In 2008 Salt Lake County in partnership with the 15 municipalities along the river initiated a major river corridor masterplan project called "Blueprint Jordan River".  The mission of the Jordan River Restoration Project is to advocate for maximum preservation and restoration of existing open space and natural areas along the river corridor by developing and promoting an overarching vision for the systematic restortion of native plant communities, wildlife habitat, wetlands preservation and reclamation, improvement of water quality, fish habitat, reintroduction of extirpated native species,

Current status:  City/county planning effort completed December 2008, now in implementation phase.  Next steps for us:  nonprofit incorporation, membership recruitment, initiate a scientific ecosystem asset inventory/assessment, development of an ecosystem management vision and plan to guide and complement the city planning effort (which in early stages called for the development of 14 major commercial centers spanning and centered on the river).   Also:  develop a description of what a restored ecosystem would look like;  its ideal species composition;  a model of what management criteria and goals should be to move from current badly beaten condition as far as possible in the direction of ecosystem health and resiliance.

More information: 

• About the Jordan River Corridor
• About "Blueprint Jordan River"

 --Ray Wheeler, Project Director, Jordan River Restoration Project