Picnickers and anglers likely will see silt along the South Fork of the Ogden River later this month, but a U.S. Forest Service official says it will quickly disappear.
The silt will be the result of running a pipeline under the tributary to provide adequate water to one campground and to help develop two other recreation sites, said Scott Layton of the Wasatch-Cache National Forest's Ogden Ranger District.The Forest Service will use a waterline serving the South Fork and Botts campgrounds, about eight miles east of Huntsville, Layton said. The pipeline will be buried beneath the river and then run downstream to Magpie Campground, a half-mile to the west.
He said the existing water system at Magpie is fed by a spring, and the water needs to be chlorinated. In addition, there isn't enough pressure to serve all 27 campsites, which generally are full on weekends.
The new waterline also will pass two sites - one near Hobble Creek, and the other between the Botts Campground and Hobble Creek - that are prime for development.
The excavation tentatively is scheduled for Sept. 27. Layton said the Forest Service does not expect the project will damage the fishery, especially since brown trout in the South Fork have finished spawning.
The Forest Service had considered redeveloping the spring or drilling a well at the campground but rejected both options because the spring pressure is not likely to increase and the only suitable well site would require pumping water to Magpie.
The agency also turned down the option of running the waterline through a structure over the river because of potential vandalism and damage from spring flooding.