The Wasatch Mountain area in Utah is one of five areas in the country selected for a new pilot program for watershed protection. The pilot program will utilize a public/private partnership to retain a clean water supply for over half a million people in the Salt Lake City area.
Salt Lake City has a history of working together with the Forest Service to protect the watershed area that supplies 60% of the area’s water, and the goal of this new pilot program is to beef up the protections around the watershed. As we all know, the Forest Service won’t be seeing additional funding anytime soon, so the hope is that by partnering with the private sector, projects can continue to move forward, even in the face of government agency budget cuts.
The Wasatch Water Legacy Partnership is comprised of 15 members, and the partnership has already begun discussing projects and setting goals for the program. The project is spearheaded Save Our Canyons, Salt Lake County and the town of Alta, and partnering with the Forest Service.
Cheryl Probert, deputy supervisor of the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest said that, “The idea is a public-private partnership that helps with land stewardship, with the focus here on the sustainable recreation piece along with ecological restoration.”
Read more in The Republic.
