Despite its relatively modest size the Weber River supports extensive recreational and ecological values and has become the second-most popular river fishery in the State of Utah, behind only the legendary Green River. The Weber River serves as a recreational destination for thousands of people, including anglers, boaters, birdwatchers, and people interested in connecting with the outdoors within their communities through a network of urban river trails and bike paths. Many tributaries, and even the heavily impaired lower river, sustain diverse and unique native species, including a fluvial population of large native Bonneville cutthroat trout and an imperiled population of bluehead suckers. Although the Weber River and its resources are socially and economically important, the numbers of fish and the condition of the stream corridor have dramatically declined over the past 20 years due to widespread habitat fragmentation and degradation. In addition to being a popular recreational resource, the Weber River also provides critical drinking and irrigation water for approximately 21% of Utah's population. As such, the Weber River is a critical local and regional resource, but it currently faces daunting challenges and fulfills only a small portion of its full potential. Urbanization and the development of transportation infrastructure from the 1960s through the 1980s straightened the river in many places. That, plus poor land management, created severe erosion problems and large-scale bank instability, which led to the placement of extensive rip-rap composed of rock, waste concrete and old car bodies. The effects of this habitat degradation are exacerbated by the presence of over 200 irrigation diversions throughout the basin that disrupt fish migrations and kill fish. To this day, urban runoff dumps directly into the river in many urban areas, while rural areas contribute irrigation return flows containing excess nutrients, fine sediments and pesticides. Cumulatively, these impacts have left water quality and stream habitats severely degraded, and, in some areas, made the river more of an eyesore and a liability than a community asset. The Weber River as it flows through Morgan is one of highly degraded areas occurring in the Middle Weber River. This area serves as a nexus for angling, native fish conservation, whitewater recreation, agriculture and the economic activity. Degradation of the river corridor by urban encroachment and three large channel-spanning irrigation diversions, which are all complete barriers, have resulted in a long segment of river (~5 miles) with degraded habitat. Recent efforts within Morgan City and county, led by local citizens, have developed the momentum and interest to implement a large scale habitat restoration project with benefits to angling, native fish, recreation and economic development. Much like the Ogden River, successful restoration in this reach will require extensive investment in pre-project planning and design so that various design options are available and that the project can be executed in phases. Unlike the Ogden River restoration project, Morgan County and City do not have the financial or staff resources needed to implement this initial planning and design phase. Partner involvement and funding support are critical for this project to materialize. The goal of this project in its entirety is to modernize three channel-spanning irrigation diversion dams on the Weber River near Morgan, UT so they allow the river to support multiple and diverse values, including fish passage, water quality, water security for the water users, and safe passage for people recreating in the river. The Weber River Dam Replacement project is correlative to our broader effort of habitat reconnection in the Weber River. We completed a basin-wide barrier assessment in 2013, which identified 396 partial and complete fish passage barriers Socially, the user base on the Weber River continues to diversify, from recreational use to conservation. Diversifying interests in the river means that fresh approaches and more holistic management strategies and actions on the river are needed to support these changing values. Many water users express reservations to changing any aspect of water management and that sentiment is particularly strong among water users in the Morgan Area. A typical sentiment by water users is that the current system works for them individually, and that modification is unnecessary or even burdensome. Modernization will be completed over a multiple year timeframe through project phases. This specific 12-month grant proposal is focused on building the social support and engineering plans to move forward with the removal of the first two of three irrigation diversion dams. We will initially focus on building community support and developing a project that meets diverse stakeholder needs. We will then work collaboratively with funders and the community to develop the resources to execute the modernization and modification of these dams in a way that meets diverse stakeholder needs.

The specific project objectives for this 12-month grant will be: 1) Completion of survey data along the entire reach of River 2) Development of Alternatives analysis for the Mill Race Diversion 3) Development of Alternatives analysis for the South Weber Canal 4) Completion of a 60% design for the Mill Race Diversion 5) Completion of a 30% design of the South Weber Canal 6) Improvement of social support for the overall project

Habitat fragmentation by irrigation diversions and degradation by urban encroachment are two primary threats to fish living in the Weber River and consequently a threat to angling opportunities. Habitat fragmentation limits the habitat available to fish in the Weber River by restricting their upstream movements. These movements can be in response to poor water quality, low flow conditions or life history requirements such as spawning migrations. Short stream reaches with limited available habitat to trout and whitefish in the Weber River can destabilize populations or preclude population refounding in the case of cutthroat trout and bluehead sucker. From a recreational water use perspective, the three irrigation diversions are a safety hazard and essentially limit the opportunity for people to float in the river through Morgan City. Although this may not seem consequential, the county estimates that over 200,000 people float in the Weber River upstream during the summer but none make it into Morgan City. Improving the navigability of the river improves safety and also invites economic development that relies upon the values of a naturally functioning river. Habitat degradation has quality of habitat for fish in this reach of the Weber River. Degraded channel conditions have also restricted access opportunities for the public to enjoy the river. Although a pedestrian pathway currently exists along an approximate 1 mile reach through Morgan, conditions are much like the Ogden River, prior to restoration. The pathways are close to the river and the banks are steep, resulting in difficult access to the river. Restoring the ecological function and the economic value of a waterway will stimulate the long term stewardship by the local community, as we have seen on the Ogden River. This proposal is for planning and design and stakeholder coordination to begin the restoration process in the Morgan Area. Although there is good momentum behind the project many design challenges remain, including the need to understand what the construction options are on the three mainstem irrigation diversions and what the potential expenses may be. As is the case with almost every other restoration project involving irrigation diversions, many of the stakeholders are content with the status quo. Therefore, in order to achieve passable irrigation structures we will need to incentivize the designs. Although the design solutions may not represent the ideal features for all parties they should represent pragmatic solutions. However, failing to engage the stakeholders from the outset can result in major challenges during project implementation.

