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Jordan River Hydraulic Assessment

Project Chief: Terry Kenney, USGS Salt Lake City, Utah
Period of Project: October 2007 to March 2011 (Complete)
Publication: Two-Dimensional Streamflow Simulations of the Jordan River, Midvale, and West Jordan, Utah

PROBLEM

The Jordan River near Midvale, Utah, flows adjacent to two reclaimed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Superfund sites; Midvale Slag and Sharon Steel. Mitigation of these two sites included on-site geo-technical capping of more than 12 million tons of smelting and mine-waste materials. At both sites, the reclaimed area extends to the right bank of the Jordan River. The susceptibility of the banks to erosion related to stream flows in the Jordan River is a major concern. Migration and/or erosion of the right bank introduce the potential for breaching the geo-technical cap and the possibility of mobilizing the waste. Plans for developing these sites as mixed-use residential, commercial, and open space are on going. For these reasons, federal, state, municipal, and private stakeholders desire an enhanced understanding of the hydraulic characteristics of the Jordan River adjacent to the two mitigated sites.

OBJECTIVES

The principle goal of the proposed project is to develop two-dimensional hydraulic models to assess the hydraulic characteristics of the Jordan River near the Midvale Slag and Sharon Steel sites in Midvale, Utah.

RELEVANCE AND BENEFITS

This study fulfills several USGS project goals as outlined in USGS Water Resources Division (WRD) Memorandum 95.44, The proposal also addresses USGS activities as described in the USGS Strategic Plan, 1996-2005, to meet the needs for earth science information critical for developing strategies to mitigate property losses from natural events.

APPROACH

Hydrologic analyses on the regulated Jordan River system will be done to determine the stream flows to simulate in the hydraulic models. The sheet-pile dam will be surveyed along with the water-surface slope in the fall of 2007, due to the scheduled removal of the dam. Topographic data for the overbank regions of the study reaches will be surveyed during the winter of 2007-08. River topography will be collected from a moving boat during the high-flow period of spring 2008. These data will be used to develop two-dimensional hydraulic models for the Midvale Slag and Sharon Steel reaches. Water-surface elevations and water-velocity data will be collected for calibration and verification purposes. The models will be developed and calibrated to both a high- and low-flow event. The average annual peak discharge for the Jordan River in Salt Lake Valley will be simulated along with the peak discharge for the period of record. Scenario modeling specific to EPA engineering needs will be done in an effort to determine best in-stream structure and erosion mitigation designs.

PRODUCTS

Results will be provided to the EPA in the form of a peer reviewed, USGS Scientific Investigations Report. The report will outline the methodologies used in data collection, processing, and modeling. Model predicted hydraulic parameters, including, but not limited to, water-velocities and water-surface elevations, will be presented graphically and discussed. Modeling results as well as specific limitations also will be discussed, including proper use and interpretation of the data presented. Conference proceedings and/or journal articles may be prepared documenting unique methods. Administrative reports, referencing a peer reviewed report or article, as well as cooperator meetings may be used to transfer results to EPA that are generated from the scenario modeling discussed above.