When Kara Dohrenwend moved to Moab in the early 1990s, she remembers the creek system in town was basically invisible, covered in invasive plant species like tamarisk and Russian olive. With a background in community-driven design and restoration work, Dohrenwend quickly got involved. She’s now worked for over two decades restoring the creek ecosystem. All these years later, it remains fascinating to her. Even after Mill Creek plotted its course through her own home one day this summer. “I have actually joked that Mill Creek really did go out of its way to flood my house. It really did. It went uphill.” Plus, the Great Salt Lake reached record lows this year and Utah lawmakers are scrambling for solutions.

// Show Notes:

// Photo: Kara Dohrenwend, executive director of Rim to Rim Restoration, in Mill Creek. Dohrenwend personally mapped how the creek’s water moved through downtown during the big flood this August.

// If you think there’s someone or somewhere we should profile with an audio portrait, please reach out to [email protected]

// Rim to Rim Restoration

https://revegetation.org.customers.tigertech.net

// Music in Today’s Audio Portrait:

// ‘Tune on Karen Dalton’s Guitar’ by Peter Walker live at WFMU on Irene Trudel’s Show, ‘It Is What It Is’ by Peter Biedermann live at WFMU on Irene Trudel’s Show

// Sounds In Today’s Audio Portrait:

‘THUNDER/Rain low frequencies 4-CHANNEL-48kHz’ by BlueDelta, ‘Elbow River 220530_01’ by Robert.Crosley, ‘Field-recording – Nature – Creek’ by quetzalcontla

// Mountain West News Bureau: To save the drying Great Salt Lake, officials must preserve the largest river that feeds it

https://www.boisestatepublicradio.org/environment/2022-11-21/to-save-the-drying-great-salt-lake-officials-must-preserve-the-largest-river-that-feeds-it