In 2002, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) excavated and constructed the one-acre Gigliotti Pond. The pond is located on private property just off Highway 6 in Helper City. The landowner and the DWR signed a 30-year memorandum of understanding to create and maintain Gigliotti Pond as a community fishery. Shortly after filling the pond, DWR personnel observed water levels dropping continuously. In 2004, a pond liner was installed to prevent further leaking. The Habitat Council helped fund the construction of the pond in 2002 and the purchase of the pond liner in 2004. The DWR and Helper City signed a 30-year memorandum of understanding that defines maintenance responsibilities of the facility. Helper City cleans the restrooms and picks up the garbage at the ponds, and the DWR is responsible to pay for any repairs to the bathroom, waterlines and maintenance of the pond. Gigliotti Pond is now 15 years old. The pond has become a very popular angling destination for Carbon County residents. The DWR helps the U.S. Forest Service annually host a kids fishing event for special need kids at the pond. The ponds' ADA accessible fishing piers and walkway provides a perfect place to host this event. The shoreline and pond depth has changed over the past decade. The shoreline use to be free of vegetation and were covered with rocks. Granted some vegetation is needed for a productive pond, but the aging pond is now being choked out by cattails. The almost the entire shoreline is covered with a thick layer of cattails. During the summer months, moss and algae will grow from the bottom of the pond to the water surface. This has made angling very difficult over the majority of the pond. The use of herbicides and algaecides are prohibited in and around the pond by the landowner. Much of the shoreline has sloughed off into the pond exposing the pond liner. The liner is now susceptible to being punctured or torn. The goals of this project is improving angler access by removing vegetation and stabilizing the shoreline to prevent further erosion.

Renovate the pond by removing aquatic vegetation to improve angling access, provide better fish habitat and stabilize the pond shoreline from further erosion.

No risk

DWR is responsible for management and maintenance of pond. Outlined in memorandum of understanding with DWR and Helper City.

N/A

Water quality in the pond will be improved by reducing the nutrient load, sedimentation and vegetation in the pond.

The project location is inside the existing pond footprint and previous project site. No new excavation will occur.

Division of Wildlife Resource personnel will meet with the landowner and Helper City to discuss timeline of project. The pond will be stocked monthly with rainbow trout until June for kid fishing events. The daily fishing limit will be lifted mid-June. The pond will be drained in late July or early August. The pond will sit empty for several months to allow the sediment to dry. Regional DWR personnel and volunteers will begin vegetation removal in September. The DWR Habitat heavy equipment crew will be used for one week to excavate/scrape the sediment out of the pond. New rock and material will be installed to cover the exposed pond liner along the shoreline. Sediment from on top of pond liner will be removed and disposed of off-site. The pond will begin to refill in the spring of 2019.

Division of Wildlife personnel will monitor this pond in an effort to identify needs in the following areas: fisheries (i.e., stocking, management, and regulation), habitat (e.g., fish habitat structures and water quality), and non-native impacts (i.e., monitoring of outflow structures to ensure that they are maintained in accordance with USFWS requirements). Facility maintenance will be conducted by Helper City personnel and DWR and is outlined in a memorandum of understanding between Helper City and DWR.

The landowner and Helper City have been supportive of previous vegetation removal efforts.

Continue as a community fishery as described in the 30-year MOU.

N/A