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Show Salt Lake City has extraterritorial jurisdiction over its watershed areas based on state constitutional rights. Federal legislation in 1914 and 1934 gave further rights to Salt Lake City to protect the watershed areas. The city has recently initiated a review of the 1988 Watershed Master Plan. 6.3.5.1 Salt Lake City Watershed Management Plan The Salt Lake City Watershed Management Plan was published in 1988 by the planning division of the Salt Lake City Department of Public Works. The plan points out that Salt Lake City owns most of the water rights and a considerable amount of land within the canyons from City Creek Canyon on the north to Little Cottonwood Canyon on the south. The city, consequently, has a responsibility to manage the watersheds. One of the primary concerns raised by the plan is that use of the canyons for recreational purposes in winter and summer threatens the long- term viability of the watersheds as a culinary water source. The plan maps the canyons, discusses water rights issues, and describes the physical and environmental characteristics of the canyons. The plan also identifies and discusses the various federal, state, county and city agencies that have watershed related jurisdictional and ownership concerns. The heart of the plan is its recommendations for watershed management. After more than a year of plan development and public involvement, the Salt Lake City Council adopted the plan with the following watershed management recommendations: 1. Salt Lake City should continue with existing watershed management policies, and electively increase city presence in some canyons for watershed protection. 5. Salt Lake City should establish a formal program for canyon land and water rights acquisition in critical watershed areas. 6. The city should initiate and maintain an information campaign on the role of the canyons for watershed and water supply, including, groundwater, activities in the watersheds, public responsibilities in the watersheds, and policies and jurisdictional responsibilities in the watersheds. 7. Recognizing the value of retention of minimum stream flows in the Wasatch canyons for aesthetic and ecological objectives, the city should review the potential for committing water rights to instream flows on a canyon- by- canyon and case- by- case basis. 8. Salt Lake City should update its watershed ordinance to give the city discretion to implement watershed protection measures in areas where it has water rights, but is not yet using the water. 9. Salt Lake City should review and update its land and water ownership records. 10. In order to invite more public participation on watershed issues, the city should provide broader notification of monthly meeting agendas, community newsletters and other public notices. 11. Salt Lake City should encourage more stream monitoring through the U. S. Geologic Survey and other efforts. 2. The city should maintain its moratorium on contracts for sale of surplus water. 3. The city should work with other jurisdictions and private entities to develop a better system for coordinating information and a better . public notification process on canyon issues. 4. Salt Lake City should work with canyon public and private entities to assure even enforcement of ordinances and regulations. The plan makes the following canyon- by- canyon site specific recommendations: City Creek - The City Creek Master Plan ( 1986) recommends maintaining instream flows for aesthetic and environmental reasons. This is consistent with the city recently re- establishing City Creek in an above ground channel through the downtown section of the stream. The City Creek watershed currently is managed primarily for culinary water use from the upper canyon. 6- 5 |