Murray City Corporation's Park and Recreation Director recounts his city's successful efforts to unleash the potential of Utah's Jordan River-- "the misunderstood, the challenge, the solution and the impetus" that motivated neighboring cities to undertake similar restoration projects.

The years have not been kind to the Jordan River. Coursing north between Utah Lake and the Great Salt Lake, it shadows I-15 through miles of concrete jungle in the nation's seventh highest percentage of urban population. Much of this development sprung up almost overnight in Salt Lake County's southern suburbs.

The river has been dredged, moved, strewn with garbage and has even caught fire. Over the years, its waters have carried untreated sewage and industrial wastewater as well as canoes full of laughing people relaxing on warm afternoons. It runs both clear and murky on the same sunny day. It courses through deserted fields, productive farms, neat subdivisions, poisonous smelter tailings, and crowded urban areas. Following is the story of the City of Murray, Utah's successful efforts to unleash the potential of the Jordan River.

Murray City officials had already initiated plans for a new golf course along the Jordan River when they discovered that the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) was planning an addition to the southwest portion of I-215 on an adjacent parcel of land. Aided by Landscape Architect John Maas of Allred, Soffe, Wilkinson and Nichols, Murray City and the UDOT were challenged to combine efforts in a way that would maximize their resources to the greater benefit of both highway and golf course facility.

State and local officials worked together to achieve a plan that directly linked the development of the golf course to the construction of I-25. The 4.5 mile extension of I-215 was designed for construction below ground level. Instead of hauling the excavated dirt from the construction site to another location, the UDOT agreed to donate the extra fill material to Murray City. The 550,000 cubic yards of fill gave the city sufficient resources to creatively design and enhance the layout of the golf course. This donation saved Murray City $1,000,000 in construction costs.

In addition, UDOT agreed to build a desilting basin upstream from the golf course to collect the abundant subsurface drainage and water runoff from I-215. Water from the desilting basin is routed into four holding ponds, or "water trap," constructed on the golf course by Murray City. The city uses the water to irrigate and further enhance the appearance of the 135-acre course. The irrigation process circulates the water through the ground several times. When excess water finally flows into the neighboring Jordan River, it is ninety percent cleaner than when it arrived on the course.

The water control system at the golf course has resulted in eleven acres of new wetlands created, and seven acres of land for flood retention, through the development of the innovative storm water system and golf course design. Furthermore, UDOT saved $300,000 that otherwise would have been used to purchase land and install pipes to channel the freeway runoff to the neighboring Jordan River. Murray City is seeing an annual saving of $100,000 in watering costs rather than using a culinary irrigation system.

The innovative golf course design won Murray City the first-ever National Stormwater Control Award from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Water Conservation Award from the Bureau of Reclamation. Designed by architect Robert Muir Graves, the golf course provides an enhanced natural environment with habitat for hundreds of fish, small aquatic mammals, waterfowl, geese, and a wide variety of ducks. With its natural wetland vegetation along the streams and ponds and its exceptional greenery, Murray Parkway Golf Course is now possibly the most played golf course in the State.

Three years after the golf course opened, the city used golf course revenues to issue bonds for acquisition and development of another 150 acres along the Jordan River for a parkway. These funds were used to secure grants from businesses, associations, as well as state and federal government agencies. To date, $4 million has been spent on acquisition, riverbank stabilization, re-vegetation, wetland restoration, trailheads and trails for pedestrian and equestrian use, canoe launches, park and picnic areas, and educational elements.

Murray City's successful efforts at its golf course and along the Jordan River have increased the prospects that the benefits of this valuable resource will be passed on to future generations. It has also been the impetus that motivates other communities along the Jordan to rediscover the river and undertake similar restoration projects.

It now affords opportunities to see and learn about wildlife, catch a fish, fly a kite, picnic, ride a horse, walk and cycle miles of trail or participate in more traditional forms of active recreation. These projects provide present and future resident of Salt Lake County with a unique open space that reestablished the riparian ecosystem and expands recreational and educational opportunities by creating a continuous parkway along the Jordan River within Murray City. lasn