Officials: 'Fecal time bomb' threatens Utah backcountry

COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS, Utah (AP) — Forest rangers and residents are worried that an increase of visitors to Salt Lake County’s backcountry is resulting in more human feces in watershed streams amid E. coli fears.

KSL-TV reported that Central Wasatch Commission officials are questioning if visitation to the Wasatch canyons has reached a tipping point as more people venture out to the canyons for recreation.

Save Our Big Cottonwood Creek creator Evan Johnson said visitors have come into the canyon and relieved themselves near Big Cottonwood Creek. He said that has caused E. coli counts to rise in recent years and warns the canyon is a “fecal time bomb” as more people visit this summer.

“There are no bathroom facilities,” Johnson said. “There’s so much that the creek water is contaminated.”

Read more: https://www.jhnewsandguide.com/jackson_hole_daily/state_and_regional/officials-fecal-time-bomb-threatens-utah-backcountry/article_817100f9-c2bd-56a5-99de-f68da5c3fda0.html
(Jackson Hole News and Guide)