Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Reservoir Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Herriman council weighs buoy lines, signage and parking changes after reservoir drowning
Summary
Council members reviewed the Blackridge/Blackwood Reservoir season, paid weekend parking and algae-related closures, and debated whether to allow swimming; staff were directed to price buoy lines, signage and outreach options and return with recommendations.
Herriman — Council members on Wednesday reviewed the 2024–25 season at the city’s Blackridge/Blackwood reservoir and discussed a range of safety and enforcement options after an apparent drowning this year.
Parks staff told the council the weekend and holiday paid parking program continued into 2025, resident permit counts rose, and staffing and police overtime accounted for a portion of the season’s roughly $59,700 staffing cost. Staff also reported a small resident survey (10 responses) in which nine respondents rated the operation as “good” or “very good.”
“Overall, it seemed like it was a lot quieter,” the presenter said while reviewing parking revenue and police service levels. Council members pressed staff on the effect of algae closures in August, which spanned multiple paid-parking days and reduced some expected revenue.
The meeting’s most sustained debate centered on whether the city should allow any kind of swimming at the reservoir. One council member said, “I’ll always maintain that I don’t think we should allow swimming,” framing the reservoir as an open body of water with known contaminants and different risks than a monitored pool. Others urged a more nuanced approach: buoyed swim/wade zones, clearer and larger signage that emphasizes the open-water risks, push notifications to people who park, and life-jacket stations run by volunteer groups.
Council members noted enforcement limits. “Either you do or you don’t,” one member said of permitting water contact, warning that partial allowances (for paddleboarding but not swimming) can be difficult to police. Another member pointed to nearby communities that allow vessels with private security or resident-only patrols as a possible model.
Rather than adopt an immediate policy change, the council directed staff to cost out specific options — buoy lines to define wade areas, upgraded signage distinguishing the lake from a pool, and the feasibility of push notifications tied to the city’s parking vendor — and return with a recommendation. The presenter also noted water-treatment costs are managed as part of the reservoir’s secondary water system and are not materially different whether people enter the water.
Next steps: staff will price buoy/signage/notification options and return to council with cost estimates and recommended language for signage and app notifications.
