Let’s preserve and enhance our priceless amenity:
The Little Logan River
“OR: Treating a cat like a dog never
produces a canine.”
Dr. Susanne Janecke, Sept 16, 2025
Qr code helps you to share the reportBy Dr. Susanne Janecke
Updated July 2025
Return to this information portal
ALSO: CLICK for REPORT on the problem of ALGAE in re-engineered waterways and fountains. Algae threatens the Little Logan River itself and is a problem along the main Logan River upstream of the Stokes Nature Center.
The Highline Canal take-out dewaters the Logan River so much that Algae has grown to a thick mat there as well. Fish appear to be trapped downstream of the take out because there is too little surface flow
SKIP AHEAD TO A POWERPOINT TALK (5 minutes) about the Little Logan river's precarious future (use find "talk").
Main points:
+Public rivers and our best parks are fabulous amenities of Logan Utah. They are entitled to protection by law yet current plans of the Logan River Watershed Project to upgrade outdated irrigation infrastructure and reduce storm floods (worthy goals) unnecessarily threaten the open flow of natural river water year-round in the Little Logan River. More river water will be diverted away from the Great Salt Lake.+Plans would result in more river water being diverted away from the Great Salt Lake.
+The necessary upgrades could be designed to preserve and enhance the public’s wishes and rights along the Little Logan River.
 |
| TUBING ICON IS FROM THIS ARTIST |
+INSTEAD, current plans favor irrigators and developers and sub-minimally honor the public’s rights and our clearly articulated desire to preserve and enhance the river’s COUNTLESS benefits and amenities.
+The Great Salt Lake needs water from the Logan River more than lawns and landscapes. Great Salt Lake has dropped back into its most dire condition only 4-5 years after a pair of super-wet winters prevented a total biological collapse. It is classified as being in an EXTREME ADVERSE condition!
+Plans of the Logan River Watershed Project for the natural river in the heart of our community impact almost a dozen public spaces. Sponsors promise so little open-flowing water in the Little Logan River that there is a significant risk of the river becoming 1) an unacceptable and illegal (?) dry river bed in parts of the summer, or 2) a mere trickle with stagnant ponds. IF drought continues, there might be no water in the Little Logan River- according to sponsors. LEARN MORE HERE.
+Rivers rarely support algae infestations unless their flow is dialed down to an unnatural trickle, forming stagnant reaches.
+Nafziger family document an algae problem in the Little Logan River arising in part from mismanagement in winter. (Field trips on request). Algae is also a worrisome problem in piped canals.
+Preserving the open flow in the Little Logan River and restoring its winter flow does not preclude an overdue and successful rebuild of outdated irrigation infrastructure and upgrades to reduce flooding.
+Unused river water could be leased to the Great Salt lake. New laws allow such leasing.
(INFORMATION in this document about ALGAE is gathered into one document here.
*****************************************************************************************
Little Logan River is under threat from the Logan River Watershed Project
in its current form:
Reports are clickable at blue text.
River topics:Algae issues
History of our riversPhotos of the river and Logan growing up along the Little Logan River.
The Great Salt Lake is collapsing
The upgrade of irrigation infrastructure could be reconfigured to a win-win, with modest improvements and A LOT MORE public input. (details on request).
- *******************************************************************************
GREAT SALT LAKE:
Reports about the Great Salt Lake are GREEN
The Great Salt Lake is collapsing: Overconsumption is THE main reason but a megadrought is worsening the condition of the lake. The lake can be saved with policy changes.
More information about the Great Salt Lake. It needs every extra drop.
*****************************************************************************************
PLEASE visit and consider the ACTION ITEMS below
RIVER TOPICS-Summary
Short summary presentation June 10, 2025, with action items: tinyurl.com/savellr
KEY RIVER ISSUES:
Sponsors have long claimed that the Little Logan River is only a canal or ditch. More than 8 types of evidence and many hundreds of legal documents prove that the river is primarily a natural river that also conveys irrigation water to canals.
The public owns all of the water of the Little Logan River and water users have a right to use some of that water during the irrigation season. The public also owns the land under the river and some of its banks.
“Erroneous” classification as a canal deprives the historic natural river of many legal protections at state and federal level.
Plans appear to deprive Great Salt Lake of EVEN MORE WATER during its extremely adverse conditi0ons!
Plans appear to be extremely costly (household min fees of $350-760/year) and disruptive to our communities
Possibility of trivial open flow of river water could choke the Little Logan River with algae, as happened along 3 recent rebuilds completed in our communities by JUB engineering.
Complete desiccation is also possible.
Little Logan River has started to be plagued by algae due to unpermitted winter diversion of its water south into the main branch of the Logan River.
Strong and consistent public desire to preserve and enhance our natural river appears to have had minimal impact on LRWP. Ask for details.
*****************************************************************************************
What can YOU do? See below:
Sadly, citizens are not able to vote directly for or against the Logan River Watershed Project but we CAN vote for members of city councils, mayors, and water boards.
November municipal election is very important for this reason.
PLEASE VOTE for River-friendly candidates in LOGAN and North Logan and Hyde PArk. ASK THEM THEIR POSITION
ACTION ITEMS:
Get informed. There are detailed reports at the portal TINYURL.COM/SAVELLR
Let the Logan, North Logan, and Hyde Park City Council, Mayors, and all candidates know that you are unhappy/that plans to upgrade infrastructure along the Little Logan River is also unnecessarily:
Managing our public river water primarily for irrigators and owners of water rights,
Appearing to skirt the protections due the Little Logan River in Utah code 73-3-29
Encouraging homeowners to use river water currently flowing
to the GSL to water lawns,
Capturing river water to encourage future sprawl and development.
