Jordan River (Utah)

Jordan River Proveau's Fork, West Jordan River
Dam at Jordan River Narrows in 1901
Map of the Jordan Subbasin and the location of Salt Lake County in Utah (inset)
Etymology	Named after the Jordan River
Location
Country	United States
State	Utah
Counties	Utah, Salt Lake
Physical characteristics
Source	Utah Lake
• location	Utah County, Utah
• coordinates	40°21′34″N 111°53′40″W / 40.35944°N 111.89444°W / 40.35944; -111.89444[1]
• elevation	4,489 ft (1,368 m)(compromise level)[2]
Mouth	Great Salt Lake
• location	Davis County, Utah
• coordinates	40°53′52″N 111°58′25″W / 40.89778°N 111.97361°W / 40.89778; -111.97361[1]
• elevation	4,200 ft (1,300 m)(historical average)[3]
Length	51.4 mi (82.7 km)[4]
Basin size	791 sq mi (2,050 km2)[5]
Discharge
• location	mouth
• average	524 cu ft/s (14.8 m3/s)

The Jordan River is a 51.4-mile-long (82.7 km) river in the U.S. state of Utah. Regulated by pumps at its headwaters at Utah Lake, it flows northward through the Salt Lake Valley and empties into the Great Salt Lake. Four of Utah's six largest cities border the river: Salt Lake City, West Valley City, West Jordan, and Sandy. More than a million people live in the Jordan Subbasin, part of the Jordan River watershed that lies within Salt Lake and Utah counties. During the Pleistocene, the area was part of Lake Bonneville.

Members of the Desert Archaic Culture were the earliest known inhabitants of the region; an archaeological site found along the river dates back 3,000 years. Mormon pioneers led by Brigham Young were the first European American settlers, arriving in July 1847 and establishing farms and settlements along the river and its tributaries. The growing population, needing water for drinking, irrigation, and industrial use in an arid climate, dug ditches and canals, built dams, and installed pumps to create a highly regulated river.

Although the Jordan was originally a cold-water fishery with 13 native species, including Bonneville cutthroat trout, it has become a warm-water fishery where the common carp is most abundant. It was heavily polluted for many years by raw sewage, agricultural runoff, and mining wastes. In the 1960s, sewage treatment removed many pollutants. In the 21st century, pollution is further limited by the Clean Water Act, and, in some cases, the Superfund program. Once the home of bighorn sheep and beaver, the contemporary river is frequented by raccoons, red foxes, and domestic pets. It is an important avian resource, as are the Great Salt Lake and Utah Lake, visited by more than 200 bird species.

Big Cottonwood, Little Cottonwood, Red Butte, Mill, Parley's, and City creeks, as well as smaller streams like Willow Creek at Draper, Utah, flow through the sub-basin. The Jordan River Parkway along the river includes natural areas, botanical gardens, golf courses, and a 40-mile (64 km) bicycle and pedestrian trail, completed in 2017.^[6]