Upon entering the Salt Lake Valley, settlers found a meandering wildlife corridor with a fifty mile long ribbon of water at its center. Infused with water from Utah Lake and several mountain streams, the river flowed through the entire Salt Lake Valley before it emptied into the vast wetlands of the Great Salt Lake.
Flora and Fauna
The river is home to many different species of native wildlife including deer, beaver, fox, and many more varieties of mammals, amphibians, reptiles, fish, and birds. Together with the Great Salt Lake and Utah Lake, the Jordan River provides a critical resting area for migratory birds as they travel from Canada to Central America across the Central North American Migratory Bird Flyway. If this habitat is not protected, transcontinental ecosystems will be disrupted.