Project Details

In 1918 Alvin V. Taylor deed 1,100 acres to the Boy Scouts of America to support outdoor activities for young people. For more than 100 years Camp Tracy has created opportunities for youth to experience the outdoors. Located at Camp Tracy in Mill Creek Canyon is an off-channel reservoir named for the memory of Alvin Taylor, Taylor Lake. Water is diverted from Mill Creek and forms the reservoir before re-entering Mill Creek through an outflow structure. (Mill Creek is the stream within Mill Creek Canyon.) Largely due to short-circuiting between reservoir inflow and outflow structures (both located in the same area of the lake). The location of the inflow and outflow result in poor circulation, limited oxygen flow and the shallow lake frequently overgrows with algae and achieves high water temperatures uninhabitable for trout species. These warm temperatures, low oxygen and overgrowth then degrades water quality in Mill Creek downstream as the lakes outflow returns to the main channel.

BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
Mill Creek is home to Bonneville Cutthroat Trout (BCT) (Oncorhynchus clarkii utah), a native species that historically inhabited Mill Creek and a prized Utah sportfish featured in Utah's Cutthroat Slam. The Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) has prioritized the reintroduction and protection of BCT within its historical native habitat, reintroducing the species along with other native fish species in Mill Creek as part of this effort. Improved water quality and increased habitat within the Mill Creek watershed could facilitate the success of these reintroduction efforts, improve the fishery, educate up to 18,000 visitors annually of the importance of native trout conservation, and reduce the costs and resources devoted to continuous fish stocking and potential introduction of non-native fish species back into the Mill Creek Watershed.

WATER QUALITY
Mill Creek, a tributary to the Jordan River, is an important water resource along the Wasatch Front. Millcreek serves as an ecological resource, a recently restored native fishery, and as a local water supply. The water supplying Taylor Lake comes from Millcreek and after flowing through the lake is diverted back to Millcreek. Actions taken to improve water quality at Taylor Lake will benefit downstream water quality and the health of the system overall.

Provide evidence about the nature of the problem and the need to address it. Identify the significance of the problem using a variety of data sources. For example, if a habitat restoration project is being proposed to benefit greater sage-grouse, describe the existing plant community characteristics that limit habitat value for greater sage-grouse and identify the changes needed for habitat improvement.

The primary project objectives are focused on SUSTAINABILITY, including: 
*	Create a spawning channel for BCT with a goal of creating a sustainable population of BCT. This will avoid the potential of non-native fish being brought into the canyon.
*	Increase the depth, alter the flow regime, and improve the habitat of Taylor Lake
*	Create an educational setting for the ~18,000 annual visitors to learn about BCT, trout lifecycles, and watershed restoration
*	Replace and restore an existing Mill Creek diversion
*	Restore and revegetate portions of Camp Tracy

SPAWNING GROUNDS
This project will transform Taylor Lake from a warm and overgrown reservoir which degrades the water quality of Mill Creek into a cold water BCT fishery. A meandering spawning channel will replace the existing inlet structure in the reservoir. The channel will be constructed to support the BCT population in the reservoir, allow natural BCT recruitment and serve as an educational viewpoint for visitors and youth groups to learn about the native species' lifecycle.

LAKE REHABILITATION
By altering the depth and shape of the lake bottom, the lake will resist warming and the negative water quality impacts that result. Increasing the lake depth will also reduce the lake bottom vegetation's access to sunlight and prevent overgrowth. The project will also relocate the lake inflow and outflows to provide better circulation and mixing throughout the lake, increasing oxygen flow, minimizing dead space and the warming of the water column that results. Mechanical aeration and mixing will be included as needed to ensure year-round circulation and oxygenation. These alterations will reduce the water temperature reentering Mill Creek from Taylor Lake and reduce the organic matter contributed to Mill Creek from overgrowth in Taylor Lake.

Beyond water quality services to Mill Creek and the downstream watershed, the project will transform Taylor Lake into additional habitat for BCT. Cooler water temperatures, better circulation, reduced vegetation, and higher dissolved oxygen concentrations will allow Taylor Lake to support the species. The addition of a meandering spawning channel upstream of the reservoir will provide habitat for the trout in an otherwise piped inflow from Mill Creek Canyon. The meandering spawning channel will feature an ideal gravel medium and flow rate ideal for trout spawning grounds, allowing Taylor Lake to support a naturally reproducing population of BCT.

