OREM — It will likely cost millions and take years to accomplish, but efforts to repair the lower Provo River and provide a delta of critical habitat for the endangered June sucker are inching forward.
The details of a "conceptual" plan were laid out Tuesday at the Utah Lake Symposium held at Utah Valley University, where biologists, water managers and conservation experts gathered to tackle a variety of topics.
The impetus behind a realignment of the Provo River where it meets with Utah Lake is to provide a safe haven for where fragile larvae can seek cover, obtain food and thrive.
As it is, explained project manager Maureen Wilson, the larvae hit the "dead" water of the Provo River channel and fall victim to non-native predator fish or sink to the bottom where there is no food and they starve.
"They need a protective bay at the river where they can find the cover they need and the food they need to survive," said Wilson, who works for the Utah Reclamation, Mitigation & Conservation Commission.
Once numbering at a population as small as a few hundred, the June sucker, a native fish to Utah, is on the Endangered Species list. That listing has prompted a multi-pronged effort to restore habitat and reduce threats.
Similar to what is planned at the lower Provo River, a project to re-channel Hobble Creek was completed in 2008 and the last two years have yielded positive results, Wilson said.
That project cost about $3 million, with what is being contemplated at the Provo River expected to surpass that.
A habitat enhancement study led to conceptual plans that envision establishing a new northern alignment of the river west of 3100 West.
A report based on public meetings held earlier this year — a scoping document — is available at www.mitigation.gov.
Wilson said some of the early concerns identified include impacts to recreation — such as fishing and public access, as well as property acquisition and flood control.
A draft environmental statement on the project as envisioned is not due to be released until 2011, with a final document ready by 2012.
Any construction, Wilson said, would not begin until 2013 at the earliest.
e-mail: amyjoi@desnews.com