Old Fort Pond (Community Fishing Pond Vernal)
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Project ID: 3255
Status: Completed
Fiscal Year: 2018
Submitted By:
446
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Project Manager: Natalie Boren
PM Agency: Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
PM Office: Northeastern Region
Lead: Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
WRI Region: Northeastern
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Description:
Community fishing ponds (2 total ponds), trails, parking lot, exterior exclusion fencing, bathroom facility and educational kiosks. Private land donation to the UDWR for the purpose of construction a community fishing pond and nature area that will become a regional WMA.
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Location:
This community fishing ponds will be located near the mouth of Dry Fork Canyon in Vernal, Utah.
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Project Need
Need For Project:
Vernal, Utah is a rapidly growing rural community and is in need of a locally based community fishing pond and nature area. Kids in Vernal have very limited "kid/teen" based activities and this type of project would be an excellent way to get kids, teens and elderly involved in outdoor fishing activities. This community fishery would also be a place where the UDWR could hold events such as fishing clinics, fishing classes and other fishing education related activities. Currently in the works is a land donation near the mouth of Dry Fork Canyon which would allow the UDWR to construct 2 ponds for a total of 2.11 surface acres with an additional 2 acres of trails, parking area and access road. The total land donation will be approximately 15 acres which will include a wetland mitigation section.
Objectives:
1) Obtain needed 404 permit (Hire engineering firm)
2) Acquire lands and switch from private to UDWR lands
3) Engineer and Design layout for ponds, trails and parking area
4) Gain partners to help in multiple ways with this project
5) Obtain funding for construction of ponds, trails, parking areas, bathroom facilities, fencing, landscaping, bridges, vegetation plantings, seedings, wetlands enhancement needs, water connection to upper canal and educational kiosks for cultural and wetlands education.
6) Once complete, include in our WMA system and create a long term management plan in cooperation with the county and other able entities.
7) Open to the public for our community to enjoy for many years to come!
Project Location/Timing Justification (Why Here? Why Now?):
This land will only be donated to the UDWR if a community fishing pond is constructed on the site, therefore this project is critical to the acquisition of the land. Land value at this location is near $27,500.00 per acre.
Relation To Management Plan:
Direct relation to the Sportfish Restoration Act and our regional Sportfish management goals of constructing a community fishing pond. Our region does not currently have a community fishing pond and would greatly benefit from such a place. Each region has been working towards the development of a community based fishing area and this will directly relate to our goals and management objectives of recruiting new angers of all ages.
We will add this project to the WAP management list and look to enhance habitat for multiple species on that list.
Fire / Fuels:
N/A
Water Quality/Quantity:
With the creation of the ponds and protection/enhancement of the 10.16 acres of wetlands we will enhance the water quantity to the upper end of the property. A lateral line from the canal will allow us the opportunity to deliver water to the upper end of the property as needed to enhance water quality within the ponds and wetlands mitigation area.
Compliance:
1) ACOE 404 permit to be completed in January 2017
2) Wetlands Mitigation Plan associated with the 404 permit
3) SHIPO and UDWR ARCH compliance needed during construction phase
4) Airport FAA Clarence
Methods:
Same as objectives:
1) Obtain needed 404 permit (Hire engineering firm)
2) Acquire lands and switch from private to UDWR lands
3) Engineer and Design layout for ponds, trails and parking area
4) Gain partners to help in multiple ways with this project
5) Obtain funding for construction of ponds, trails, parking areas, bathroom facilities, fencing, landscaping, bridges, vegetation plantings, seedings, wetlands enhancement needs, water connection to upper canal and educational kiosks for cultural and wetlands education.
6) Once complete, include in our WMA system and create a long term management plan in cooperation with the county and other able entities.
7) Open to the public for our community to enjoy for many years to come!
Monitoring:
1)Wetland mitigation monitoring for 3 years (photo-points, vegetation monitoring)
2)Fisheries monitoring and surveys
3)Creel surveys and angler satisfaction surveys
Partners:
Uintah Water Conservancy District
Uintah County
Troy and Annette Meier
Future Management:
Once this pond is constructed we will evaluate for fish species stocking and once stocked we will monitor species survival and harvest. We will include this pond on the creel survey rotation to get an idea of angler hours, harvest and other important statistics.