EDUCATION & OUTREACH
Camp Tracy offers a unique opportunity to educate the public about Utah's native cutthroat species and watershed restoration efforts. The camp generally serves 15,000-18,000 people each year from a diverse set of groups. In addition to the many Scouts that visit, the camp hosts programs for at-risk youth separate from the scouting program each year. The University of Utah Hospital's Burn Center has a reoccurring program at Camp Tracy bringing visitors each year. Volunteer groups from Trout Unlimited, the Stonefly Society, Boeing, and Dominion Energy have all recently visited and engaged in improving the camp. The restoration of Taylor Lake and the development of the spawning channel would further facilitate these programs, encourage new partnerships, and provide an excellent educational opportunity for all of the camp's visitors.

Optimizing the educational potential of Taylor Lake and the corresponding spawning channel has been a major point of emphasis in the early design of the channel. We intend to provide an easily accessible vantage point of the channel and its outfall into the Lake, complete with signs and displays detailing the role of the channel in trout spawning and the genealogy of BCT. More information regarding the effects of watershed restoration, the geologic history of Lake Bonneville and its contributing area, and the overall Mill Creek Canyon BCT Restoration Project will also be displayed on site.

PREVIOUSLY COMPLETED WORK
Engineering design of the lake dredging project were completed in fiscal year 2017. The BSA spent $35,000 in surveying, engineering evaluations, and engineering design work. The lake dredging design is complete and ready to be incorporated into the overall project construction phase.

COST OPINION
The majority of the project is currently in the conceptual design phase and thus a detailed construction cost estimate cannot be fully developed. However, a preliminary cost opinion has been developed for both design and construction. These cost opinions are attached to the application. A total project cost, including all design and construction, is approximately 1.2 million dollars.

Provide an overall goal for the project and then provide clear, specific and measurable objectives (outcomes) to be accomplished by the proposed actions. If possible, tie to one or more of the public benefits UWRI is providing.

LOCATION: Justify the proposed location of this project over other areas, include publicly scrutinized planning/recovery documents that list this area as a priority, remote sensing modeling that show this area is a good candidate for restoration, wildlife migration information and other data that help justify this project's location.

TIMING: Justify why this project should be implemented at this time. For example, Is the project area at risk of crossing an ecological or other threshold wherein future restoration would become more difficult, cost prohibitive, or even impossible.

Camp Tracy provides outdoor experiences for young men and women ages 4 to 18. These youth include Scouting and Learning for Life programs which focuses on character building experiences to "enable all students to achieve their full potential." For many of the youth who attend this camp their experiences in the outdoors are their first experiences outside of an urban setting. Taylor Lake is an essential component of these experiences by providing opportunities for youth to experience human powered boats. In addition to boating, if Taylor Lake has a fishery, youth will be allowed to experience fishing at a location not far from home, but in a completely different setting.

Addition of a spawning channel will provide a tremendous learning opportunity for tens of thousands of youth who come through Camp Tracy each year to connect with the life cycle of another living being and understand the positive or negative impacts humans can have on our surrounding environment.

The restoration of Taylor Lake and the associated spawning channel is one of the last tasks to be completed as part of the Mill Creek Watershed Restoration Project. Mill Creek provides a diverse range of important services and has thus been the focus of a multitude of restoration tasks in recent years. This project makes further progress to the goals of the Mill Creek Watershed Restoration Project and the efforts to reestablish BCT in the watershed.

This project is consistent with The Bonneville Cutthroat Trout State-wide and Range-wide Conservation Agreement Strategy, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Publication Number 00-19, Salt Lake City, UT; 2015 Salt Lake County Integrated Watershed Plan (protected for cold-water aquatic species p22) and the Wasatch-Cache Forest Plan.

List management plans where this project will address an objective or strategy in the plan. Describe how the project area overlaps the objective or strategy in the plan and the relevance of the project to the successful implementation of those plans. It is best to provide this information in a list format with the description immediately following the plan objective or strategy.

If applicable, detail how the proposed project will significantly reduce the risk of fuel loading and/or continuity of hazardous fuels including the use of fire-wise species in re-seeding operations. Describe the value of any features being protected by reducing the risk of fire. Values may include; communities at risk, permanent infrastructure, municipal watersheds, campgrounds, critical wildlife habitat, etc. Include the size of the area where fuels are being reduced and the distance from the feature(s) at risk.

WATER QUALITY
The project will improve downstream water quality in Millcreek. By altering the depth and shape of the lake bottom, the lake will resist warming and the negative water quality impacts that occur as a result. Increasing the lake depth will also reduce the lake bottom vegetation's access to sunlight and prevent overgrowth. The project will also relocate the lake inflow and outflows, reducing retention time and providing better circulation and mixing throughout the lake. The shallow dead spaces prone to warming and algae growth will be transformed, improving the water quality in the lake. Mechanical aeration and mixing will be included as needed to ensure year-round circulation and oxygenation. These alterations will reduce the water temperature reentering Mill Creek from Taylor Lake and reduce the amount of organic matter contributed to Mill Creek from overgrowth in Taylor Lake.

