Project Details

Dry Creek Reservoir will be 22 acres in size and it is anticipated to receive very heavy use given its location and proximity to population centers and current heavy use by recreationists bike, walking etc. It is estimated that approximate 1,000,000 people pass by this area annually. Lehi City, in addition to creating an irrigation reservoir, also want to provide family friendly recreation opportunities including angling for their residents. Thus they have determined that given the location and surrounding facilities (fish cleaning station, picnic sites, beach, park, biking and hiking trails, new homes) this would be a perfect fit to meet their recreational demands.  UDWR community fishing programs are designed to help develop new anglers and encourage them to visit other streams and water bodies of Utah and we hope the location and opportunities at Dry Creek Reservoir will help meet this goal. Our 2025 creel data showed an average of over 3,900 hours per surface acre within the CRO. A similar large pond (Salem Pond) had about 3,000 hours per surface acre, a reasonable estimate could be in the 66,000-86,000 hr range, that's more angling hours than we see at Jordanelle Reservoir! The 2024 economic study places $188/day value on a trip or $23.50/hr. On the low end this community fishery could generate $1.5 million a year! 
UDWR will be managing the reservoir with several fish species including trout, bass, Bluegill, Tiger muskie and wiper... Enhancing the reservoir habitat with sufficient water will help promote better fish survival and recruitment and ultimately reduce the cost of maintain sufficient numbers of fish in the reservoir to meet anticipated angler use and demand.
The real missing piece of the puzzle here is sufficient amount of water to allow fish to survive throughout the year and outside the spring and early summer when the reservoir is full. In cooperation with Lehi City, Trout Unlimited and possibly other financial sponsoring partners we need to purchase enough water to allow the fish to persist year-round.

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.