Project Details

The Bonneville cutthroat trout (BCT) and Colorado River cutthroat trout (CRCT) are species covered under Conservation Agreements to help protect and expand their populations and habitats to prevent them from becoming listed under the ESA.  The DWR has constructed and maintains many fish barriers throughout southern Utah streams to protect conservation populations of cutthroat trout.  The barriers are need to prevent non-native fish species from inhabiting streams with pure strain native cutthroats.

UM Creek flows into Forsyth Reservoir and then down into Mill Meadow Reservoir.  Above Forsyth Reservoir, UM Creek supports a Conservation Population of Colorado River cutthroat trout. The main barrier on UM Creek has not always been an effective barrier and splake have gotten above it in the past.  Recently a few rainbow trout have been netted and caught in Forsyth Reservoir.  The rainbows pose a threat to the CRCT population if they should become established and move above the fish barrier.  We believe that the dam at Forsyth Reservoir is not always an effective barrier and rainbow trout can move upstream from Mill Meadow Reservoir into Forsyth Reservoir.  Rainbow trout may also have been moved by other people.  The Southern Region would like to build a fish migration barrier on UM Creek just above Mill Meadow Reservoir to prevent or reduce the risk of rainbow trout, as well as perch, from moving upstream into Forsyth Reservoir.  In Fall of 2019 the main UM Creek barrier just above Forsyth Reservoir had maintenance work completed and it now functions much better as a barrier to help protect the CRCT population.

Three existing barriers on the North and South Forks of North Creek had maintenance work completed on them in fall of 2019, but there was too much water to repair the concrete splash pads.  On one barrier the pad has completely washed away and needs to be rebuilt, and the other two have holes in the concrete that needs to be repaired.

Manning Creek supports a population of Bonneville cutthroat trout and Manning Reservoir is one of our wild brood populations for taking eggs.  The rock barrier was one of the first barriers built a long time ago.  There has always been a concern that non-native fish could get around the barrier during high flows.  A couple of years ago brown trout were found above the barrier.  The  barrier needs to have more rock added to it and a larger  splash pad to make it a better more secure barrier.  In June of 2020, a new diversion structure was built above the rock barrier that should function as a second barrier.

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.

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.

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.

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.