About Us
The Emigration Improvement District (EID) was formed in June 1968 by the action of the Salt Lake County Commission for the purpose of providing water and sewer services to residents of Emigration Canyon. The District is directed by an elected three-member board of trustees and a manager to oversee the day-to-day activities. When the District was first established, there was no public water system available and the quality of water being provided through private shallow wells and springs was a major concern for 800 permanent canyon residents. Water quality tests estimated that as high as 40% of the private wells tested resulted in a coliform count that exceeded drinking water standards and the Emigration Creek's coliform count exceeded the limit established for useable water within the state.
Today, the District has a public water system that spans nearly 70% of the Canyon, which provides quality water to approximately 300 residents and an alternative water source for many others. The District's water system comprises two reservoir tanks total of 1.3 million gallons in capacity and four deep wells located in the northern part of the Emigration Oaks development, away from the main canyon creek. The District's fire hydrants, along with hydrants provided by Salt Lake City on the lower portion of the canyon to Emigration Place, provide the bulk of fire protection for the canyon residents and are the only systems that meet the current fire flow codes of 1500 GPM for a 2-hour duration to ensure adequate water for fighting fires.
In 1971, the first Board of Trustees comprising of Kenneth Stuhs - Chairman, Irene Sweeney - Vice-Chair, and Orson Goodard - Clerk/Treasurer, presented to the community a master plan to provide a canyon-wide water system and sewer system. It was met with strong opposition by many of the canyon community and was never developed. The cost for the canyon-wide sewer and water system in 1971 would have been about the same as it cost the District to drill the Upper Freeze Creek well in 2013.