Salt Lake City, please discontinue this environmental injustice.
801-535-7600 council.comments@slcgov.com
All support the watershed efforts of:
The Utah Lake water in the creek issue is an oversight of overworked city, county, and state employees.
The time has come to discontinue the practice of putting Utah Lake water into Big Cottonwood Creek which would also end the thousands of pounds of dead Utah Lake fish (Carp, Cat Fish, Perch), and salty, and unhealthy Utah Lake water infected with blue-green algae cyanotoxins running down this natural, pristine creek.
A dog named Drake, a black Labrador, died soon after from playing in and lapping Utah Lake cyanotoxic green slime algae water. In 2016, Big Cottonwood Creek tested positive for cyanotoxins with the probable source being SLC's untreated Utah Lake water discharged into the creek SLC routinely dries up.
Drying up Big Cottonwood Creek kills native fish, and native biota (the flora and fauna of an eco-system). No one has the right to dry up a river or creek for money let alone extra "surplus water" money. In the summer, Salt Lake City Public Utilities takes all the water out of the creek causing it to go dry for over a mile while Public Utilities gushes with alternative surplus waters.
Back in early 1900's SLC began the practice of drying up and using eastside creeks as free ditches fulll of Utah Lake water to help farmers irrigate 9,000 acres from Big Cottonwood Creek. 137 years later Utah Lake is no longer a healthy water source. As cities grew farming has ended on the east bench of Salt Lake County. Today, it appears 50 acres are irrigated from Big Cottonwood Creek in stark contrast to the historic 9,000 acres ending the need to put Utah Lake water into the creek. The purpose of the 28 mile Jordan & Salt Lake City Canal running from Draper to South Temple was built in 1882 ended decades ago. This tired and useless canal still operates today costing Salt Lake City $830,000 while polluting our creeks with Utah Lake water. It's time to re-purpose the canal, its $830,000 operating budget, and restore our creek watersheds.
Public Health issues - Anatoxin-a (Very Fast Death Factor) is lethal. As marginally cyanotoxic algae infected Utah Lake water sometimes containing Anatoxin-a spreads through miles of lattice work of east side ditches in Salt Lake County, it slows, pools and stagnates to bloom rapidly in the high summer heat creating multiple bio-hazards in SLCO eastside backyards in close proximity to pets and people.
Utah Lake water is 4 times dirtier than the creek water. Putting Utah Lake water into a pure creeks, and de-watering creeks kills our pristine creeks.
Today 98% of the Utah Lake water conveyed in the 137 year old Jordan & Salt Lake City Canal running from Draper to Temple Square has no beneficial use and simply wastes. SLC Public Utilities chooses to spend $830,000 annually to despoil our local pristine creeks with Utah Lake water to force the wasting of billions of gallons of water. It appears so shareholders can not get fair market value where water is needed, enabling the city to buy their shares for pennies on the dollar.
Why hasn't SLC Public Utilities implemented its 1999 SLC Watershed Management Plan recommendations to retire outdated 114 year old Utah Lake water exchange contracts which would end this environmental injustice artificially manufactured by Salt Lake City Public Utilities? Director Laura Briefer 801-483-6900 laura.briefer@slcgov.com
Why hasn't Salt Lake County implemented its own "Watershed Planning and Restoration" plan to end this mess? Mayor Jenny Wilson 385-468-7000 mayor@slco.org
Why does Utah's Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ Water) grant Clean Water Act waivers authorizing Salt Lake City Public Utilities to commit this environment injustice on our natural creeks?
There is no "important or economic or social development" attributable to putting Utah Lake water in Big Cottonwood Creek. Why doesn't DEQ follow DEQ's R317-2-3 Antidegradation Policy?
