Red Butte Creek

Red Butte Creek
River
Red Butte Creek feeds several water features in Red Butte Garden
Country	United States
State	Utah
Source
- location	Red Butte Canyon, Utah, Salt Lake County, Utah
- elevation	8,000 ft (2,438 m)
- coordinates	40°48′51″N 111°44′51″W / 40.81417°N 111.74750°W / 40.81417; -111.74750
Mouth	Jordan River
- location	Salt Lake City, Utah, Salt Lake County, Utah
- elevation	4,400 ft (1,341 m)
- coordinates	40°44′42″N 111°51′26″W / 40.74500°N 111.85722°W / 40.74500; -111.85722Coordinates: 40°44′42″N 111°51′26″W / 40.74500°N 111.85722°W / 40.74500; -111.85722
Length	15.3 mi (25 km)
Basin	7.25 sq mi (19 km2)
Discharge	for Salt Lake City, Utah
- average	4.7 cu ft/s (0 m3/s)
- max	14.7 cu ft/s (0 m3/s)
- min	2 cu ft/s (0 m3/s)
Little Cottonwood Creek and other Salt Lake County streams

Red Butte Creek is a small stream whose headwaters are found in the northeast part of Salt Lake County, Utah. It flows west through the Red Butte Garden and Arboretum, by the University of Utah, Fort Douglas and flows southwesterly through Salt Lake City’s Liberty Park before forming a confluence with the Jordan River. Consisting of 7.25 sq mi (18.8 km²) of watershed, Red Butte Canyon is the smallest canyon of the seven canyons in eastern Salt Lake County. Its elevation ranges from 5,000 to 8,000 ft (1,500 to 2,400 m) above sea level.

During the early 1850s Red Butte Canyon was considered as a source of red sandstone to construct the LDS Salt Lake Temple. A wooden railroad was considered to transport the sandstone to the temple site, but the idea was abandoned in 1855, when it was decided to construct the Temple with granite located in Little Cottonwood Canyon. A monument constructed along the creek in the city’s Yalecrest neighborhood commemorates Salt Lake’s early pioneers drowning sacks of Mormon crickets in the creek during that era’s notable infestation.

The first major use of Red Butte Creek water was by the United States Army at Fort Douglas, which was established at the mouth of the canyon in 1862. This utilization of water outside the canyon had little effect on the canyon itself, as U.S. Army administrators worked over many years to protect the watershed and water quality. In fact, protection has grown steadily since Fort Douglas was first established and particularly since the canyon was acquired by the U.S. Forest Service in 1969 and declared to be a Research Natural Area. Red Butte Creek was used for irrigation by a few pioneers east of Salt Lake City in the early 1850s. When Fort Douglas was established in 1862, Army personnel initially depended mostly on water from nearby springs. However, by 1875 Army personnel constructed two reservoirs east of Fort Douglas and diverted water from Red Butte Creek to fill them. In response to the recurrent stream pollution problems caused by quarrying activities, the Territory District Court, in 1890, declared that the waters of Red Butte Creek were the sole property of the U.S. Army and under the jurisdiction of Fort Douglas. Also in 1890, the U.S. Congress passed a law to protect the water supply of Fort Douglas. This law prevented any sale of land in the canyon or further watershed development. In 1906 the Army built a dam on Red Butte Creek to supply additional water for Fort Douglas. The present dam was constructed between 1928 and 1930, and the reservoir provided water for Fort Douglas until its closure in 1991.