2nd Annual
Urban Watershed Workshop

Practitioners lead a field trip to showcase restoration practices at the 2025 Lower Weber Urban Watershed Workshop. Photo by Janice Gardner.

Monday, April 13, 2026
8am—4pm

Join us for a morning of presentations followed by catered lunch and field trips!

We are bringing together watershed planners, resource managers, and local experts to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the Lower Weber and other urban watersheds in our region.

Participants can expect to learn about planning considerations for disaster resilience, restoration planning, and opportunities for water optimization and low-impact development.

Participants attend the keynote presentation at the 2025 Lower Weber Urban Watershed Workshop. Photo by Janice Gardner.

 

Keynote speaker, Laura Vernon, will provide an update on the Great Salt Lake Basin Integrated Plan, with an interactive opportunity for community input. Attendees are encouraged to bring a laptop to engage in the interactive portion of this session.

When: Monday, April 13, 2026, 8am—4pm
Where: Weber State University, Davis Campus (Stewart Center Ballroom, 1st floor)

Agenda Overview
8am-9am: Coffee, breakfast & networking
9am-12pm: Presentations

  • 9am, Keynote: Great Salt Lake Basin Integrated Plan: What matters to you? Laura Vernon, Utah Department of Natural Resources, Division of Water Resources

  • 10am: Supporting the Great Salt Lake: M&I Water Conservation Opportunities and Benefits of Low Impact Development. Easton Hopkins, Hansen Allen & Luce 

  • 10:30am: Building capacity for disaster resilience in our communities. Dr. Divya Chandrasekhar, University of Utah Department of City & Metropolitan Planning

  • 11am: River restoration case study in Ogden. Phil Suiter, Ogden City Engineering Department

  • 11:30am: Low-impact Development local case studies. Tanon Mathews, City of Washington Terrace

12pm-1pm: Locally-catered lunch
1pm- 4pm: Field Trips & Meetings

  • Option 1: Pre-restoration site visit to Howard Slough with Emily Bishop and Christine Osborne

  • Option 2: Wetland restoration site visit to Freeport Drain wetlands at The Nature Conservancy's Great Salt Lake Shorelands Preserve with Mike Kolendrianos and Chris Brown

  • Option 3: Weber Watershed Council Meeting at the Stewart Center, open to the public.

 

Feel free to reach out with any questions to Rose Smith (rose@sagelandcollaborative.org), Christine Osborne (cosborne@utah.gov), or Emily Bishop-Valles (ebishop@utah.gov).