Director Erica Gaddis 801-536-4300 egaddis@utah.gov
Governor Gary Herbert, please save Big Cottonwood Creek, Little Cottonwood Creek, and Canyon Tourist Dollars. 801-538-1000
Lt. Governor Spencer Cox, please stop the poop on our Silicon Slopes. 801-538-1048 spencercox@utah.gov
Department of Natural Resources Executive Director Brian Steed, please support saving Big Cottonwood Creek by encouraging the re-purposing the Jordan & Salt Lake City Canal running 98% of its water to waste and polluting our clean creeks. 801-538-7201 briansteed@utah.gov
Utah State Water Engineer Teresa Wilhelmsen, please support saving Big Cottonwood Creek by encouraging the re-purposing the Jordan & Salt Lake Canal wasting 98% of its public water and polluting the creeks. Utah Code 73-2-1(6)(b) authorizes the State Water Engineer to "(b) prevent theft, waste, loss, or pollution of those waters" 801-538-7240 teresawilhelmsen@utah.gov
Central Utah Water Conservation District General Manager Gene Shawcroft, save Big Cottonwood Creek and Little Cottonwood Creek by encouraging Salt Lake City to support the 2007 "Utah Lake Level Fluctuation Study" to "Increase the volume of rights that are held in the Lake." (page 19) 801-226-7100 gene@cuwcd.com
Who gives a crap about our crapped up creeks and canyons?
For years SLC Public Utilities has tracked e.coli contamination in Big Cottonwood Creek from 'Big Turd Canyon' as high as 2,419.6 MPN/100ml (40 times the safe level of E.coli in a swimming lake). E.coli standards for treated drinking water is zero and lake water for swimming 60. No DNA testing has occurred to determine whether the source is human, dog, or wildlife. It's unlikely wildlife are congregating at trail heads causing these high e.coil levels. The e.coli in Big Cottonwood Creek appears to be from humans due to 14 toilets in a 50 square mile canyon with 1.7 million visitors canyon (3 million visitors estimated by 2040) where 60 toilets are needed according to a U of U engineering student study.
14 toilets in 50 square miles for 1.7 million annual visitors in Big Cottonwood Canyon is a 'fecal time bomb.' Just 1 in 10 visitors pooping on the mountain dumps 1 million pounds of poop in Big Cottonwood Canyon over 20 years.
For years, SLC has warned the public that it takes minutes for a drop of canyon water to enter its treatment plant. Yet, it appears SLC delivers this e.coli contaminated water to irrigate eastside vegetable gardens.
There is one ton of salt in one acre-foot (325,851 gallons) of Utah Lake water at 735 TDS.* Salt Lake City puts Utah Lake water near 1,200 TDS (1.6 tons of salt per acre-foot).
At 5,000 acre-feet of Utah Lake water put into Big Cottonwood Creek, that's about 8,000 tons of salt a year put into Big Cottonwood Creek.
*Utah Lake Water Level Fluctuation Study" 2007 CUP
"Among cyanotoxins are some of the most powerful natural poisons known, including poisons which can cause rapid death by respiratory failure. The toxins include potent neurotoxins, hepatoxins, cytotoxins, and endotoxins."
"Exposure to the cyanobacteria neurotoxin BMAA may be an envirnmetnal cause of neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS, Parkinson's Disease and Alzheimer's Disease."
"There is also an interest in the military potential of biological neurotoxins such as cyanotoxins which "have gained increasing significance as potential candidates for weaponization." wikipeida
Anatoxin-a, saxitoxin, cyldrospermins (cyanobacteria) are bio-hazards in water sources put in our creeks for good reason. Not detected does not mean not present.
Dead fish from toxic algae poisoning enter the food chain poisoning birds and other wildlife.
"Algal toxins poison 60,000 people around the world every year."
With virtually no irrigation occurring from the Jordan & Salt Lake City Canal carrying Utah Lake water into Big Cottonwood Creek and Little Cottonwood Creek, it's time to re-purpose the canal and stop putting Utah Lake water in the eastside creeks of Salt Lake County.
Never has Big Cottonwood Creek ever had a toxic algal bloom infection except for the fact of Salt Lake City drying up the creek and putting dirty Utah Lake water into a clean creek.
