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Delta restoration is one small step for the Provo River, one giant leap for June suckers

The June sucker is unique to Utah Lake and its river tributaries.
Scott Root
/
courtesy Utah Department of Natural Resources
The June sucker is unique to Utah Lake and its river tributaries.

Recovery efforts to save a fish native to Utah reached a new milestone on March 2, 2023, when the Provo River began diverting into a newly restored delta connecting it to Utah Lake.

The diversion is another step toward recovering the once-endangered June sucker.

"This project is a great example of how we're using water for people, but we're also making sure we're taking care of the natural habitat that may be affected by the projects and the work that we're doing,” said U.S. Department of the Interior Assistant Secretary Tanya Trujillo. “So it's a recovery program that works hand in hand with the water supply program that we have."

Trujillo, along with project staff and volunteers, was on hand to release the fish back into the waterway.

“We're going to be monitoring the species. So the fish that we just released have tags. We'll be able to keep track of how they're doing,” she said.

U.S. Dept. of the Interior Assistant Secretary Tanya Trujillo releases a June sucker fish into the newly diverted Provo River delta, March 2, 2023.
Curtis Booker
/
KUER
U.S. Dept. of the Interior Assistant Secretary Tanya Trujillo releases a June sucker fish into the newly diverted Provo River delta, March 2, 2023.

 The June sucker is unique to Utah Lake and its tributaries but has been unable to spawn for decades due to an unhealthy habitat. The project broke ground in 2020 on a 260-acre site a half-mile north of Utah Lake State Park.

The idea to save the species began over 30 years ago, said Chris Keleher, who is the June Sucker Recovery Implementation Program Director.

"A lot of research went into it. And you know, where you're dealing with encroaching development, you can see the houses coming into this area and stuff and it was really a matter of timing to get the land necessary to do it and work with landowners on a willing seller basis just to acquire the footprint for the delta.”

The Provo River Delta Restoration Project is rehabbing the interface between the lower Provo River and Utah Lake, March 2, 2023.
Curtis Booker
/
KUER
The Provo River Delta Restoration Project is rehabbing the interface between the lower Provo River and Utah Lake, March 2, 2023.

The project will also restore the interface between the Lower Provo River and Utah Lake.

"So the area where we sent the river today, if we go back 170 years, it used to be part of Utah Lake. It was diked off and drained and used for pasture, for cattle, for coal," said Micheal Mills, executive director at Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission.

In addition, visitors to the area will get to enjoy new trails, a new trailhead and a viewing tower.

"This is land that they didn't previously have access to. And they can get down here in order to walk dogs or just watch birds or just get out into nature. Canoe, kayak, all kinds of resources that they can take advantage of."

Future home of Provo River delta, located just a half-mile north of Utah Lake State Park, March 2, 2023.
Curtis Booker
/
KUER
Future home of Provo River delta, located just a half-mile north of Utah Lake State Park, March 2, 2023.

Several organizations are involved in the Provo River delta restoration including:

• Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission

• Central Utah Water Conservancy District

• June Sucker Recovery Implementation Program

• U.S. Department of the Interior

• Utah Department of Natural Resources and Utah Division of Wildlife Resources

During negotiations of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Sen. Mitt Romney secured $50 million for the Central Utah Project Completion Act. Of that, $10 million was allocated to the Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission specifically for the Provo River Delta Restoration Project.

"So all of the funding that made this happen is all federal funds connected back to mitigating damages due to water development and then also endangered species recovery. We did get an extra boost of funding through the bipartisan infrastructure act that provided a huge chunk of money that is able to accelerate our process," Mills said.

While the diversion is another step forward, the project won't be completed for another year. Public access to the area will remain closed until project completion and opening sometime in 2024.

Curtis Booker is KUER’s growth, wealth and poverty reporter in Central Utah.
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