Utah Lake has struggled with its reputation, but maybe it deserves another look

Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes

SALT LAKE CITY — This week is Climate Week, and for Utah Lake there is a lot to be celebrated. The informal party attitude is the result of dedication, a combination of agencies — both volunteer, state and local entities — working to right the wrong that was imposed on the lake when settlers arrived in Utah to a place they called home.

Unfortunately, "home" was not treated well, and it happened at a time when knowledge of ecology and the effects of environmental degradation were consequences only revealed over a century and with hindsight.

"It takes a lot of work to get where we are; we can't turn the clock back," said Luke Peterson, executive director of the Utah Lake Authority. "We can't just rewind and go back to where it was before humans arrived here, because we're here, and we will continue to affect the lake — but we can get it to a new healthy state, a new healthy equilibrium between humans and the native species of the lake. So that's really what we're aiming for. "

Utah Lake was once a repository for raw sewage. Non-native carp were introduced to the lake, and they are an invasive species that outcompetes other fish for food. Common carp can grow to 47 inches long and are also believed to reduce water quality.

The population of native June sucker has been decimated over the the last century or more, a consequence of predation.

The June sucker was reduced to a mere 300 fish, and it landed on the federal government's list of endangered species — and while it came with a slew of restrictions, it also came with money to bolster its recovery.

In 2019, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — which has oversight of the endangered species listings — proposed downgrading the June sucker from endangered to threatened.

Peterson said it was an amazing achievement when the downgrade happened, but it meant success. The fish population now stands at 30,000.

Peterson said it was a major milestone.

"The recovery of the June sucker, the reduction in the carp and phragmites — those are really good indicators that we're turning the corner on that, that effort that's been going on for 50 years now," he said.

Phragmites have been reduced by 70% — another hard, thankless task to remove an invasive reed that sucks water like it has been deprived for weeks and then takes over native vegetation.

Efforts to decimate those nasty, hard-to-get-rid of plants have now been replaced with the reintroduction of native plants to give them plenty of room to take root, expand and provide a habitat of utility for wildlife and waterfowl. Plantings are going on for much of this week.

That phragmites removal has been an ongoing battle at Utah Lake, along the shores of the Great Salt Lake and at wildlife management areas managed by the state. The reeds are stubborn and expensive to eradicate.

Utah Lake has powerful connections

The improvements at Utah Lake, Peterson said, are slowly starting to take hold and have their own beneficial purpose — a makeover of sorts where Utah Lake can be returned to its natural state as much as possible.

For example, algal blooms — two words frequently associated with the shallow lake — have been a seemingly unconquerable enemy. However, since 2016, there has been a 50% decrease in their occurrence, which is important beyond Utah County — for the Salt Lake Valley and the Great Salt Lake.

Jordan River runs 51 miles from Utah Lake in the south to the Great Salt Lake in the north. In a great sense, it is canary that sings a song about the health of not only the urbanized river but the struggling Great Salt Lake.

Peterson said this week the successes are being celebrated, but by no means is the work done.

This is where the even harder, more tasking work awaits.

"In some ways, it's easier to sustain, but at the same time, getting over that last hump, getting to the next healthy state, it's going to take a lot more energy," Peterson said. "It's going to take a lot more human work to get over that last little hurdle."

As an example, the carp population is on the receiving end of some sophisticated technology specifically targeting them for removal.

"So we used to get rid of carp with big commercial fishing techniques, just dragging a net and coming up with boatloads, but that is not as effective anymore," he said.

What they are doing now looks like some science-fiction, futuristic tool — which is more expensive, of course.

"It's a trap with a net and bait in it, and a sensor will tell us when enough carp are over the net, and then it will scoop them up and send a message to us so that we can send a boat out and retrieve it. It's pretty neat," he added.

The authority is also working with Utah Valley University to create a nature center which will serve as "hub" for all research related to the work and lake.

"It's a real interesting time, right? Things could turn dramatically for the better, or we do have the concern that things could roll back downhill and erase a lot of the progress really quickly," he said.

And for all the people invested with decades of work, the survival of the June sucker and shores losing the invasive reed — going back, becoming that vision in the rearview mirror — is not an option.

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UtahEnvironmentUtah CountyOutdoors

Amy Joi O'Donoghue

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Amy Joi O’Donoghue is a reporter for the Utah InDepth team at the Deseret News with decades of expertise in land and environmental issues.