Utah’s monsoon season brought summer storms to the hottest stretch of the year, but water bodies like the Provo River are still low. On Saturday, the Provo River Days festival will aim to educate the public about the river’s importance and its impact on the Wasatch Back.
Nancy O’Toole, a concerned citizen who also sits on the Provo River Days steering committee, said it’s about awareness. She’s seen the Provo River shrink throughout the summer.
“It’s not in good condition,” O’Toole said.
So, O’Toole and her fellow steering committee members banded together with the Utah Division of Water Quality, the Provo River Watershed Council, the Provo River Mitigation Committee and nearby state parks to put on the Provo River Days.
Education is the goal.
The Provo River Days festival has four stops along the riverway where attendees can learn something new: Wasatch Mountain State Park, Deer Creek State Park, the Jordanelle Reservoir and Vivian Park.
Wasatch Mountain State Park doesn’t have a Provo River site, but O’Toole said it’s included because nearby Snake Creek and Pine Creek flow into the Provo River.
There will be educational and interactive exhibits, guided nature walks and watershed tours, family-friendly environmental activities and demonstrations about water quality and conservation. O’Toole said it’s all about teaching people about the river and making connections to the water body from its Uintas headwaters to the communities along the way.
“In a fun way that kids can understand and realize that you need to take care of your environment, you need to take care of nature,” she said.
The Provo River is considered one of the best fishing destinations in the Wasatch Back and is classified as a Blue Ribbon Fishery. Fly fishers are often wading through the lower Provo River near the entrance to the Heber Valley.
The Provo River also provides a wealth of habitats for species such as frogs, birds, deer and more. O’Toole said caring for the river is so important because when the river is not “healthy,” there’s a domino effect harming plants and animals in the area.
“It’s not healthy for the critters and the animals and the birds that rely upon that river,” O’Toole said. “It’s a chain effect. It’s the cycle of life.”
Taking care of the source — the Provo River — is crucial, she added.
Anna Habben helped plan the Provo River Days through her job at Mighty Penguin Consulting. The nonprofit consulting group helped with planning and fundraising, and has done similar work for festivals along the Wasatch Front.
“We want community members in particular and businesses and all the different stakeholders that are involved in watershed health to understand what’s at stake for the watershed and what its needs are,” Habben said.
She added that it takes collective action and responsibility, whether it’s someone enjoying state parks or a developer looking to build near a waterbody.
“It really takes all hands and all sectors to understand and to solve the problems that are at hand and to meet the needs of the watershed because we all either benefit from the water or we all suffer because of it,” Habben said. “This event, it’s a positive way for us to get together and be more educated.”
And hopefully it will drive more understanding and dialogue about the needs of the Provo River, she added.
Habben said she is most excited for the guided hikes and nature walks. Each site will feature a different issue facing the watershed, whether it’s erosion or water quality. It’s a way to get individuals exploring in the state parks and along the Provo River while learning about what happens in those areas and how to preserve the natural environment.
O’Toole said she is most looking forward to educational pieces about recreating in the Provo River. As a Wasatch County resident, she said she’s floated the river more times than she can count. She’s seen kingfishers along the river paths, raccoons in the trees and “everything, anything that you ever want to look at.”
She added that at Provo River Days, there will even be educational lessons about cleaning up the river put on by scuba divers.
“This is their mission … to go to Jordanelle and Deer Creek and clean out the bottom of the lake of garbage,” O’Toole said. “I’m so excited.”
Habben said she wants attendees to walk away with more awareness about the Provo River. She is excited for everyone to participate in a survey in which visitors can share one new thing they learned about the watershed.
“We want our guests to come away with a better understanding of what the watershed is and why it matters to their community,” Habben said. “And what they can do to support those needs.”