Red Butte Creek
Authored by Jess Lofland
The Goshute tribe referred to Red Butte Canyon as mo'ni-wai-ni after a particularly bloody conflict over the area [01]. The name of Red Butte Creek remains unknown. Just one year upon arrival, colonial settlers quarried the red sandstone in the canyon (to which they would change the canyon and creek’s name to reflect).
In 1862, the creek was tapped as a water source for Fort Douglas at the canyon mouth. The United States Army worked to protect the upper watershed. Protections increased when the Forest Service acquired it in 1969, declaring it a Research Natural Area and closing off public access. Upper Red Butte Canyon remains one of the last undisturbed riparian ecosystems in the Salt Lake Valley [02].
Today, Red Butte Creek flows through the University of Utah campus, nearby the Landscape Lab; a green infrastructure research facility studying human impacts on urban natural areas. Downstream, it flows through the Lee Charles Miller Bird Refuge and Nature Park, which touts trails, Civilian Conservation Corps-era masonry works, and 72 bird species [03]. In 2010, 33,600 gallons of oil spilled into the creek from a Chevron pipeline, significantly impacting the park [04]. This prompted restoration of the creek and its flora.
Facts
Native Name: Moni-wai-ni (Red Butte Canyon) [Goshute]
Watershed Size: 11.0 square miles
Total Stream Length: 10.6 miles
Buried: 3.3 miles
Impaired: 3.4 miles
Water Quality Impairments: Degraded aquatic habitat condition (observed-to-expected bioassessments)
Average Peak Flow: 25 cubic feet per second
Average Low Flow: 0.5 cubic feet per second
Cities: Salt Lake City
Population Count (2020): 69,945
Median Age (2020): 32
Diversity Index* (2020): 68
Housing Units (2020): 29,195
Owner-Occupied: 43%
Renter-Occupied: 51%
Median Household Income (2020): $58,726
Median Home Value (2020): $362,112
Housing Affordability Index** (2020): 93
My Red Butte Creek
An interactive website to immerse yourself in the Red Butte Creek watershed, and encourage exploration by reporting issues and publishing stories.
Sources
Chamberlin, Place and Personal Names of the Gosiute Indians of Utah (1913).
Red Butte Canyon Research Natural Area, History (2021).
eBird, Miller Park, Salt Lake County, Utah, US (2021).
Salt Lake Tribune, $30 million Rocky Mountain Power, Chevron lawsuit over Red Butte Creek oil spill settled for confidential amount (2017).
Salt Lake County, Stream Care Guide (2014).
Seven Canyons Trust, Creek Channel Alignment Data (2018).
Seven Canyons Trust, 100 Years of Daylighting (2014).
Utah Division of Water Quality, Beneficial Uses and Water Quality Assessment Map (2016).
Esri, Forecasts for 2020 and 2025 with converted Census 2000 data into 2010 geography using one-mile buffer to creek (2021).
*Likelihood two persons chosen at random belong to different race or ethnic groups, ranging from 0 (no diversity) to 100 (complete diversity).
**Ratio of median household income to median home value. A value of 100 means a typical family has exactly enough income to quality for a mortgage on a typical home. Above 100, the typical family earns more than enough and, below 100, they do not earn enough.
