Despite its woes, the Jordan River has emerged as a popular Salt Lake County recreation destination in recent decades.
Yet people rowing, biking, running or just taking a casual stroll on any part of the trail between Utah and Davis counties likely don’t realize the river doesn’t quite look like when pioneers settled in 1847, says Dustin Wiberg, a park development project manager for Salt Lake County Parks and Recreation.
He walks over to a large map standing in the corner of a library conference room that depicts how the river’s path today differs from nearly a century ago.
“It used to meander a lot more, which is typical of rivers like this,” he says, pointing to a section of the river in the middle of the county. “You can see we’ve straightened it out over time. In some areas, it’s a similar trajectory.”
Different projects, including levees, were created to control the river’s flow as suburban development began encroaching on the riverbanks, especially during the second half of the 20th century. County experts say many changes to the landscape were done with residential or industrial use in mind and not so much about the natural flow of the river.