"Pet owners are keeping their dogs away from the water in News Brunswick, as three dogs in the Fredericton area recently died after coming into contact with blue-green algae, a toxic bloom that can also be harmful to humans. " CBC News
1.7 million visitors to Big Cottonwood Canyon annually. If 1 in 10 uses the mountain as a toilet, over 20 years, that 1 million pounds of human poop on Big Cottonwood Canyon. With 3 million visitors by 2040, that's 100,000 pounds of human poop on the canyon watershed every year.
When mother nature calls, hikers and bikers poop on the mountain.
When Utah invites millions to its canyons without providing sufficient sanitary toilets, drinking water, and parking our natural resources are despoiled and Utah's reputation soiled.
Out of sight - Out of mind is a policy failure.
Why is there human poop in our creeks?
Going to the bathroom is a natural function of life.
Why do our Wasatch canyons chronically lack toilets, drinking water, and fire hydrants?
15 toilets for 1.7 million visitors in a 50 square mile Big Cottonwood Canyon doesn't flush.
Nothing ruins a hike like seeing or stepping in human poop.
SLC spends $1.4 million to buy Donut Falls, installs no toilets, no drinking water, no parking and invites the world to Donut Falls. Then the Donut Falls tourists are predatory parking ticketed for cash.
Why is Salt Lake City spending $830,000 a year to operate the Jordan & Salt Lake City Canal running 98% of its water to waste and polluting our creeks?
Historic irrigation from Big Cottonwood Creek peaked at 9,000 acres dropping to about 50 acres today. Get Utah Lake water out of Big Cottonwood Creek.
20 years ago, Salt Lake City Watershed Management Plan Final Draft March, 1999 recommended eliminate Utah Lake water exchange contacts. (See pdf below)
"Jordan River and Canals Algal Bloom Monitoring 2019 Update August 1, 2019. Lab results from samples collected by the Salt Lake County Health Department (SLCHD) at Jordan Narrows, Blackridge Reservoir, and Wheeler Farm on July 30, 2019, showed anatoxin-a at all sampling locations. Any detection of anatoxin-a exceeds the recreation exceeds the recreation health-based threshold for a Warning Advisory." Utah DEQ
"Anatoxin-a, also known as Very Fast Death Factor (VFDF), is a secondary, bicylic alkaloid and cyanotoxin with acute neurotoxicity." "Symptoms of anatoxin exposure include loss of coordination, muscular fasciculations, convulsions and death by respiratory paralysis. Its mode of action is through the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAchR) where it mimics the binding of the receptor's natural ligand, acetylcholine." "Due to its high toxicity and potential presence in drinking water, anatoxin-a poses a threat to animals, including humans." WikipediA August 9, 2019
What is the reason SLC Public Utilities spends $830,00 a year to operate the Jordan & Salt Lake City canal putting water infected with Anatoxin-a, salt, and dead fish into Big Cottonwood Creek for irrigating land when irrigation from the creek has virtually stopped?
"Rivers are the lifeblood of our civilization, we therefore need to carefully analyze the consequences of our actions to maintain ecologically sound riparian communities." USDA FS Big Cottonwood Creek Stream Survey Report Nov 2000
E-coli data 2015 to 2018 Big Cottonwood Canyon from SLC Public Utilties (pdf)
Download[Utah] Payson Lakes under algal bloom warning after young girl falls Sept 4, 2019 (pdf)
DownloadBig Cottonwood Creek Stream Survey Report Forest Service Nov 2000 (pdf)
DownloadNotice of Violaton of SLC fish kills in Parley's Creek Jan 21, 2000 (pdf)
DownloadSLC Grama Sept 12, 2019 - No Fish Kill Authority (pdf)
DownloadSalt Lake County Stream Care Guide 2015 (pdf)
DownloadEPA compliance letter to California - piles of human feces Sept 2019t (pdf)
DownloadToxic ‘Forever Chemicals’ Detected in Drinking Water Supplies Across California EWG (pdf)
DownloadReport - 74 California water systems contaminated with PSAS 'forever chemicals' Sep 26 2019 (pdf)
DownloadHow the algae bloom outbreak became an alarming health threat - Deseret News (pdf)
DownloadDaylighting Streams - Breathing Life into Urban Streams and Communities (pdf)
DownloadDaylighting (streams) - Wikipedia (pdf)
DownloadBCL Newsletter 2020 July Final (pdf)
DownloadMetcalf et al - Water Policy 2018 (1) (pdf)
Download"Steve Bartlett, the students' instructor and an associate professor in civil engineering, said the study points out a startling comparison between Yellowstone National Park and the projected visitation of 3 million people to Big Cottonwood Canyon by 2040.