A management plan will be written for these ponds and will include the WMA management and the wetlands management for the full 15 acre parcel
Sustainable Uses of Natural Resources:
Wetlands benefit by fencing out cattle and taking this parcel out of grazing.
| Budget | WRI/DWR | Other | Budget Total | In-Kind | Grand Total |
| $296,704.39 | $0.00 | $296,704.39 | $222,950.00 | $519,654.39 |
| Item | Description | WRI | Other | In-Kind | Year |
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| Seed (GBRC) | Wetlands enhancement mix for seeding of 10.16 acres (wetland mitigation property) | $3,000.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | 2018 |
| Materials and Supplies | Vegetation Plantings for Wetlands Mitigation- Willows, cottonwoods, bulrush, cattails or other wetland enhancement plants Year 1 | $7,500.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | 2018 |
| Contractual Services | Construction Administration Cost (engineer) 2018 costs x 8% = $16688 + 8K bidding assistance = $24,688 | $24,688.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | 2018 |
| Other | Uintah County Contributions to the project (use of equipment to haul materials, assistance with traffic control & signage near the ponds + future unknown contributions). Uintah Rec District assistance with upkeep and maintence of pond grounds) | $0.00 | $0.00 | $25,000.00 | 2018 |
| Other | Land survey for acquisition of private land to state lands and topographical survey for design of ponds. (UDWR realty account) | $0.00 | $0.00 | $3,800.00 | 2017 |
| Personal Services (permanent employee) | Monson's time on arch clearances and onsite monitoring during construction phase of ponds. (Multiple days during 404 permit phase) | $0.00 | $0.00 | $5,250.00 | 2018 |
| Contractual Services | Wetland Mitigation survey and report writing by consultant. This would be approximately $2000 for each year for 5 years until the ACOE has signed off on the projects completion. | $2,000.00 | $0.00 | $500.00 | 2018 |
| Other | 404 permitting, wetland delineation, endangered flower surveys, concept level design for ACOE permit, & carry over funding from HC starting in 2015 | $63,916.39 | $0.00 | $0.00 | 2015 |
| Personal Services (permanent employee) | Regional Fisheries Biologist time spent on planning, coordination, acquiring interest and round up funds for this community project. $1200.00 per 40 hours spent on the project from 2015-2019 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $8,400.00 | 2018 |
| Equipment Purchase | Pond liner or bentonite application | $20,000.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | 2018 |
| Materials and Supplies | Fencing around the ponds and around the newly acquired land. (4500 linear feet) of "z" fence or buck n rail + timber lock screws and 5 gates to the property and wetlands mitigation area. May need to hire to install or use UDWR personnel to construct. | $27,000.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | 2018 |
| Materials and Supplies | Entry gates and access gates for the new WMA (up to 7 gates if needed to close off the property if needed) | $5,500.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | 2018 |
| Other | Hire UDWR HE CREW Wages = 2800 per week x 8 week ($22,400). Equipment rental from CAT $50,600 Fuel allotment = $15000 Wetland protection mats = $6600 Base material and rock for stable pond sides and trails = $15000 | $109,100.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | 2018 |
| Contractual Services | Construction of small entry roads (12'x50'x 2roads) and parking lot for pond site. One foot deep excavation of old material on roads and parking lot (185'x65') material pit-run + road base + gravel and the cost to truck the material in from a pit. | $34,000.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | 2018 |
| Other | This is the value of the donated land to this project- 14 acres @ $12,500.00 per acre | $0.00 | $0.00 | $180,000.00 | 2018 |
| Funding | WRI/DWR | Other | Funding Total | In-Kind | Grand Total |
| $309,190.55 | $53,700.00 | $362,890.55 | $253,000.00 | $615,890.55 |
| Source | Phase | Description | Amount | Other | In-Kind | Year |
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| Habitat Council Account | HCRF | $219,364.86 | $0.00 | $0.00 | 2018 | |
| Uintah Water Conservancy District | 40000 from Uintah Water Conservancy District for 6" access pipe to supply water to ponds and wetlands area. | $0.00 | $40,000.00 | $0.00 | 2019 | |
| Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR) | Project biologist time spent on project in 2017 (15K) + land acquisition costs paid for by SLC DWR accounts (8K) | $0.00 | $0.00 | $23,000.00 | 2018 | |
| Uintah County | Donation of clay materials from buckskin hills (unlimited loads of clay for pond liner) | $0.00 | $0.00 | $20,000.00 | 2018 | |
| Simplot Phosphate Mine | Boulders from mine for pond stabilization- hauled an estimated 50 loads of boulders off for pond needs. | $0.00 | $0.00 | $30,000.00 | 2018 | |
| Other | JS construction equipment and time donation for construction of 3 de-watering wells on pond site property. | $0.00 | $8,500.00 | $0.00 | 2018 | |
| Other | Matt Betts Trucking- boulder hauling from Simplot to pond site. Truck+fuel+driver for 25 loads of rock hauled | $0.00 | $5,200.00 | $0.00 | 2018 | |
| Habitat Council Account | HCRF | $39,807.28 | $0.00 | $0.00 | 2019 | |
