Project Description
The Big Bend Nature Park is located in West Jordan, Utah, in the middle of the Salt Lake Valley, a metropolitan area with a population of about 1 million people. The Park is located on a 68-acre site that is presently bordered on the east by the Jordan River. which flows through the Salt Lake Valley to its terminus in the Great Salt Lake, and on the west by the Jordan River Trail, a 60-mile long regional recreational and commuter trail that parallels the Jordan River. Presently, the river flows within a highly incised channel on the eastern boundary of the site that has disconnected the river from its floodplain, resulting in the loss of native riparian vegetation that supports neotropical migratory birds and other wildlife across the project area.
The project is centered on the hydrologic restoration of the reach of the Jordan River on the site by the construction of an approximately one mile, meandering segment of river channel excavated down to the current water table level of the river approximately through the center of the property. This excavation will also include an approximately 300 foot wide floodplain on either side of the channel. The new river channel will divide the site between an approximately 37 acre eastern portion focused on the restoration and maintenance of habitat for migratory birds and wildlife, and the remaining, western portion managed for low-impact recreation, wildlife viewing and nature education.
Key restoration actions include:
- Hydrologic restoration of the Jordan River by redirecting it into a new channel across the Big Bend Project area. This channel will be excavated and constructed so the river flows within an approximately 600 foot wide floodplain, with gradually sloping banks leading back up to the current site elevation.
- Plantings of trees and shrubs in the new floodplain that will provide a riparian gallery forest composed of multiple stories (e.g., lower canopy, mid-canopy, and upper canopy) of shrubs and trees (e.g., golden current, oakleaf sumac, coyote willows in the lower canopy; peach leaf willow, black hawthorn, choke-cherry in the mid-canopy; and Fremont cottonwood and box elder trees in the upper canopy) that support the nesting and foraging needs of a diverse group of migratory birds as well as other wildlife species.
- Protection of the northeastern portion of the project area (approximately 35 acres containing the new floodplain and the area between the new and old river channels) as a migratory bird and wildlife reserve with limited human use and access. This area will be planted with riparian, wetland, and upland vegetation as appropriate to conditions and hydrology that will provide nesting areas, forage, and cover for birds and wildlife.
- Construction of a 4-acre pond to be stocked and managed as an urban fishery by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. This pond will be surrounded by plantings of native riparian trees and shrubs that will provide some habitat for migratory birds but will also shade people and maintain lower water temperatures in the summer. Inlet and outlet streams to and from the pond will be constructed and vegetated as natural channels, which will provide some habitat, but will also provide an "outdoor classroom" for observation and learning by school and other groups.
In addition to the physical habitat restoration project at Big Bend, the Restoration Plan also provides funds from the Sharon Steel settlement to support a citizen science-based restoration monitoring program that will involve the local public in the management and stewardship of the Big Bend, and will also provide high quality information that can be used to assess restoration progress and success, which will benefit both the continued stewardship of the Big Bend, and the science of habitat restoration and management in general. The monitoring component of the project is also being supported by the US Department of Interior Office of Restoration and Damage Assessment's Restoration Support Unit, which aims to increase the quality and efficacy of NRDAR restoration projects throughout the United States. The citizen sicence project (titled Using Citizen Science and Crowdsourcing to Monitor Progress of Terrestrial and Riparian Restoration Projects) was awarded to Colorado State University on December 8, 2020; total award amount is $98,320. Part of the citizen science project focuses on designing and implementing citizen science-based monitoring programs at two restoration sites (Big Bend Site - affiliated with Sharon Steel, Midvale Slag, and Portland Cement NRDAR cases; East Helena Smelter Restoration site - affiliated with East Helena NRDAR case).
DOI Project Representatives
Fish and Wildlife Service