03-10-2017, 03:26 PM
[#0000FF]I am in the process of rewriting and updating the writeup I did on Fishing Utah Lake. To get more info on the June Sucker program I contacted Mike Mills. I asked several questions, including what observations they had made about how the toxic algae bloom had affected the June Sucker spawning and recruitment.
He sent the following reply, including a copy of the 2016 newsletter that came out a couple of months ago...with updates on several aspects of the program. I was unhappy to see that it appears they are going to get their way in the Provo River Delta thing. But otherwise, some good info.
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We have really been going through a transition period in the agencies associated with the program and that has resulted in several new faces taking part in our work. Reed has of course retired and Jackie accepted a new position with the DWR a year or two ago.
I don't have any recent studies that immediately come to mind to share, we are approaching the time of year when many of the reports related to our studies will be due. The attached newsletter provides an overview of where things have been over the past year. Here are some of our latest accomplishments:
- Completed a stream restoration project on Hobble Creek near 1000 west in Springville. About a mile of stream was restored to increase habitat for spawning June sucker and improve stream function.
- Work is continuing on the Provo River Delta Restoration Project. With the NEPA and other environmental compliance documents completed, we have been moving forward with project design and land acquisition. There is more information available at the project website: [url "http://www.provoriverdelta.us/"]www.provoriverdelta.us[/url]
- Carp removal efforts have continued on the lake and over 24 million pounds of carp have been removed as part of the project. The more interesting part of the project is what has resulted with the carp population remaining in the lake. The density of carp in the lake has decreased (24 carp per acre in 2012 to 12.5 carp per acre in 2016) however the average size of the carp remaining in the lake has increased almost two pounds (fewer individuals has meant less competition for resources) and thus the reduction in carp biomass hasn't been as great. Carp removal efforts are still continuing.
- In early 2016, we started to detect beds of submerged vegetation in the lake, we believe this was a result of carp removal efforts, however declining lake levels have been a significant issue and all the areas where we had detected vegetation were dry by mid summer.
We have been heavily involved with the Division of Water Quality on their work on the algae bloom issue. We never documented a direct effect of the bloom on any of the fish species in the lake. There could have been an effect, but no one has observed or documented it yet. While there were potentially toxic cyanobacteria present on the lake, the tests never recorded any presence of the cyano toxins that can result in fish kills or impacts to human health. That said, there were individuals who reported being ill. In the case of June sucker, we calculate annual survival rates as part of our monitoring efforts and if the algae bloom had an effect we would expect to see a reduction in our survival rates for 2016, but we won't have those calculations completed for several months.
That is a quick snap shot of what the Program has been up to lately...hopefully it is helpful. I may be able to provide some more details on specific items if needed.
[/url]Michael Mills JSRIP Local Coordinator
Central Utah Water Conservancy District
355 West University Parkway
Orem, Utah 84058
801-226-7132
[#0000FF]PS...The print on the PDF file newsletter is tiny. You will have to zoom it to read it. If anyone would like an easier to read version of the pertinent segments, I have made a copy and paste version in page-size for each of those.[/#0000FF]
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He sent the following reply, including a copy of the 2016 newsletter that came out a couple of months ago...with updates on several aspects of the program. I was unhappy to see that it appears they are going to get their way in the Provo River Delta thing. But otherwise, some good info.
[/#0000FF]
We have really been going through a transition period in the agencies associated with the program and that has resulted in several new faces taking part in our work. Reed has of course retired and Jackie accepted a new position with the DWR a year or two ago.
I don't have any recent studies that immediately come to mind to share, we are approaching the time of year when many of the reports related to our studies will be due. The attached newsletter provides an overview of where things have been over the past year. Here are some of our latest accomplishments:
- Completed a stream restoration project on Hobble Creek near 1000 west in Springville. About a mile of stream was restored to increase habitat for spawning June sucker and improve stream function.
- Work is continuing on the Provo River Delta Restoration Project. With the NEPA and other environmental compliance documents completed, we have been moving forward with project design and land acquisition. There is more information available at the project website: [url "http://www.provoriverdelta.us/"]www.provoriverdelta.us[/url]
- Carp removal efforts have continued on the lake and over 24 million pounds of carp have been removed as part of the project. The more interesting part of the project is what has resulted with the carp population remaining in the lake. The density of carp in the lake has decreased (24 carp per acre in 2012 to 12.5 carp per acre in 2016) however the average size of the carp remaining in the lake has increased almost two pounds (fewer individuals has meant less competition for resources) and thus the reduction in carp biomass hasn't been as great. Carp removal efforts are still continuing.
- In early 2016, we started to detect beds of submerged vegetation in the lake, we believe this was a result of carp removal efforts, however declining lake levels have been a significant issue and all the areas where we had detected vegetation were dry by mid summer.
We have been heavily involved with the Division of Water Quality on their work on the algae bloom issue. We never documented a direct effect of the bloom on any of the fish species in the lake. There could have been an effect, but no one has observed or documented it yet. While there were potentially toxic cyanobacteria present on the lake, the tests never recorded any presence of the cyano toxins that can result in fish kills or impacts to human health. That said, there were individuals who reported being ill. In the case of June sucker, we calculate annual survival rates as part of our monitoring efforts and if the algae bloom had an effect we would expect to see a reduction in our survival rates for 2016, but we won't have those calculations completed for several months.
That is a quick snap shot of what the Program has been up to lately...hopefully it is helpful. I may be able to provide some more details on specific items if needed.
[/url]Michael Mills JSRIP Local Coordinator
Central Utah Water Conservancy District
355 West University Parkway
Orem, Utah 84058
801-226-7132
[#0000FF]PS...The print on the PDF file newsletter is tiny. You will have to zoom it to read it. If anyone would like an easier to read version of the pertinent segments, I have made a copy and paste version in page-size for each of those.[/#0000FF]
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