Red Butte Creek
Red Butte Creek is a perennial stream located in Utah, flowing from Red Butte Canyon in the Wasatch Mountains through Salt Lake City and into the Jordan River. Recognized for its ecological significance, the creek has been protected since 1890, initially by the United States Army and later designated as a Research Natural Area by the U.S. Forest Service in 1969. This designation has helped preserve one of the most pristine riparian corridors in the intermountain western United States. The creek supports a rich biodiversity, including various plant communities and a range of wildlife such as bobcats, mountain lions, and diverse fish species. However, the ecosystem has faced challenges due to both natural events and human activities. Notably, significant oil spills in 2010 raised concerns about water quality and the health of local habitats, prompting restoration efforts, including the reintroduction of native fish species. The area’s climate features long, hot summers and cold winters, contributing to its unique ecological characteristics. Overall, Red Butte Creek serves as an important natural resource and habitat, reflecting the intersection of conservation efforts and environmental challenges.
Red Butte Creek
- Category: Inland Aquatic Biomes.
- Geographic Location: North America.
- Summary: This pristine, protected watershed was recently compromised by natural and human-made events.
Utah’s Red Butte Creek is a perennial stream that flows out of Red Butte Canyon in the Wasatch Mountains and then through Salt Lake City to the Jordan River. Its water quality and surrounding natural habitat have been protected since 1890, first by the United States Army and later by the U.S. Forest Service, which in 1969 declared it a Research Natural Area. Consequently, the creek area has been preserved as one of the most pristine riparian corridors in the intermountain western United States. In recent years, however, both natural and human-caused events have threatened the ecological balance of this biologically rich ecosystem.
Red Butte Creek begins its journey at 8,000 feet (2,438 meters) above sea level, at the top of Red Butte Canyon. The creek cascades through a steep ravine to the mouth of the canyon, where it flows through the neighborhoods of east Salt Lake City and collects in a pond in Liberty Park. Eventually, the water reaches the Jordan River. The creek’s flow varies seasonally, increasing in the spring months when snow melts at higher altitudes.
Though the flow of water through Red Butte Creek can vary depending on snowmelt at the end of each winter, the spring of 1983 was notable for its runoff. Heavy snows in mid-May, followed by unusually warm weather at the end of that month, caused flooding throughout the area. On May 28, the creek overflowed its banks, altering riparian habitats, which have yet to recover.
Red Butte Canyon has a climate that is semiarid and characteristic of the eastern boundary of the Great Basin. Long, hot summers and cold, snowy winters are common, while spring and fall are comfortable and relatively wet. Precipitation amounts vary depending on the altitude and the northern sweep of monsoonal moisture during the summer months. Temperatures can exceed 100 degrees F (38 degrees C) in the hottest season, but rarely fall below 0 degrees F (minus 18 degrees C) in the winter.
Biodiversity
Four distinct plant communities thrive in Red Butte Canyon: riparian, grass-forb, oak-maple, and conifers. On the wet banks of the creek, western water birch, mountain alder, and sometimes willow grow. Elevation plays a large part in the distribution of vegetation, with spring grassland communities appearing closer to the mouth of the canyon, while summer-active scrub oak, aspen, and coniferous forests exist mostly in the upper portions of the canyon.
A diverse animal population also can be found living in and around Red Butte Creek. Bobcats, mountain lions, moose, coyotes, mule deer, and elk make the canyon their home. Rodents such as red-backed voles and jumping mice are abundant in the lower grasslands, while red squirrels, Uinta ground squirrels, and chipmunks live at higher altitudes. Native beavers were abundant in the area until the 1980s, when it was feared that they could infect the water supply with the parasite Giardia lamblia. Their removal resulted in the loss of marshy environments and many small mammals that lived where the beavers made their dams.
In the water, fish common to the creek include largemouth bass, brown trout, and bluegill, and waterfowl include ducks and Canada geese.
Human Activity and Environmental Threats
Settlers living west of Red Butte Canyon used creek water to irrigate their crops in the 1850s, as water rights were not an issue until the U.S. Army established Fort Douglas at the base of the canyon. Army engineers constructed two reservoirs in 1875, diverting the water from Red Butte Creek to fill them. Worried that nearby quarries would compromise water quality, the engineers declared in territory district court that the waters of the creek belonged to the Army.
A few years later, the U.S. Congress passed a law to protect the watershed. This prevented the sale of land in Red Butte Canyon and stopped further development. When the U.S. Forest Service acquired the canyon in 1969, it gated the property and declared it a Research National Area (RNA). The purpose of the RNA was to maintain natural ecosystems as baseline areas, research their natural processes, and compare the RNA ecosystems with compromised or manipulated areas.
In 2010, Red Butte Canyon and creek suffered two significant ecological disasters when a Chevron pipeline fractured, sending oil gushing into Red Butte Creek. The pipe carried medium crude oil from eastern Utah to the Salt Lake Valley. On the morning of June 12, Salt Lake City police found 50–60 gallons (189–227 liters) pouring into the creek per minute. Downstream from the canyon’s mouth, the oil soon ran into the pond at Liberty Park and then into the Jordan River. Birds and other animals were immediately affected, their coats and feathers matted with sticky black oil. In December of the same year, the same pipe fractured in a different place, spewing 21,000 gallons (79,494 liters) into the stream and surrounding areas.
Chevron took full responsibility for the two spills, funding the multimillion-dollar-cleanup that continued for several years. In 2011, Utah wildlife officials returned 3,000 native cutthroat trout to Red Butte Creek as part of a plan to restore the compromised ecosystem. Unfortunately, it may take decades to fully assess the effect of the oil spills on plant and wildlife habitats.
Bibliography
Arrington, L. J. and T. G. Alexander. “The U.S. Army Overlooks Salt Lake Valley, Fort Douglas 1862–1865.” Utah Historical Quarterly 33 (1965).
Decker, Angie and Kate Randall. "Bringing Back the Bonnies." Garden Journal, 10 Aug. 2020, redbuttegarden.org/plan-your-garden-visit/online-classes-virtual-resources/garden-journal/bringing-back-the-bonnies/. Accessed 30 Aug. 2022.
Ehleringer, James R., et al. “Red Butte Canyon Research Natural Area: History, Flora, Geology, Climate, and Ecology.” Great Basin Naturalist 52 (1992).
O’Donoghue, Amy Joi and Josh Smith. “Oil Spill in Red Butte Creek Threatens Waters, Wildlife.” Deseret News, 12 June 2010.
“Red Butte Creek.” National Ecological Observatory Network, www.neonscience.org/field-sites/redb. Accessed 24 Oct. 2024.
“Red Butte Creek Network.” Global Change & Sustainability Center, University of Utah, www.environment.utah.edu/weo-rbc/. Accessed 24 Oct. 2024.
Rogers, John. “EPA Comes Down Easy on Chevron for Utah Oil Spills.” Enterprise / Salt Lake City, vol. 43, no. 37, May 2014, pp. 1–4. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bwh&AN=96291200&site=ehost-live. Accessed 24 Oct. 2024.