The Provo River Delta Restoration Project

Decades ago, the Provo River separated into a fan of tributaries that meandered through grassy wetlands before meeting Utah Lake. This dynamic system disappeared as the area was drained and cleared for farming, features like roads and an airport were built, and the river was tamed by upstream dams. These changes affected the river ecosystem, especially the native June sucker fish, which was declared an endangered species in 1986. The channeled and diked lower Provo River didn’t provide food and habitat, its stagnant water didn’t allow larval fish to drift, and the majority of young June sucker starved or got eaten by predators. The Provo River Delta Restoration Project is a major undertaking to improve rearing habitat for young June sucker by restoring a delta in their most important spawning tributary, the lower Provo River. The project furthers recovery efforts for the June sucker, whose status was recently downlisted to threatened. The project also provides unique recreational space for a rapidly growing community and helps assure continued water use and development for human needs along the Wasatch Front.
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Special thanks to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources for producing this video, also to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Provo Area Office and Force Account Crew, the Utah Conservation Corps, local landowners and local schools and universities, and especially to the countless volunteers involved in creating and caring for this special area.

The Provo River Delta Restoration Project cooperating agencies are: the Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission, U.S. Department of the Interior’s Central Utah Project Completion Act Office, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Central Utah Water Conservancy District, June Sucker Recovery Implementation Program, Utah County, and Provo City.

Learn more about the Provo River Delta at: https://www.provoriverdelta.us/