Payson • Peteetneet Creek, which tumbles down Utah’s Payson Canyon, is carrying a lot more than just water this spring. At times, it looks like a roiling mixture of Hershey’s chocolate powder and milk, with woody debris thrown in, according to ecological researcher Ben Abbott.
Much of the watershed drained by Peteetneet Creek burned in last summer’s Bald Mountain Fire. Abbott is exploring how the burn is affecting the quality and quantity of water coming off Utah County’s stretch of the Wasatch Mountains, which is still under a deep snowpack that contains about 40 percent more water than the long-term average.