WATER RIGHTS
By increasing the flow-through component of Taylor Lake the evaporation off the lake may decrease and the resulting flow back to Millcreek may slightly increase. Camp Tracy currently holds a 2 cfs non-consumptive water right, from which they currently divert from Mill Creek to Taylor Lake. This project will maintain use of this non-consumptive water right. This project will include the addition of an aboveground flow meter, allowing for greater monitoring and control of water right compliance. The existing diversion structure will be removed and the stream bank rehabilitated. A new diversion structure featuring a self-cleaning coanda screen will minimize stream disturbance, prevent collection of debris, and maintain Mill Creek fish passage. Improvements to the diversion will reduce sedimentation in the lake, prolonging the useful life of Taylor Lake as a BCT fishery.

Describe how the project has the potential to improve water quality and/or increase water quantity, both over the short and long term. Address run-off, erosion, soil infiltration, and flooding, if applicable.

Description of efforts, both completed and planned, to bring the proposed action into compliance with any and all cultural resource, NEPA, ESA, etc. requirements. If compliance is not required enter "not applicable" and explain why not it is not required.

DESIGN PHASE:
Engineering design will be conducted by Horrocks Engineers and River Restoration. BSA will provide oversight and ensure project progress and implementation. The USFS, UDWR, and NFF have all been involved in the preliminary design process and their review will be solicited at key design stages to ensure their interests are incorporated.

CONSTRUCTION PHASE
Upon completion of the design, BSA will bid the project and award the work to an applicable contractor. Horrocks Engineers and River Restoration will provide construction management and oversight to ensure project success. Dredging, excavation, and construction will likely include the use of excavators, dump trucks, and other large equipment. The gravel and cobble needed for the construction of the spawning channel will be sourced from excess material at an existing USFS restoration effort within Mill Creek canyon. The USFS has identified the resource and granted permission to use the material for this project. Greater detail regarding construction methods will emerge as the design progresses.

Describe the actions, activities, tasks to be implemented as part of the proposed project; how these activities will be carried out, equipment to be used, when, and by whom.

Describe plans to monitor for project success and achievement of stated objectives. Include details on type of monitoring (vegetation, wildlife, etc.), schedule, assignments and how the results of these monitoring efforts will be reported and/or uploaded to this project page. If needed, upload detailed plans in the "attachments" section.

The BSA has spent $36,000 on engineering services for the Taylor Lake dredging and spawning channel design. An additional $15,000 was spent to remove a trading post and the associated structures on the west side of the lake as part of Taylor Lake's restoration. 
The BSA will contribute more funding towards the design and construction of the spawning channel, the lake dredging, and the relocation of inlets, outlets, and diversion structures.

The National Forest Foundation (NFF) has been included in planning of the project and will solicit donations from a wide variety of partners to help complete parts of the project. NFF has affirmed there intent to contribute funds as the project progresses.
The restoration of Taylor Lake and spawning channel development is a part of the USFS's larger Mill Creek Watershed Restoration Effort. The USFS has spent approximately $2,000,000 on the Mill Creek watershed restoration efforts thus far. USFS is finalizing their work in Porter Fork, following which fund raising efforts will commence on the final task, being the Taylor Lake restoration and BCT spawning channel.

BSA, UDWR, USFS, USFWS, Pacific Corp, Trout Unlimited and many others have all been a part of the Mill Creek Watershed Restoration Project and the BCT Reintroduction in Mill Creek Canyon over the past several years and continue to support this aspect of the overall project. All related agencies, organizations, and landowners related to this project have been contacted and involved in the planning and preliminary design phase. In particular, USFS, UDWR, NFF, and BSA have all had an integral role in the planning of this project, with the interests of each incorporated into the design.

USFS have approached a few large corporations about becoming involved in financially supporting this project. This includes Boeing and Dominion Energy. These companies are likely to show support during the construction phase of the project.

List any and all partners (agencies, organizations, NGO's, private landowners) that support the proposal and/or have been contacted and included in the planning and design of the proposed project. Describe efforts to gather input and include these agencies, landowners, permitees, sportsman groups, researchers, etc. that may be interested/affected by the proposed project. Partners do not have to provide funding or in-kind services to a project to be listed.

Detail future methods or techniques (including administrative actions) that will be implemented to help in accomplishing the stated objectives and to insure the long term success/stability of the proposed project. This may include: post-treatment grazing rest and/or management plans/changes, wildlife herd/species management plan changes, ranch plans, conservation easements or other permanent protection plans, resource management plans, forest plans, etc.

Potential for the proposed action to improve quality or quantity of sustainable uses such as grazing, timber harvest, biomass utilization, recreation, etc. Grazing improvements may include actions to improve forage availability and/or distribution of livestock.