The original Blueprint Jordan River completed in 2008 has served as an important guide for numerous projects, programs and partnerships. The formation of the Jordan River Commission was one of those early accomplishments, and the Commission and its many partners have been working for the past decade on implementation of this broad community vision. More information about the original Blueprint can be found below.
Recently, the Jordan River Commission and Salt Lake County received a Transportation and Land Use Connection Grant from the Wasatch Front Regional Council to update the Blueprint Jordan River. The purposes of this update are to both assess and acknowledge significant work that has been completed or is in progress, and confirm and prioritize community goals for the Jordan River Parkway while developing more specific strategies to inform our continued efforts for the coming decade and beyond.
We are working with Envision Utah to lead the community engagement and input, together with a team of professionals across many disciplines who bring specific expertise as we update the Blueprint Jordan River. This vision for the entire Jordan River Parkway is vital to informing the shared stewardship of this natural resource and community amenity, and guiding important decisions, policies and funding for future improvements. Please join us as we chart a course for the next decade!
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This project is made possible by the Transportation and Land Use Connection (TLC) program, through its funding partners. The TLC program provides funding and technical assistance to communities to help them achieve their goals and plan for growth.
Additional funds for the project were provided through generous contributions by:
The original Blueprint Jordan River was the first comprehensive effort to develop a publicly supported vision for the future of the entire Jordan River corridor and an implementation plan to turn the sometimes neglected river corridor into a defining amenity for our region. The Blueprint Jordan River visioning process was completed in December of 2008. This vision was intended to capture the collective imagination of residents and to build an appreciation for the important environmental, ecological, social, and economic roles the river has played and can play in our region. This Blueprint conveys several “Big Ideas” that are possible, and lays out a framework for how those may be implemented over the coming decades.
A critical component to the success of the Blueprint is the long-term implementation of this vision is cooperation. There are over 30 local, regional, state and federal agencies that have specific regulatory authority and other oversight of Jordan River Parkway, as well as hundreds of public and private land owners and managers across the Jordan River corridor. The Blueprint recommends the formation of a “coordinating entity” to ensure river-wide implementation of the vision in a comprehensive, coordinated, and consistent fashion. The Jordan River Commission was established in 2010 in response to this recommendation.
Download the original Blueprint Jordan River
The Blueprint outlines seven guiding principles to direct implementation of these Big Ideas:
All 15 municipalities (at the time, Millcreek was not yet incorporated) and three counties along the river participated in the creation of the Blueprint Jordan River. Salt Lake County was the primary sponsor for the effort, and Envision Utah was the facilitator. Through three rounds of public meetings in 2008, around 3,000 residents and local technical experts developed this vision for the river and its surrounding environment. To date, 17 cities, three counties and the Utah Legislature have passed resolutions supporting the Blueprint principles and participating in its implementation through an Interlocal Cooperation Agreement. See more information regarding this broad regional partnership in the About page.
