Past Projects

Most recently, in 2021, the East Canyon Watershed Committee received a nonpoint source pollution grant from the Utah Division of Water Quality to support information and education throughout East Canyon Creek. Proposed films, webinars, and ECC outreach correspond to the summer 2021 Beaver Dam Analog (BDA) restoration work that took place along ECC in the summer and fall, within Swaner Preserve and EcoCenter’s acreage and across Summit County. In fact, 100 BDAs were installed across Summit County that summer! We anticipated a need for corresponding public education regarding BDAs as a restoration tool, the importance of beavers in ecosystems, and the resilience of impaired waterbodies to recovery.

ECC Information and Education Grant - Movie Series

Dark Waters was screened in July 2021 at the Twilight Drive-in at the Utah Olympic Park. This film follows "a corporate defense attorney who takes on an environmental lawsuit against a chemical company that exposes a lengthy history of pollution." A few local entities (Trout Unlimited, Swaner Preserve and Eco-Center, and USU Extension) had tables to give out information on their projects and roles in the watershed. Local artist, Mary Perry, displayed some of her art and Ecologist Sara Jo Dickens from Ecology Bridge brought some drought tolerant plants for display.

Beaver Believers was screened in August 2021 at Newpark Amphitheater. "The Beaver Believers is an award-winning feature documentary sharing the urgent yet whimsical story of an unlikely cadre of activists - five scientists and a sassy, spicy hairdresser - who share a common vision. They’re all working to restore the North American Beaver, that most industrious, ingenious, bucktoothed engineer, to the watersheds of the American West." You can rent the film here, and the trailer can be found on the left!

How We Grow was screened in September 2021, also at Newpark Amphitheater. This film is about "ambitious young farmers building community around locally grown food." A few local producers were present selling honey and beef products.

ECC Information and Education Grant -TFL Stipends

The East Canyon Watershed Committee partnered with USU Extension and Ecology Bridge to implement a pilot study for integrating the Trout Friendly Lawns program into the local community and establishing example sites through a stipend and resource assistance program. The requirements for a Trout Friendly lawn closely follow the criteria identified by two successful groups that established the Trout Friendly Lawn program in Sun Valley, ID and Jackson Hole, WY. To encourage adoption, stipends were given to applicants to help with purchase of drought friendly plants. Participants received a bronze, silver, or gold certification depending on how many practices they adopted (info about the certification levels can be found here under the Trout Friendly Lawns Program tab halfway down the page). Additionally, a webinar was held to provide instruction on plant installation and general trout friendly practices. Check out the brochure we produced for this project on the left, and a photo of a Trout Friendly Lawn below!

ECC Information and Education Grant - Miscellaneous activities

Little Naturalist Storytime at Swaner

Tying into existing lessons prepared by Swaner staff, the theme of Beavers and their role in ecosystems were highlighted for a children’s Little Naturalist Story Time, presented by Swaner, through the addition of these books and explaining the BDAs happening around ECC.

A Beaver Tale: The Castors of Conners Creek

Wykes's full-color illustrations and kid-friendly text tell a serious tale of environmental recovery in a fun and accessible way. Young readers aged 8 to 12 will enjoy the unique natural and cultural history in A Beaver Tale.

The Adventures of Paddy the Beaver

As this delightful story opens, something strange is going on! The waters of the Laughing Brook and Smiling Pool have become a mere trickle, causing alarm among the creatures of the Green Forest. It seems Jerry Muskrat's cousin, Paddy the Beaver, has come south to make himself a new home. That means he had to stop the waters that flowed in the Laughing Brook and Smiling Pool to make a fine new pond for himself and a comfortable home of sticks and mud. But what will happen to the waterways in the Green Forest?

Stream Gage Support

A small portion of funding from this grant supported the maintenance of stream gages on ECC. Check out this data on the "Information Station" page using the Utah Continuous Water Quality Monitoring Dashboard.

East Canyon Creek Restoration

The Kamas Valley Conservation District completed a project in fall 2021 addressing the actively eroding streambanks on East Canyon Creek. Eroding streambanks contribute sediment to the stream and keep the stream wide and shallow. As a cold-water fishery, East Canyon Creek cannot sustain a wide and shallow stream as it keeps the water well above required temperatures. Additionally, sediment can make it hard for animals to find food and for plants to grow. Nutrients transported by sediment can support the growth of blue-green algae which can make recreational users sick.

