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PROVO -- A program to help save an endangered fish in Utah Lake is proposing to shut down the lower portion of the Provo River, an idea that is not sitting well with some.
Benjamin Allen owns the CLAS ropes course that sits along the edge of the Provo River before it goes into Utah Lake. The slow-moving section of the river nearby might disappear due to as a project to save the endangered June sucker.
7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Utah Lake State Park Visitor Center
4400 West Center St., Provo, Utah
"They can share the water and we can save the June sucker, plus we can keep the river open for all that it's been used for," Allen said.
At a meeting Thursday night, the government will present options to create a river delta habitat that better suits the fish. It could mean people will lose their land to the project and Allen says some of the farmers in the area have already indicated they aren't willing to sell the land that's been in their families for generations. That means the government would have to use eminent domain to get the land.
Four alternatives are on the table, each of which would move the Provo River 1.5 miles upstream of its current confluence with Utah Lake.
Allen is also leading a petition that already has over a thousand signatures of people who don't want to see the Lower section of the river closed off. That section is often used by people for canoeing and fishing, and there is already a trail system built along the current channel.
They can share the water and we can save the June sucker, plus we can keep the river open for all that it's been used for.
–Benjamin Allen
Allen says a group of one hundred or more people is planning to show up early at the meeting to protest the closing of the lower part of the river. Allen is even offering free canoe rentals at the ropes course until the end of May for anyone who wants to take a trip down the river to see for themselves what will be lost.
Allen says he's just fine with a new delta being constructed to help save the fish as long as around 12-percent of the water is still allowed to flow down the original channel which has been a popular recreation spot since the pioneers arrived in the valley.
Information on tonight's meeting from the Provo River Delta Restoration Project website says they're asking the public what should be done with the river channel once the water is redirected to the north. Some options include filling in the channel and making it a trail, turning it into wetlands or creating fishing ponds.
