How Do You Treat YOUR Water

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How Do You Treat YOURWater?
Salt Lake City
Department of Public Utilities
Water Resources Watershed Management
www.keepitpure.com
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Outline

• Background History
• Watershed Description
• Hydrology
• Water Development
• Watershed Protection
• Water Quality
• Drinking Water Source Protection - what you see
  today you may drink tomorrow
• Water Quality Monitoring
• Modern Watershed Management
• Development Review/Inspection
• Recreation Management
• Enforcement
• Watershed Education

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Where does the WATER in your HOME come from?
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Salt Lake Valley Source Water Supply
Source Utah Department of Natural Resources
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Wasatch Front Watershed
TOTAL WATERSHED AREA 200 sq mi TOTAL AVERAGE
RUNOFF 152,000 acre feet OWNERSHIP Forest
Service 62 Salt Lake City 19 Private
19 Salt Lake County 6
What is a Watershed?

• a geographical area of land (such as a canyon
  from ridge to ridge) that catches the rain and
  snow drained by a single river system

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Protected Watershed Areas

• City Creek
• Parleys Canyon
• Big Cottonwood Canyon
• Little Cottonwood Canyon

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Early Watershed Management

• 1851 Brigham Young removes cattle from City
  Creek
• 1887-1947 Land purchase in City Creek
• 1912 First Watershed Patrol Formed
• 1950 Chlorination of water supply
• 1952-1965 City Creek Canyon closed for water
  quality

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Watershed Legislation

• 1913 PL199 requires primary management of
  National Forest for drinking water supply water
  quality
• 1934 PL259 Removes southern canyons from
  mining, reserved surface estate to U.S.
• 1989 PL101 Bush reaffirms legislation
• State Constitution grants City of the First Class
  extraterritorial jurisdiction over drinking
  supply watershed

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Water Development

• 1847 Diversion of City Creek
• 1904 -1934 City enters into Agreements to
  exchange high quality Creek flows for late season
  irrigation deliveries
• 1930s drought and well development
• 1960s Deer Creek Reservoir

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Watershed Statistics

• Average Valley rainfall 12 vs. 520 (approx.
  27 SWE) snowfall in the Wasatch Mountains
• Great Salt Lake effect of evapotranspiration
  (ET) increases mountain snowfall
• Winter snow is water storage use through hot
  summer months

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Hydrology
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Current Water Supplies
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Water Quality

• what you see today you may drink tomorrow

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Effectiveness of the Watershed Programs

• Canyon water supply is traditionally below 100
  coliform/100ml
• There is a distinct difference between watershed
  and non-watershed canyons
• Usage in the canyons has increased without major
  changes in bacteriological counts

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Canyon Bacteriological Comparison

• Regulations enforced in protected watershed
  canyons
• Protected Watershed canyons are sewered

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Seasonal Variations in Coliform

• Average monthly changed patterns
• After 1993 see late season Water Quality impacts

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Water Treatment QA

• Q Why is Watershed Protection important?
• Watershed Protection is the first of four
  Multiple Barriers to pollution and disease
• Source Watershed Protection
• Removal
• Disinfection
• System Residual Disinfection
• Q Does the Treatment Plant remove all pollution?
  
• Treatment removal based on 3 log (99.99) removal
  per the Safe Drinking Water Act.
• Cleaner Source Water Cleaner Drinking Water
• Q Why are dogs restricted from the watershed
  when wild animals roam free?
• Domestic animals transmit human disease
• We can control what we do, but not wildlife
• Lots of people lots of dogs lots of dog waste
  (Mill Creek allows dogs, with over 2 tons per
  week of dog waste hauled out of canyon

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Drinking Water Pollution Detection
In-Stream Early Warning Monitoring Treatment
Monitoring Distribution System Monitoring
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Current Watershed Management Practices

• Multiple use fostered
• Water Quality primary goal
• Salt Lake City, Forest Service, Salt Lake Valley
  Health Dept, and Salt Lake County cooperatively
  manage the Front

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Governing the Watersheds

• Salt Lake City Watershed Ordinance Master
  Plan
• USFS - 2003 Forest Plan, Conjunctive OM
  Agreement w/City, EIS required for development on
  National Forest
• Salt Lake County - Foothill Canyon Overlay Zone
  (FCOZ) Development Ordinances
• Salt Lake Valley Health Department - Sanitation
  regulations enforcement

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City Watershed Partnerships Funding

• Cottonwood Canyons Foundation (Silver Lake
  Center, Public Lands IC)
• USFS Backcountry Patrol, Facility Improvements
• Sheriff Watershed Patrol

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How Do We Impact the Watershed?

• Pollution (sanitary waste, garbage, chemicals,
  sediment)
• Erosion (Development, Recreation)
• Hazmat Spills

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An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure.
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SLC Watershed Regulations

• City retains rights to all Canyon water
• SLC Surplus Water Permits for Domestic use and
  Snowmaking
• Snowmaking results in approx 18-30 loss, but
  melts in late season when needed in Valley
• Class B Misdemeanor to Pollute the Watershed
• No Dogs (private property owners may obtain
  permit for dog, but must keep on property,
  contain, and clean up after it).
• Must use toilet, backcountry waste must buried 6
  and 300 feet from watercourse
• No Off-road Motorized Travel
• Unlawful to pollute

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Watershed Education Program

• Media Campaign Brochures, Print, TV, Movie
  Trailers, www.keepitpure.com
• Education Signs (60 Sites)
• 4th 9th Grade Curricula
• Public Outreach

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Road Signs
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Watershed Interpretive Signs
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Regulatory Sign Panel
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Trailheads
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What You Can Do to Protect the Watershed

• Dont swim in drinking water streams or lakes.
• Pets are not allowed in the protected watersheds.
  Exercise dogs in other designated areas.
• Pack out what you pack in.
• Plan ahead and use existing restrooms.

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Thanks for Being a Champion for YOUR Drinking
Water Watershed!