The Commission has been working through an agreement with the Central Utah Water Conservancy District (District) to acquire water rights in the lower Provo River to improve instream flows for aquatic species, especially the June sucker. The CUP Completion Act provided authorization and funding to purchase water for efforts to increase the minimum flow in the Provo River downstream of the Olmsted Diversion from a committed flow of 25 cubic feet per second (cfs) to a goal of 75 cfs.

In September 2008, the Commission released a report entitled Lower Provo River Ecosystem Flow Recommendations. Its purpose is to summarize and in some instances re-examine prior data, reports, and recommendations regarding instream flow regimes for the lower Provo River in Utah County, Utah. Together with new information and analyses, it presents recommendations relative to instream flow regimes for important components of the lower Provo River ecosystem.

The lower Provo River has been the focus of numerous studies and interagency efforts over the past two decades, primarily due to the listing of the June sucker (Chasmistes liorus), a lake sucker endemic to Utah Lake, as an endangered species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1986. The lower 4.9 miles of the Provo River were designated as critical habitat in the listing, as the June sucker spawns in the lower Provo River. Therefore most of the monitoring, studies, and cooperative efforts among many agencies and water management entities involving the lower Provo River since that time have focused on the goal of recovering the June sucker.

Given competing demands and increased water costs, it is unlikely that funds authorized to the Commission will be sufficient to acquire water rights that fulfill the 75cfs instream flow objective. The Commission, District, Department of the Interior and other Provo River interests are considering additional strategies to help achieve instream flows. Such strategies may include exchanges, water conservation, and re-operation of water supplies in the basin. Options to provide targeted flow levels through eventual construction and operation of the Utah Lake Drainage Basin Water Delivery System (ULS) are also being considered.

The Commission and District initiated the first phase of a comprehensive study in 2002 to determine relationships among flow levels and aquatic habitat and other ecological functions on the Provo River System. Two reports are available entitled: PROVO RIVER FLOW STUDY Flow-habitat and Flow-ecological Relationships within the Riverine Ecosystem: Aquatic Habitat, Riparian Vegetation, Recreational Uses, Fluvial Processes. The Study area extends from Jordanelle Dam to Utah Lake. [Click here to download the Jordanelle to Deer Creek Flow Study Report, February 2004] [Click here to download the Deer Creek to Utah Lake Flow Study Report, March 2003] Data developed from this study will be used to assess CUP operation effects on aquatic habitats. Study results may also be used to assess potential impacts of ULS alternatives as development of an Environmental Impact Statement for that system continues. Maps from the first year of the study are also available by contacting us.

For information about current Provo River flows, click here to link to the District's reservoir and streamflow data page.