Embedded Files
I have lived in Salt Lake City my whole life and the Jordan River Basin has been a huge part of my life growing up. I have a lot of memories of hiking, camping, and exploring all the different canyons in the Jordan River Basin. Over the summer I worked with the Hogle Zoo to determine the presence of sites historically known to be inhabited, identify breeding ponds, and discover potential habitats for future reintroduction programs. There was a grant specifically looking at the Wasatch Mountains so I did a lot of fieldwork in this area. I chose this watershed because I wanted to learn more about it and because I was already familiar with the area.
The Jordan River Basin is very big and while trying to find different riverscapes I started realizing all the canyons like Cottonwood Creek, Big Cottonwood Creek, Mill Creek, Parley's Creek, Emigration Creek looked really similar. Because of this I chose to focus on Big Cottonwood canyon because it's the one I am most familiar with. Also it had more diversity than the other canyons. I also decided to choose a site along the Jordan river that was in the city and a site that was close to the drainage of the Great Salt Lake.
General Information
It has a drainage area of 3,570 square miles. The river is 51 miles long flowing north from the outlet of Utah Lake to the Great Salt Lake. The Jordan River is fed by Little Cottonwood Creek, Big Cottonwood Creek, Mill Creek, Parley's Creek, Emigration Creek, Red Butte Creek, and City Creek. Salt Lake City, West Valley City, West Jordan, and Sandy border the Jordan River.
The river and its corridor are important environmentally, recreationally, economically, and culturally for all the communities through which it flows. The Jordan River provides a lot of “habitat for many different species of native wildlife including deer, beaver, fox, and many more varieties of mammals, amphibians, reptiles, fish, and birds” It serves as an important avian resource, as does the Great Salt Lake and Utah Lake, visited by more than 200 bird species. Its also provides a lot of reacting to the community like the Jordan River Parkway, International Peace Gardens, trails, fishing ponds, equestrian trails, canoeing and kayaking.
Figure 1.1 Jordan River Basin StreamStat Full Report
Figure 1.2 Map of the Jordan River Subwatersheds
Figure 1.3 Map of the Jordan River main tributaries
Climate
The Jordan River encompasses two very distinct elevations and climate regimes. The Jordan River is fed by 7 main canyon tributaries and because of this snow accumulation and melt is a significant annual source of water. “The Jordan Subbasin and higher elevation has two distinct climate zones. The lower elevations are characterized as a cold, semi-arid climate, with four distinct seasons. Both summer and winter are long with hot, dry summers and cold, snowy winters”
Figure 1.4 Map of the Jordan River Digital Elevation Model from Riverscapes Warehouse
Figure 1.5 Elevation Profile from Big Cottonwood to the Great Salt Lake produced from Google Earth Pro
Figure 1.6 Jordan River Vegetation Class form Riverscapes Warehouse
Figure 1.7 Jordan River Age of Geologic Formation
Vegetation
Along the Jordan River the city has pushed to establish native trails along the stretch of the river. Some native trees include Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremontii), peach leaf willow (Salix amygdaloides), and box elder (Acer negundo).
Geologic Setting
"About 38 to 24 million years ago large bodies of magma intruded parts of what is now the Wasatch Range. These granitic intrusions, eroded thrust sheets, and the older sedimentary rocks form the uplifted Wasatch Range as it is seen today" (Utah Geological Survey)
Land Use
In the past the Jordan River was dumping ground for raw sewage and industrial waste for over a hundred years. The Jordan River became a highly regulated river after the growing population demanded for more drinking water irrigation, and industrial use. In order to achieve this they dug ditches, canals, dams and installed pumps. Agriculture is more localized in the southern and irrigation more towards the northwest portion of the Jordan River
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse