After speaking with Salt Lake County Water Deputy Director, the BCLC Board has been informed that the algae bloom risks for our districts are reduced, therefore, water will begin flowing again. For now, the canal water is safe for watering lawns and gardens, but we do recommend some level of caution with allowing pets to drink the water or with human skin contact, as harmful algae can cause digestive issues and skin irritation. As always, the canal water is unsafe for human consumption. If the increased risks return, we will address them accordingly.
UPDATE: The main gate that feeds districts 3, 4, and 5, is not working. We are in contact with Salt Lake City (who maintains the main canal) about the issue. We will not have any answers until Aug 5th at the earliest. In order to fix this gate, water in the main canal will need to be stopped and likely some welding or full replacement will need to happen. Stay tuned…
UPDATE #2 (AUG 5): The broken gate for districts 3, 4, and 5 will be fixed by SLC tomorrow. In order to fix the gate, all water will be dumped from the canal system at 7pm tonight, Aug 5. They have assured us this should be a quick fix and water should return to the canal tomorrow evening.
UPDATE #3 (AUG 6): SLC fixed the broken gate this morning! Full water should be running for the affected districts by this afternoon. Thanks SLC!
8/21/25
Good morning,
I have noticed a large amount of yard waist in the canal water. I’m in District 5. Why are there street, storm drains connected with the irrigation water? Just something I’d like to pass along. So all that debris gets pumped into the garden,lawn etc. Growing weeds. Plugged filters. Please help.
Hi Bud. Sorry we didn’t see your comment earlier! No one regularly checks website comments. I agree that we get plenty of debris through our canals and I wish people would do better at keeping litter off streets. The canals and irrigation have been integrated since early times (90+ years). While Millcreek has put some effort into separating them when they do road and storm drain improvements, there are thousands of feet pipe that would need upgraded and moved to fully separate our irrigation from storm. We certainly don’t have a budget to do that. We just have to do our best to encourage our neighbors to be thoughtful and help keep our waterways clean. Thanks for your concern and let us know if you have any ideas that could help mitigate the amount of debris.