WAP This project will begin to address the degraded condition of the riverine habitat types which are highly threatened by extensive agricultural, municipal, and industrial water use. The presence of irrigation diversions also represents a threat to riverine systems by fragmenting habitat and disrupting sediment transport, and floodplain processes. Lower Weber River HUC Plan As stated on page 11 of the Lower Weber River Drainage Management Plan, the fish populations in this stream "appear to be limited primarily by physical conditions and water quality resulting from past land use and management practices, including stream habitat and channel alterations." This project will begin to address each of those issues. Utah State Water Plan for Weber As stated on page 70 of the Utah State Water Plan for the Weber River Basin, the Utah Division of Water Quality estimates that 19% of the stream miles in the Weber Basin were negatively effected by riparian habitat destruction, resulting in nearly 32% of all water quality impairments in the Weber Basin. Weber River Strategic Restoration Plan This project will support a major objective of engaging in larger scale restoration actions, described in the Weber River strategic plan and improving fish passage.

Not applicable.

The three diversion dams within this reach of the Weber River have negative effects on water quality throughout this reach through hydromodification. The dams create knickpoints which induce fine sediment deposition, and back-up the water almost to the base of the next dam upstream. We expect this project to improve water quality by potentially reducing the dam height and eliminating the need for water users to annually build them up during the summer.

As with all aquatic projects we anticipate applying for a joint stream alteration permit. This permit process will incorporate cultural resources.

Our overall objects are divided into 5 primary categories: 1) Community support. Over the past 3 years, we have made initial investments, and will continue working with water users, local citizens, and Morgan City and County to build community support for this project. Currently, many of the members of the community are supportive of this project, however some members of the traditional agricultural users have expressed reservations in participating. This is primarily driven by uncertainty about working with organizations like TU. An important component of our strategy in working with the local community will be to help develop and sustain related projects that the community has identified as being important to building trust. These projects include the participation of an Independence Day festival, presentation to the Morgan Conservation District, and providing funding to outreach efforts directed at recreational water users upstream of the project area. 2) Survey data. Our initial on-the-ground actions will be to move forward with surveys to gather the needed data that underlies this project. We will likely hire an engineering company through a competitive bid process to develop the needed engineering agreement to allow us to develop the projects. 3) Engineering and design. We will contract with a qualified river engineer to develop a design for the Mill Race diversion and Weber Canal diversion with several alternatives that meet the objectives of our work. We will then collaborate with the water users and community to move forward with the most suitable design. Because of the expected high construction expenses, and because some of the water users approach modifications to diversions with reservation, we will need to undertake design and construction in a phased approach over several years, working on one diversion at a time. We will initially pursue a relationship with the Mill Race water company as they are the most likely to participate and located in a highly visible location on the river adjacent to the pedestrian pathway known as the Mickelson Mile. 4) Funding Development. The engineering and design activities will inform our financial needs for project implementation. We will work with our existing partners to secure funding for restoration actions, however because the proposed modernization and reconstruction are so significant, we will also work with the city and county to raise additional funding such as state economic development funding. 5) Construction. Although unlikely to occur during this 12-month proposal period, we anticipate construction to occur in phases. As mentioned previously, the Mill Race diversion will likely be the first diversion to reconstruct. We will pursue construction funding for the Weber Canal and design for the South Morgan Canal upstream, during 2019-2020.

Because this proposal is specifically requesting support for design and planning, it is too early to determine specific monitoring activities. However, we anticipate that the data collected during this design phase of the project will set the framework for post project monitoring in the future. Monitoring will likely be composed of water quality and biological assessments, specifically associated with the target fish species. The project partners are working with local community members to develop a citizen water quality monitoring program within the city of Morgan. Biological monitoring will be accomplished through existing river sampling programs.

Morgan City Morgan County Utah Division of Wildlife Resources Trout Unlimited

The current management of the habitat is fairly typical of a degraded urban stream. Steep banks preclude public access to the river and the irrigation diversion require dismantling during high water events. The overall long term management goal of this project is to transform the degraded river into a community asset that the local citizens and conservation organizations can take stewardship of to ensure long term protection of the river. Future management of this river reach and the irrigation diversions within are highly dependent upon the outcome of this design report. It would be impossible to move forward with large-scale restoration without an understanding of the available design options and design criteria.

The benefits to domestic livestock are indirect. Much of the irrigated water provides hay for supplemental animal feeding. Improving water security improve the supplemental forage available to livestock.

07/01/2018

06/30/2019

2019

We consulted with RiverRestoration.org to develop this design. We have worked with RiverRestoration on several projects proximal to this proposed projects, which allowed us to use existing survey data. We developed two different designs. Design one was focused on reconstructing the diversion in-place. Design two looked at consolidation options because rebuilding the Mill Race Diversion In-Place was not possible. We have included both designs and the consolidation memo in the files section of this project. We will be pursuing the consolidation option moving forward.

We developed two designs for this project. The initial constraints placed upon us included a permanent structure needing to keep the point of diversion in the same place, a structure that passes fish upstream, a flood risk prevention, and one that allows boaters to safely navigate. The initial design included a split channel design that included recreational waves on one side and a fish way on the other. Unfortunately regardless of the structural components that we incorporated we could not develop a solution that would not cause flooding. The second design that we developed was focused on the possibility of consolidation of diversions. Physically this will likely be the most feasible track forward. We will be working with water companies to try to increase stakeholder buy-in.

We still have design work to do to develop this project. The initial design was very important for us to identify what can be done with the existing diversion layout. We will move forward with the community members to find a way to consolidate multiple diversions into a single location.