This project was located just downstream of Swaner Preserve and EcoCenter. Beaver Dam Analogs (BDAs) were installed to help trap sediment and keep more water in the creek. A riparian corridor was put in to help stabilize the stream bank and to keep the water cooler by providing shade. Additionally, Mountain Regional Water extended their delivery pipe by 250 feet so that more water reaches the creek instead of evaporating in the meadow where it was previously released.

Before

During construction

After

Lower East Canyon Creek Bank Stabilization

In Spring 2020, Trout Unlimited began work on the lower reach of East Canyon Creek where it meets with the Weber River. Bank stabilization and sedimentation were an issue in this area, as with much of East Canyon Creek. Because the banks in this reach are comprised of highly erodible material, typical bank stabilization methods could not be used. As mentioned above, these wooden posts are installed perpendicular to the stream and interwoven with sticks and rocks to create a barrier (BDA), that catches sediment. Instead, the wooden posts were installed parallel to the flow of the creek to provide bank protection and limit the acceleration of water around hardened banks. The posts were supposed to have branches woven within like a typical BDA, but COVID limitations prevented the use of volunteers to do the work. Thankfully, the posts naturally recruited branches and were inducing deposition as planned anyway. See below for a photo from May 2021 where you can clearly see sediment deposition within the posts!

Summit Park Open Space Forest Restoration and Fuels Reduction

A collaborative project between the Kamas Conservation District and residents of Pinebrook and Summit Park began in 2019 to improve riparian habitat and reduce the risk from heavy fuel loads on Toll Canyon Creek, a tributary to East Canyon Creek that runs through Summit Park.

To reduce fuel loads, four methods were used (in non-overlapping areas):

Patch-Cuts: The complete removal of all qualifying trees from an even-aged area of forest no larger than 1 hectare (2.5 acres). This method creates limited visual disturbance and promotes preservation of habitat as a whole. Patch cuts has been selected for the additional benefit of having minimal impact on the overall biodiversity of any given forested area.
Variable Thinning: Stands will be variably thinned in order to open up the canopy and promote natural regeneration with the ultimate goal of establishment of a second age class. The method is to remove small patches of trees or individual trees in an irregular pattern.
Light Thinning: Smaller trees, with DBH less than 15in, will be thinned to promote stand health and growth. Trees will be removed from the smaller size classes to favor the larger, healthier trees.
Shaded Fuels Break/Egress Treatment: In a given treatment area, all dead standing and large (greater than 3in diameter) downed woody debris will be removed, treated, or prepared for burn piles. All ladder fuels will be removed. Ladder fuels are defined as brush and small trees under 8ft tall. Isolated patches of fire-resistant shrubs and trees (Rocky Mountain maple (Acer glabrum), Big-toothed maple (Acer grandidentatum), Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides), Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana), Mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus spp.) and Serviceberry (Amelanchier utahensis)) can be left if taller than 8ft but only if brushed around base and thin bushed up 4-8ft. All qualifying conifers in the fuel break less than 30ft in height will be removed unless there are no other conifers within a 30ft radius. This treatment is intended to reduce hazardous fuels and create defensible space in accordance with the standards outline in the Utah Catastrophic Wildfire Reduction Strategy and the National Fire Prevention Association Firewise USA program.

To improve riparian habitat, Beaver Dam Analogs (BDAs) were installed. Apart from being efficient at catching sediment and improving water quality, these human-made structures also reduce wildfire risks/effects by keeping more water in the water table and the stream. An article from the Washington Post explains this well, "It’s common sense. Water, soggy ground and well-hydrated vegetation reduce fire’s ability to spread. Beavers create deep ponds by building dams, then dig fingerlike canals to slowly spread that water throughout the flood plain. The stream’s reduced speed allows collected water to seep into the ground where it encourages deep plant roots and an abundance of wildlife to thrive."

We love to see these large, collaborative projects and hope to assist with more in the future!

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