By Justin Adams | [email protected]

Blackridge Reservoir is a favorite recreation destination for many in and outside of Herriman, but it’s also long been a source of headaches for Herriman staff and the neighborhood that surrounds it. With the reservoir reaching its pre-COVID popularity once again, the Herriman City Council has resumed discussions of possible solutions.

“The popularity is coming back, and what we’re seeing is that people are not very nice to our staff up there. They’re parking all over the place - even parking on medians in the lot and refusing to move their cars. We have parking issues in the neighborhood again, even though there is a permit program,” said Wendy Thomas, assistant city manager, during a recent city council meeting.

“These issues are not new. We’re just back to the pre-COVID problems,” added Deputy Police Chief Cody Stromberg. “Our community services officers have been up there pretty much every weekend since the beginning of summer and conducted proactive parking enforcement. In addition, we’ve received numerous complaints from the neighborhood.”

However, the police department can’t monitor the area 24/7, as that would pull them away from more serious calls throughout the city. So instead, much of the enforcement for the area is handled by seasonal parks and recreation employees, many of whom are teenagers who don’t garner the same amount of respect from visitors as an officer in uniform.

“It’s not a fun job. You’re basically doing garbage all day and telling people not to do stuff,” Thomas said.

Unsurprisingly, keeping those positions staffed has proven difficult for the city.

So what are some possible solutions? The city could completely cut off access to the water, allowing it to continue functioning as a secondary water source but no longer as a recreation facility. They could keep access to the water, but limit recreation to things like kayaks and paddleboards, similar to Daybreak Lake. They could start charging fees for entrance to decrease demand, either to all visitors or just to visitors who aren’t Herriman residents. They could even restrict the reservoir so that it would only be accessible to Herriman residents—the taxpayers that pay for it. 

The challenge for the city is that each solution could create its own new set of problems, or unintentionally exacerbate existing ones.

Take entrance fees for example.

“If there’s a $5 day-use charge, I think people are just more likely to try to find a place to park in the neighborhood,” said Councilman Steven Shields, who represents the district in which the reservoir is located.

Adding new regulations to the area would also require additional resources for enforcement. If the city limited the reservoir to only Herriman residents, for example, the city would have to pay to have someone stay at the gate and verify the ID’s of potential visitors.

The parking lot also serves a popular trailhead, so any change that impacts parking for the reservoir will also impact those who are just looking to go hiking or mountain biking.

Even solutions the city has already implemented, such as a parking permit system for the surrounding neighborhood, have had unintended consequences. Residents who have invited family and friends to their homes for barbecues or birthday parties have had their guests’ vehicles ticketed, since officers can’t tell whether a car parked at a home near the reservoir is parked “legitimately.” (The city has made a change so that residents can request a number of single-day permits to use when they host parties at their homes.)

The one solution which the council seemed most interested in was adding to the parking lot. The engineering department did a study five years ago and estimated they could add 35 additional parking spaces for about $7,000. Of course, with construction prices exploding in recent years, that figure would be much higher today. To find out exactly how much higher, the council asked city administration to look into getting an updated estimate before the discussion continues at a future city council meeting.