Jordan River Watershed liaison outlines $5 million restoration grant and watershed priorities

Heidi Hoven, senior manager at Gilmore Sanctuary and liaison from the Jordan River Watershed Council, told the Great Salt Lake Advisory Council the Jordan River links Utah Lake to Great Salt Lake and that coordinated watershed work supports flows, wetlands and habitat that feed the lake.

“The Jordan River represents the only outflow of Utah Lake and meanders about 51 miles to its outlet at Great Salt Lake,” Hoven said, describing tributaries, diversions and managed wetlands on the lake’s south shore. She urged viewing Utah Lake, the Jordan River and Great Salt Lake as a single connected system.

Hoven said the Jordan River Commission and partners received a $5,000,000 National Fish and Wildlife Foundation America the Beautiful Challenge grant to expand community-led riparian and wetland restoration across four primary activities: a 22-acre floodplain restoration at Big Bend in West Jordan, native-species and invasive-species work along the corridor, restoration along the South Shore at Gilmore Sanctuary, and community science and education through Utah State University’s Water Quality Extension Program.

Hoven described existing partnerships among local governments, the U.S. Forest Service, water providers and NGOs that are coordinating watershed planning, forest restoration to reduce wildfire risk, investments in water conservation, and infrastructure upgrades. She said improved mapping of stormwater flows and attention to floodplain management under the Blueprint Jordan River are priorities linked to the new grant funding.

Hoven invited council members to follow up with her or with in-room Jordan River Commission executive director Soren Simonson for more details.

The council did not take formal action on the presentation but noted the commission’s work as relevant to lake inflows and habitat conservation.