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Mitigation commission updates Utah Lake Wetlands Preserve acquisition and management
Summary
The Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission briefed the Authority on the Utah Lake Wetlands Preserve: roughly 7,500 acres acquired on a willing-seller basis, connected to the Central Utah Project Completion Act, and managed as habitat with approximately 750 acre‑feet of acquired water rights.
Mike Mills of the Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission (URMCC) updated the board on the Utah Lake Wetlands Preserve, explaining the preserve is divided into Goshen and Benjamin units and that the Central Utah Project Completion Act defined up to 22,000 acres for the preserve. Mills said the commission has acquired about 7,500 acres to date on a willing-seller basis and that, including surrounding public lands, the managed acreage totals about 15,500.
Mills described management activities—fence and gate maintenance, wetland restoration, visitor access—and said the commission funds two staff who work on operations. He explained federal appraisal processes used to determine acquisition price and said the commission rarely pays above appraised value; he estimated the commission holds roughly 750 acre-feet of water rights associated with preserve lands.
Board members asked about water availability in Goshen Bay during low-water years, whether the commission acquires water rights with land purchases, and how off-highway vehicles are managed (Mills said fencing, locked access points and annual fence maintenance are primary tools). Mills said the commission intends to transfer long-term management to the State of Utah under the preserve's comprehensive management plan.