| Habitat Council Account | HCRF | $17,440.71 | $0.00 | $0.00 | 2016 | |
| Habitat Council Account | $1,083.61 | $0.00 | $0.00 | 2015 | ||
| Private | 14.4 acres of donated land from Meier Management LLC @ $12,500 per acre | $0.00 | $0.00 | $180,000.00 | 2017 | |
| Habitat Council Account | HCRF | $31,494.09 | $0.00 | $0.00 | 2017 |
Species
| Species | "N" Rank | HIG/F Rank | ||||
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| American Bittern | N4 | |||||
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| Bluegill | R3 | |||||
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| Channel Catfish | R4 | |||||
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| Largemouth Bass | R3 | |||||
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| Northern Leopard Frog | N5 | |||||
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| Northern Leopard Frog | N5 | |||||
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| Rainbow Trout | R5 | |||||
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| Sandhill Crane | R4 | |||||
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| Wading Birds | ||||||
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| Waterfowl | ||||||
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| White-faced Ibis | N4 | |||||
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| White-faced Ibis | N4 | |||||
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Habitats
| Habitat | ||||
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| Emergent | ||||
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| Emergent | ||||
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Project Comments
| Comment | 12/15/2014 | Type: 1 | Commenter: N/A |
| For pond construction we will need to hire many different pieces of heavy equipment including: trackhoes, backhoes, scrapers, road graders, etc. For finishing up the project we may be able to use the DWR heavy equipment crew | |||
| Comment | 01/20/2015 | Type: 1 | Commenter: Alan Clark |
| Natalie, can all of this happen in one year considering the land donation has not happened yet? | |||
| Comment | 01/21/2015 | Type: 1 | Commenter: Natalie Boren |
| Alan, I would say most of it could happen in a year. But it can never be guaranteed, there are always things that could come up. It seems like Stephen said the land acquisition could happen as quickly as 6 weeks once we get the ARCH specifics back from Monson, but this could obviously take longer. If we can get the land in DWR possession by May or June we would be able to start excavation in August or September (when the area is most dry). I did state in the Threats/Risks section of this proposal that if we needed to break this project into phases we could do that. Hard to align all the stars for a project like this, but we will certainly take all the steps to make it happen in a timely fashion. | |||
| Comment | 01/15/2016 | Type: 1 | Commenter: Natalie Boren |
| As of January 15th 2016, the 404 permit application for this project has been submitted to ACE. We will not know until after the proposal deadline if we can proceed with construction in FY 2017. We are planning to carry over all funds associated with permitting.engineering and design into FY17 and apply for construction funds in 2018. In that time we will continue to work on the land acquisition, continue to seek out financial partners and finalize the design of the ponds. | |||
| Comment | 08/15/2019 | Type: 2 | Commenter: Alison Whittaker |
| Natalie - Please update this completion report to include what was completed in FY19 with the remaining funds. Please enter any missing expenses, highlighted in rust, on the Finance Page. When you have completed that please go back to the Completion Form and finalize your report again so I know that it has been completed. Thanks. | |||
| Comment | 01/21/2015 | Type: 3 | Commenter: N/A |
| In-kind contribution is the donation of this piece of land for this project. Local Vernal resident and business owner is the partner. | |||
Completion
Start Date:
07/03/2017
End Date:
06/30/2019
FY Implemented:
2019
Final Methods:
Utilized Ben+ 1 when available from HE crew + local DWR tech as excavator operator and hired a local dozer operator to complete the second part of this project. Pond excavation itself took 5 weeks in February and 6 weeks in May & June to get to this point. Dams are constructed but water level control valves are not in place (waiting on water rights forms). Both ponds are cobble lined to protect from shoreline erosion. Parking lot base is complete with more finish work this FY. Cattle exclusion fence is in place. Front entry gates are in place and attached to posts. Wetland plantings have occurred. Invasive weed spraying has been done. Russian olive removals have occurred and will continue.
Project Narrative:
Build two community fishing ponds, parking lot, trails, cattle exclusion fence, entry post and gates.
Future Management:
Continue with Phase II this fiscal year to complete the new pond complex/WMA and open to the public in the late spring of 2019.
Map Features
| ID | Feature Category | Action | Treatement/Type |
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| 636 | Aquatic/Riparian Treatment Area | Lake/Wetland/Pond Improvements | Pond Construction |
| 5657 | Easement/Acquisition | Easement/Acquisition | Fee title land acquisition |
Project Map
