Homeowners Push To Preserve Cold Water Creek As Development Moves In

NORTH OGDEN, Utah — A Utah man is working to protect and preserve a cold water creek as developments move in around the area of Washington Boulevard and 1700 North in North Ogden.

Spencer Alexander’s home and neighborhood were some of the earlier parts of that development before the land behind the old Country Boy Dairy was sold, and he said there were two main draws to his particular plat.

“The appeal was both the mountains in that area, the geography, and for me, it was the possibility that there’s this waterway, that may have some fish in it,” Alexander said.

After moving in, he was pleasantly surprised, as he was, in at least some small part, living the fisherman’s dream.

“All my fish; they’re so important to me, I put them back you know,” Alexander said. “I was really torn about how public I would make it because, for a long time, I was catching these really nice fish. And when you tell people, as a fisherman, you show pictures of the fish, you don’t tell where you get them from.”

However, he decided he would need to share the secret to better preserve it. Alexander, along with some other nearby homeowners, sought the advice of Trout Unlimited’s Water & Habitat Program Biologist Paul Burnett.

“I actually didn’t even realize this stream existed,” Burnett said, explaining that coldwater streams like this are fairly unique. “You get down on the valley bottom, and there aren’t very many of these coldwater streams left. Most of them have already been covered and put in pipes.”

Burnett started offering advice to the community and the city of North Ogden. He told KSL of a couple of initial changes that should ideally be made, including clearing weeds from a trail that runs alongside the creek and redirecting a stormwater drain that currently puts water from the street directly into the stream.

“Just having the information for these community members, I think is really important for them to be able to make good decisions now on what they could do with the stream,” Burnett said.

Alexander said people in the community are already showing a lot of support in wanting to help with cleanup efforts. The bigger challenge, he said, will be in getting help from the city and developers.

“There’s really nothing protecting this waterway,” Alexander said. “Honestly they could pipe it if they want, which has already happened in a number of areas. I had to go public with it. I had to start talking about it. I had to get people involved.”