Water levels along the Jordan river are the highest they’ve been since 2011.
This follows last year’s record breaking snowpack that left reservoirs full, pushing even more water into the river.
As growth and development ramp up along the Jordan River Trail south of Salt Lake City, containing high water levels is getting more complicated.
“Historically, the Jordan River migrated around in the valley. It would erode and the course would change. And when you had really heavy, wet years, it would do more erosion,” said Soren Simonsen, executive director of the Jordan River Commission.
The Jordan River flows 51 miles across Salt Lake and Utah Counties. It connects Utah Lake to Great Salt Lake and is fed by several tributary streams. Weather events such as rain, wind and flooding from extreme weather can affect erosion.
KUER reported on erosion problems in Utah County in 2023. This year, it has been worse in the communities of Riverton and South Jordan.
“This used to be pasture land and farmland. You know, pastures and farms, you didn’t worry so much if the river meandered and did its thing by carving away part of the bank,” Simonsen said.
Right now the high water is eroding parts of the trail and risks flooding some of the development that has happened along the river’s banks over the past decade.
Jeff and Hannah Glauser used to live elsewhere along the river, and when they moved to Riverton with their three children a few months ago, they wanted to stay near its banks.
Jeff loves the opportunity to take his kids out to explore the natural world. Hannah said it’s just nice to wake up to “the sounds of the birds in the morning.”
They’ve also seen the impacts of the recent erosion firsthand.
“A little bit further past our house. It was eroding and they had to bring in some boulders,” Jeff said.
Riverton City added the boulders in collaboration with the Jordan River Coalition. On one stretch, “about a month ago city officials said [high waters] are going to take out not only the trail, but people’s private property, because water is flowing in really heavy volume here, it’s just carving out the bank,” Simonsen said.
“They literally came in and just placed all of these boulders here in the last few weeks to stop the erosion, and it was an emergency precaution. Maybe this will be a permanent solution here because, you know, you can see the challenge of just the erosion.”
Water levels won’t peak until mid-June in some areas, so Simonsen said there will be plenty to keep up with in the coming weeks.
In places where the situation isn’t quite so dire, the Jordan River Commission is working on building larger, stabilized shores that provide a place for water to go without eroding the bank.
Simonsen said this approach is better for natural growth and wildlife.
“It's a way to manage erosion, but in a way that supports allowing some natural functions of the river in a riparian area to take place.”
