03-26-2010, 02:24 PM
[cool][#0000ff]The Salt Lake Trib had another article on the proposed rerouting of the lower Provo River. Here 'tis for your reading enjoyment. Also, a PDF file of the handout from yesterday's meeting.[/#0000ff]
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Feds seek public input on rerouting river for suckers
[url "mailto:dmeyers@sltrib.com?subject=Salt Lake Tribune: Feds seek public input on rerouting river for suckers"]By Donald W. Meyers
The Salt Lake Tribune
[/url]
Updated: 03/25/2010 05:57:57 PM MDT
Provo » With carp eradication under way, federal officials are looking to the next step to make Utah Lake more hospitable to June suckers.
Mark Holden, projects manager for the federal Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission outlined plans to create a delta at the mouth of the Provo River at Thursday's Utah Lake Commission meeting. The delta would offer warm, shallow water and plants that would serve as a nursery for June sucker larvae.
The June sucker, a fish only found in Utah Lake, is on the endangered species list.
"In order to achieve recovery, the June sucker must be able to reproduce naturally," Holden told the lake commission.
A river delta is a fan of sediment with meandering channels and pools at the mouth of a river. For June suckers, a delta offers a place where larval fish can be sheltered from predators and get food until they are big enough to survive in the lake.
Currently, the Provo River flows to the lake through a diked channel south of Utah Lake State Park. When lake levels rise in the spring, the river can back up a mile in the diked channels, creating deep, cold water. That results in the death of most June sucker larvae, which are either eaten by predators or starve to death, Holden said.
There is no formalized plan for where the new delta will go, but Holden said a likely place is north of Utah Lake State Park and west of 3100 West in Provo,
an area known as "Skipper Bay" that was once part of Utah Lake.
To create the delta, the river would be diverted with dikes to the new area. Dikes that now hold back Utah Lake would be removed.
The project would be similar to the Hobble Creek restoration completed by the June Sucker Recovery Implementation Program and the Utah Transit Authority in Springville. That project restored Hobble Creek's connection to Utah Lake and created a spawning area for June sucker.
The Provo delta project is in its earliest stages, with the mitigation commission seeking public comment. After the comment period closes April 30, planners will start drafting an environmental impact statement, a process that will take 18 months.
The earliest the project could begin is 2013, although Holden said 2015 is more likely.
Provo Mayor John Curtis said he likes the proposal.
"A number of great projects can be fulfilled with this, not only through the impact of the delta, but through the vision of what this area could be."
The delta would lend itself to nature trails and an interpretative center, Holden said.
Curtis would also like to see a recreational beach on Utah Lake.
But Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce President Steve Densley questioned the need for a spawning area for June sucker. He said the state Division of Wildlife Resources' Springville fishery could be used to raise the fish.
Reed Harris, director of the June sucker restorations program, said it is cheaper in the long run to get June sucker to breed naturally in the lake than to raise them on a fish farm. The state is already breeding suckers in hatcheries, but that is only until the fish can breed on their own in the lake.
The state is also working with local commercial fishermen to remove 5 million tons of carp a year to help the June suckers. The carp destroy the vegetation that sucker larvae need for shelter and eat the smaller fish.
Lindon Mayor Jim Dain said restoring the June sucker is vital to saving Utah Lake.
"If the June sucker is healthy, Utah Lake is healthy," Dain said.
[url "mailto:dmeyers@sltrib.com"]dmeyers@sltrib.com[/url]
More online
Read about the Provo River delta project and learn how to submit comments. » moourl.com/ouwra.
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Feds seek public input on rerouting river for suckers
[url "mailto:dmeyers@sltrib.com?subject=Salt Lake Tribune: Feds seek public input on rerouting river for suckers"]By Donald W. Meyers
The Salt Lake Tribune
[/url]
Updated: 03/25/2010 05:57:57 PM MDT
Provo » With carp eradication under way, federal officials are looking to the next step to make Utah Lake more hospitable to June suckers.
Mark Holden, projects manager for the federal Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission outlined plans to create a delta at the mouth of the Provo River at Thursday's Utah Lake Commission meeting. The delta would offer warm, shallow water and plants that would serve as a nursery for June sucker larvae.
The June sucker, a fish only found in Utah Lake, is on the endangered species list.
"In order to achieve recovery, the June sucker must be able to reproduce naturally," Holden told the lake commission.
A river delta is a fan of sediment with meandering channels and pools at the mouth of a river. For June suckers, a delta offers a place where larval fish can be sheltered from predators and get food until they are big enough to survive in the lake.
Currently, the Provo River flows to the lake through a diked channel south of Utah Lake State Park. When lake levels rise in the spring, the river can back up a mile in the diked channels, creating deep, cold water. That results in the death of most June sucker larvae, which are either eaten by predators or starve to death, Holden said.
There is no formalized plan for where the new delta will go, but Holden said a likely place is north of Utah Lake State Park and west of 3100 West in Provo,
an area known as "Skipper Bay" that was once part of Utah Lake.
To create the delta, the river would be diverted with dikes to the new area. Dikes that now hold back Utah Lake would be removed.
The project would be similar to the Hobble Creek restoration completed by the June Sucker Recovery Implementation Program and the Utah Transit Authority in Springville. That project restored Hobble Creek's connection to Utah Lake and created a spawning area for June sucker.
The Provo delta project is in its earliest stages, with the mitigation commission seeking public comment. After the comment period closes April 30, planners will start drafting an environmental impact statement, a process that will take 18 months.
The earliest the project could begin is 2013, although Holden said 2015 is more likely.
Provo Mayor John Curtis said he likes the proposal.
"A number of great projects can be fulfilled with this, not only through the impact of the delta, but through the vision of what this area could be."
The delta would lend itself to nature trails and an interpretative center, Holden said.
Curtis would also like to see a recreational beach on Utah Lake.
But Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce President Steve Densley questioned the need for a spawning area for June sucker. He said the state Division of Wildlife Resources' Springville fishery could be used to raise the fish.
Reed Harris, director of the June sucker restorations program, said it is cheaper in the long run to get June sucker to breed naturally in the lake than to raise them on a fish farm. The state is already breeding suckers in hatcheries, but that is only until the fish can breed on their own in the lake.
The state is also working with local commercial fishermen to remove 5 million tons of carp a year to help the June suckers. The carp destroy the vegetation that sucker larvae need for shelter and eat the smaller fish.
Lindon Mayor Jim Dain said restoring the June sucker is vital to saving Utah Lake.
"If the June sucker is healthy, Utah Lake is healthy," Dain said.
[url "mailto:dmeyers@sltrib.com"]dmeyers@sltrib.com[/url]
More online
Read about the Provo River delta project and learn how to submit comments. » moourl.com/ouwra.
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