Cottonwoods Connections

The Metropolitan Water District of Salt Lake & Sandy is committed to providing a reliable supply of quality drinking water to its member cities in a safe manner. This commitment includes the District’s ability to maintain proper access to the aqueduct corridor and related structures, minimize exposure to liability, and maximize the safe delivery of water. The Salt Lake Aqueduct (SLA) was completed in 1951 and will need to be replaced in the future. The District has a long-range maintenance program that includes hazard mitigation such as seismic upgrades, access to the aqueduct corridor, and stewardship of the precious resource of water to allow for continued growth.

Salt Lake City operates a water treatment facility at the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon. This plant provides water for more than 380,000 users annually. This treatment plant is aging and will require replacement. With future construction in mind, the District is undertaking a construction project to place a new pipeline that parallels the SLA between the Big Cottonwood Water Treatment Plant (BCWTP) at the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon and the Little Cottonwood Water Treatment Plant (LCWTP) in Cottonwood Heights. This new pipe will allow the water normally treated at the BCWTP to be treated at the LCWTP during reconstruction. This will help save approximately 24,000 acre feet of water, or enough water for 110,000 people annually.