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This blog was originally posted on on September 24, 2025. The Trust is co-managed by Լ����Ƶ and The Nature Conservancy.

You may have heard the recent news that as 10,000 acre-feet of new water flowed from storage in Utah Lake, through the Jordan River, and into Great Salt Lake’s Farmington and Gilbert Bays. This effort was made possible thanks to a partnership between Լ����Ƶ and The Nature Conservancy, as managers of the Great Salt Lake Watershed Enhancement Trust (the Trust), Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, and the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands.

Late-season water flows, such as this release, are important for a multitude of reasons—they help mitigate botulism in birds, sustain lake levels and salinity (salt) levels during the dry season, and can improve the riparian and wetland ecosystems that the water moves through on its journey.

This year, though, these new water flows provided an additional opportunity for the Utah Division of Water Quality (UDWQ) to conduct the Jordan River Flushing Flow Study—research that aims to better understand the health of Jordan River’s waters and the impact of using water flows to mitigate adverse ecological conditions, especially in warmer, drier months. 

“The timing for this study was serendipitous. UDWQ waited a long time to have the required elevated flows to conduct this research, and this year’s late-season release came through in the nick of time,” said Jodi Gardberg, Section Manager for the Utah Division of Water Quality’s Watershed Protection Section.

When Jodi says they’ve waited a long time, she means it. The Jordan River Flush Flow Study is the culmination of nearly 15 years of research, modeling, and planning to improve water quality in the Jordan River.

In the early 2010s, the Utah Division of Water Quality conducted a water quality test that determined the lower Jordan River had dissolved oxygen (DO) levels too low to sustain warm water aquatic life. This placed the Jordan River on the Clean Water Act’s 303(d) List of impaired waters—a list of waterbodies that fail to meet water quality standards necessary to protect their beneficial use, such as aquatic ecosystems.

Once a waterbody is placed on the 303(d) list, UDWQ develops a water quality restoration plan  (otherwise known as a Total Maximum Daily Load Study) to determine what’s causing the impairment, including an implementation plan to rectify the situation.

“The TMDL was approved in 2013, and it essentially found a ton of organic matter gobbling up all of the oxygen, leaving little left to support fish and other aquatic life,” explained Sandy Wingert, an environmental scientist who’s been with UDWQ since 2007 and manages surface water quality concerns in the Provo and Jordan River Basins.

The initial water quality plan proposed that an increase in water flow could lead to a benefit in dissolved oxygen levels. To test this idea, Sandy and her team needed increased water flows, but navigating the complex system of water rights to secure those flows proved challenging. 

To accomplish these experiments, a large collaboration of partners was key to facilitating the distribution and delivery of increased water into the lower Jordan River from Utah Lake. Staff from the Great Salt Lake Watershed Enhancement Trust and UDWQ coordinated closely over the last year with water managers to work out all of the fine-scale details needed to make the experiment happen:

• The Utah Lake/Jordan River Commissioner with the Division of Water Rights (UDWRi) and JVWCD staff helped convey the water from Utah Lake down the Jordan Narrows section of the Jordan River through multiple dams and structures to ensure the water was not diverted and stayed in the river.
• Once the water passes through the Joint Dam Diversion in the Jordan Narrows, it is measured instream and stays in the Jordan River through the Salt Lake Valley to 2100 South. At 2100 South, UDWRi’s Lower Jordan River Commissioner adjusts flows going down the lower Jordan River at another dam, adding 10 cfs per day for five days up to a maximum of 50 additional cfs. The additional 50 cfs is held for five days, and then ramped back down 10 cfs a day for five more days until flows reach pre-experiment conditions.
• Wetland managers at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area and New State Duck Club needed to be prepared for additional flows coming to their wetlands through the system to flow to Great Salt Lake, adjusting their gates and water infrastructure throughout the 2-week experiment.

All of these partners were instrumental in ensuring that the additional flows, with the target flow rates and timing, reached the lower Jordan River while also preventing the additional water from adversely impacting managed wetlands downstream.

“This really highlights that the Jordan River is a highly controlled system, with so many entities involved in water management. We are really appreciative of all of the efforts of partners who have contributed to make this experiment possible,” said Jodi.

Before the increase in flow in the lower Jordan River, UDWQ’s crew collected pre-experiment data to determine baseline conditions.

September 15th marked the first day of a 5-day ramp-up as water incrementally increased through the lower Jordan River System to about 50 additional cfs, or cubic feet per second, above base flows (typically around 150 cfs in the stretch of the Jordan River this time of year). During this ramp-up period, field staff were out two times a day at nine individual monitoring locations between 2100 South and all the way down to Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area (WMA).

“Three of these already have flow gauges, and four have long-term sensors that measure field parameters such as DO and water temperature,” explained Sandy. 

This gives their team the ability to not only utilize historic DO rates but also monitor the real-time relationship between DO and flow. Additionally, UDWQ installed temporary DO loggers at the remaining sites.

While at each monitoring station, the crew is collecting chemical samples as well as flow rates. Chemical sampling is done by collecting water at each site for analysis.

How do they measure flow? With a Q-Boat of course.

As functional as it is cute, this small boat is outfitted with equipment to rapidly calculate the flow rate, ensuring the validity of the experiment and saving the crew significant time. 

A few of the Trust’s staff had the opportunity to join three of UDWQ’s field staff as they conducted their first day of research. The excitement was evident, and the crew moved quickly through all nine sites before their final sampling just above where the Jordan River enters Farmington Bay WMA.

After the ramp-up period, the max flow was held for 5 days, followed by a 5-day ramp back down. Crews sampled every 2-3 days during these periods.

It will take six months for the water chemistry results to come back, but with the real-time continuous DO and temperature data, UDWQ’s team will have a good idea of what’s occurring.

“UDWQ’s focus is on improving water quality in the lower Jordan River. While we don’t have control over the quantity of water, the information gained from this study can inform those who manage flows,” said Jodi. “The larger question is then, can we manage flow regimes to improve and maintain the habitat quality and to sustain the water quality over time?”

A question that speaks to the ever-increasing truth that in a watershed where everything is connected, proactive management and mitigation, such as increased flow, have benefits that reach far beyond the intended subject. Greater water downstream not only provides benefits for Great Salt Lake and Jordan River, but also our understanding of how to better manage the Jordan River to benefit everyone.

Post-flow fieldwork will wrap up at the end of September, and the results will be shared with the public and water managers within the next year. In the meantime, partners like the Trust are grateful to Sandy, Jodi, and the entire team at UDWQ for their persistence and passion as we all work together to better understand how we can care for and manage some of our state’s most crucial ecosystems.