Summary: This project mostly benefits canal companies, irrigators,
and developers while degrading our river, community and harming
the Great Salt Lake.
KEY FACTS:
The right to use the river water for irrigation does not void the public’s rights to the unallocated river water, preserving the environment and wildlife that use the river, recreation, and its ownership of the river water.
DID YOU KNOW: The Little Logan River is flowing across land owned by Logan City and the public?
🗣️A powerpoint presentation/talk -15 slides
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
River protections are in Utah code 73-3-29. It uses 4 criteria to evaluate changes to rivers.
Public interests are in items 1-3:
Following the comment period, Division staff will assemble all comments, conduct any further analysis and evaluate your application by the following criteria:
Will the project unnecessarily or unreasonably affect any recreational use or the natural stream environment?
Will the project unreasonably or unnecessarily endanger aquatic wildlife?
Will the project unreasonably or unnecessarily diminish the natural channel’s ability to conduct high flows?
Will the project impair vested water rights?
If the answer to all of these questions is NO, then your application will be approved.
Current plans of the LRWP appear to violate the first three criteria.
MORE ACTION ITEMS:
Contact representatives of the Cache Water District about the same topics. Their emails are at the link.
(NOTE THAT MINUTES STOPPED BEING POSTED IN JANUARY 2025)
Contact all law-makers, decision-makers, & candidates.
- Logan City council and Mayor own the river and have the MOST SAY:
- North Logan city council and Mayor:
- Hyde Park city Council and Mayor
PLEASE provide a comment in favor of protecting and enhancing our river when the Environmental Impact Statement appears later this year.
There will be a short window of opportunity for comments.
CLICK LINKS to access 8-9 informative reports about projects that impact our community in Cache Valley, Utah
**************************************************************************************************
Rivery reports are (BLUE)
Please advocate for the natural and historic rivers in our community. They should be protected but sponsors have been able/attempting to sidestep protections by claiming that the river is ONLY a canal or a “ditch”.
Little Logan River: An urban jewel, its history, threats and detailed information (this document). Households would pay >>$360-760 per year JUST to be included in the secondary water system. The river is a river and ~8 kinds of data prove it.
Do you want to learn more? See:
The High and Dry plan for the Little Logan River was an attempt to industrialize and take over a public river
Understanding how the Logan River Watershed Project will impact our community, Logan Rivers and the Great Salt Lake using QUESTIONS
Historic photographs and maps documenting the Little Logan River’s long celebrated history in our community
Evidence that the Little Logan River is a natural and legal river-an entire talk .
Frequently asked questions about the Little Logan River.
**************************************************************************************************
*****************************************************************************************
Worrisome lack of reassurance–over many years- RAISES KEY QUESTIONS about plans along the Little Logan River.
Key questions for sponsors- that remain unanswered despite almost 9 years of planning:
1. WILL the entire current riverbed:
BE INTACT?
STAY CONNECTED TO LOGAN RIVER forever?
and preserve or enhance most of its trees and natural features?
2. Since the LLR has no guarantee of minimum summer flow levels in published project plans, it could become
completely desiccated in the summer in our 10 public places and along > 5 miles of the river bed owned by the public,
or the river could have a trickle of nearly stagnant water that is likely to be choked by algae in our hotter and hotter summers.
Three water projects rebuilt by JUB firm are currently choked by ALGAE. (Field trip available on request)
Algae has started to grow in the Little Logan River ITSELF in Jens Johansen park during the winter months. This would be avoided if the river’s entire natural flow were no longer diverted out of the river bed. No permit allowed this winter diversion to begin in the 1990s.
3. Prior plans to remove the Crockett Diversion structure would have made it challenging to restore the river to full year-round natural waterway.
This “hidden” plan was discovered by us and was in place as late as Oct 2024. That is almost 5 years after the unanimous public asked for the river to be protected with open natural flow. Threats of a lawsuit apparently changed the plan to a better one. (Ask for details)
4. What else is being planned to prevent restoration of WINTER FLOWS? …to degrade the public’s natural river? To deprive the public of its rights to this incredible river?
*****************************************************************************************
How do we know that the Little Logan River is a river, and not only a canal as sponsors usually claim (10 ways)?
Geology proves it is a river. Meandering forms naturally in streams, not in canals.
Hundreds of legal documents all refer to the river as a river. Deeds for land AND water right documents all show ownership along the North Branch of the Logan River, the older name of the river.
Historic maps show the Little Logan River existed before Logan was settled by pioneers. The North Branch of the Logan River was included on the oldest map, whereas the South Branch was omitted in 1856. Canals cannot exist before canal builders arrived in 1859.
The federal government knows the Little Logan River is a perennial river along its entire length and at least two agency databases show it to be a perennial river.
The Utah Division of Wildlife classifies the Little Logan River as a coldwater fishery and perennial stream.
Permits to the State Engineer show that Logan City and the State of Utah both knew the Little Logan River is a river. Check in 2009 and 2012.
Writings of citizens, historians, and officials consistently refer to the Little Logan River as a river.
The entire bed of all rivers, including the entire Little Logan River belongs to Logan City. The land under the river was transferred to the city at statehood by the federal government. Cities are much less likely to own land under canals.
Cache County labels the little Logan River as a natural river in its databases. Update summer 2025.
Rivers are modified by humans on a worldwide basis and modified rivers are not transformed and reclassified as canals. If this logic were used, the main Logan River south of Logan’s Island would be a canal because it was straightened and incised far more than the Little Logan River.
Does it matter that the river is a river? YES!!!!!
Rivers are protected by Utah code 73-29-3. Their recreational aspects, environment, and ecology, aquatic species are protected as long as water rights are not impacted too badly. Federal law also protects rivers.
FIELD TRIPS: suggestions at blue arrows
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.