Project Details

This project is being proposed to address three needs on the Ogden River 1) Water Quality, 2) Fish Passage and 3) Aquatic Habitat Stability.

After restoration of the Ogden River within the city of Ogden, the community has rallied around the project and helped to sustain it through an adopt-a-river and adopt-a-trail program, both of which have been incredibly successful.  Recreational use by the community is extremely high, especially during the summer months when people fish, swim and float along the restoration reach of the Ogden River. Even local elementary classes are using the river as an outdoor classroom.

This continued engagement by the community has highlighted that additional work needs to occur outside of the boundaries of the original stream restoration project.  The specific area of this project focuses downstream of the original restoration project.  In this location, the river is still heavily channelized and degraded.  Along this reach, the Ogden River flows in proximity to a junk yard on the North Bank and the 21st Street Pond on the South Bank.

Within this reach of the Ogden River, the Marriott Ditch irrigation diversion structure interrupts the flow of the river, with a drop structure composed of waste concrete.  This forces the water of the river into the embankment of the 21st Street Pond. In addition as seen in the attached maps, the water diverted at this structure snakes through the junkyard before hitting the Marriott Ditch Company headgate.  The Marriott Ditch Water Company takes the water they need for irrigation and bypasses water back to the river, flowing through the junkyard again.  As the water flows through the junkyard it picks up pollutants and carries it back to the river.  Recent discussions between TU staff, Ogden City and the junkyard have highlighted the need to develop a better diversion structure to improve water quality, habitat quality and public access to this section of the river.

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.

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.

This project addresses several threats and risks.

1) Habitat fragmentation is a uniform threat to stream habitats across the entire Weber River Basin.  A basinwide barrier assessment completed by TU and partners in the Weber River Basin during 2013 indicated that habitat within the Weber River basin is highly fragmented by the presence of almost 400 complete and partial barriers.  Habitat fragmentation threatens species such as the Bonneville cutthroat trout and bluehead sucker by limiting the populations of these fish into smaller reaches of stream which do not contain the array of habitat features needed to ensure that their populations will be stable over the long term.  This diversion structure was identified as the #1 priority for removal based on an analysis of the barrier assessment. This barrier prevents the movement of brown trout and mountain whitefish. Historical records of Bluehead sucker in the Ogden River, suggests that this structure may be acting a barrier preventing them from repopulating the lower Ogden River.

2) Water quality has been repeatedly impacted by the intake channel for the Marriott Ditch, which snakes through the junkyard, picking up chemical pollutants as well as debris.

3) The current configuration of the diversion structure directs flow into the embankment of the 21st Street Pond.  The river has been slowly undermining the embankment for several years.  Another series of high flow events could result in complete erosion of the embankement.  This project would protect the bank as well as provide an accessible area for the public to access the canal.

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.

This project, along with the prior Ogden River Restoration Project, will directly restore the degraded condition of the lowland riparian and lotic habitats within and around the Ogden River.

In 2011 Ogden City was nominated by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service as one of ten cities nationwide to be included in the Urban Conservation Treaty for Migratory Birds.  That determination was based largely on the ongoing success of the Ogden River Restoration Project.

Ogden City General Plan: Involve Ogden, Plan Your Future:
This community derived plan emphasizes increased outdoor recreation, creation of additional open space and protection of natural resources, including the Ogden River.

Mountain View Community Plan:
This neighborhood plan call for the completion of the Ogden River Restoration Project to enhance the quality of life of those that live in the neighborhood that surrounds the project.

2015 HUD Proposal:
This project and this area was identified as a priority in the 2015 HUD grant proposal, which was focused on improving habitats and resiliency within specific zones of the city where populations are economically disadvantaged.

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.

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.

Using previous funding we worked with RiverRestoration.org to work with the Marriott Ditch Irrigation Company, Utah Pick-a-Part and Ogden City to develop a comprehensive plan for this diversion and the river downstream of the structure.

The overall methods will be as follows:

1) Install a pipeline from the existing diversion structure to the Marriott Ditch Headgate ~420 feet.

2) Fill in the former side channel that was carrying irrigation and river water through the salvage yard.

3) Develop new sidechannels and floodplain habitat downstream of the irrigation diversion structure to offset wetland loss in item 2.

4) Rebuild the irrigation diversion by reconstructing the structure with a new rock sill.

5) Develop a constructed riffle downstream of the diversion structure to stablize the river and ensure fish passage at the diversion structure.

Because of the high cost of the project, we are proceeding with it in phases. Phase one of the construction project will include items 1 and 2 above.

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.

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.