CITY CREEK: SALT LAKE CITY’S FIRST WATER SUPPLY By LeRoy W. Hooton, Jr.

AI Summary

This historical document describes City Creek as Salt Lake City's original water supply since 1847, when Mormon pioneers led by Brigham Young settled the region. City Creek Canyon drains 19.2 square miles of watershed into a 14.5-mile-long stream that provided both irrigation and domestic water to early settlers who transformed the arid valley through agricultural irrigation. The document, originally authored in May 1975 by LeRoy W. Hooton Jr., Director of the Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities, traces how City Creek's water enabled settlement survival despite initial skepticism about the valley's agricultural viability, with the creek continuing today to supply water by gravity flow to the Avenues, Ensign Downs, and downtown areas.