The canyon, at an estimated 32,000 acres, will host 75 percent of the visitors Yellowstone receives (4.4 million) in a geographic footprint that is 1 percent of Yellowstone's size." Desnews April 21, 2017 U. engineering study recommends variable toll for Big Cottonwood Canyon
The Paradise California Wildfires were started from over protected forests and old power lines.
Why do we lack fire hydrants in Big Cottonwood Canyon to protect watershed, property and life?
Fire hydrants are a must for watershed protection.
Why is SLC Public Utilities against modern fire flows and hydrants in Big Cottonwood Canyon?
Today we invite 1.7 million visitors a year into Big Cottonwood Canyon and tomorrow 3 million visitors. They should be safe. Big Cottonwood Canyon lacking fire flows and hydrants is not safe.
Why isn't there adequate fire flow protection for Brighton City in Big Cottonwood Canyon?
Utah's 31.7 billion vehicle miles generates 16 million pounds of toxic tire dust going in our watersheds.
Paint dust is one of the microplastics founds in drinking water sources.
Washing and drying synthetic clothes puts synthetic fibers in the watershed.
The U.K. has banned microbeads.
"One quarter of the fish sampled from fish markets in California and Indonesia contained plastic pieces and fibers in their guts." 5Gyres.org
There is no free lunch.
Why is it illegal to drink rain barrel water (distilled water) in Utah?
Can you name any other state or country in the world where drinking rain barrel water is illegal other than Utah?
Can you name the Utah town with 21 houses without water meters? Alta, Utah.
Have you ever owned, rented or seen a house without a water meter in Utah?
Why do Utah trees, bushes, or weeds have more rights than person in Utah?
Why does Utah claim it wants take control of federal lands, yet gives control of Utah's water to the federal gov't?
Why haven't Utah's Domestic and Irrigation water regulations been updated since 1985?
Why does Utah spend $90,000 a day of state tax money on water paperwork instead of using that money to develop more water like new reservoirs ? We can't drink dry water paperwork.
Why doesn't Utah collect meaningful data from the one million water meters in Utah?
Why doesn't the Division of Water Rights collect water leakage data from cities leaking billions of gallons from water mains? The average city leaks 14% of its water from its water mains.
Why does one Utah farmer get 25% more water than another farmer with identical farms - identical crop, identical soil conditions, same elevation, and identical number of freeze days?
Why has Utah and Nevada are fighting and have fought for years over mining ground water at the border instead of finding a conservation solution to save more water than is in dispute?
Why do State water officials allow cities to double charge home builders for water, yet badger home builders about "affordable housing"?
How can a city can take over a water company, install its city employees to the company board, and buy out shareholders at $110 an an acre-foot (1/3 million gallons) for local clean water while it paid $5,800 for distant, dirtier water?
How can a city speculate and monopolize a basic commodity like water to dry up and buy up 50 square miles of land outside its city limits?
Why can't Public Food Providers (farmers) who spend money to save water use the saved water to expand and offset water conservation projects, but Public Water Providers can?
Why does Utah leak 15 Deer Creeks from city water mains and canals enough for 4 million new people?
Why has the State allowed water monopoly to the point where a water connection can sell for $225,000 instead of the typical $5,000?
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