07-23-2016, 06:37 PM
[#0000FF]Willard and the level of Salt Lake have nothing to do with the current state of Utah Lake. The problem lies upstream of Utah Lake...not downstream.
Before Jordanelle was opened in the early 1990s, Deer Creek filled and spilled almost every year...even in some fairly low snowfall years. And Utah Lake was always full in the spring and only a few feet down even after the driest summers.
In a "normal" year, there is enough water to fill both Deer Creek and Jordanelle, with enough left over to maintain Utah Lake at a reasonable level. The past three or four years, Utah Lake has kept getting lower and lower...as has Jordanelle. This year the water wizards elected to fill Jordanelle and let Utah Lake fend for itself. So right now Jordanelle is the highest it has been in 4 years and Utah Lake is at a historic low level. The water in Jordanelle would go a long way toward solving the Utah Lake problem.
Utah Lake is shallow in the best of times. And it gets increasing large amounts of "runoff" and waste water from the growning population of Utah Valley. But it is normally flushed out each year by large volumes of fresh water from the annual snowpack. So the lake has still managed to hang in there in spite of all the abuse.
This year it started out lower than it was last fall. And only a small amount of runoff was allowed to run downhill into the lake. But even before the lake could show any kind of a rise they opened the gates at the Jordan River and water began pouring out much faster than it was allowed to come in. Instead of a good annual flushing and a rapid rise in water levels it was in drain mode before it ever rose at all.
The waste water (treated or not) kept pouring in and the excessive amounts of phosphates, nitrates and other nutrients kept building to feed the algae. The proportions of nutrients to fresh water got to be vastly greater than the lake had ever experienced before. Add some high summer heat and ALGAE BLOOM.
Sadly, the solution at this point is not merely to pour more fresh water into the lake. The time for that was in April and May. And Jordanelle is not likely to give up precious water needed by the recreationists who are paying for the new aquatic park.
What is the solution? From past experience with smaller bodies of water and community lake maintenance I would think chemistry. There are algaecides that can halt and knock out heavy algae blooms. Two problems...cost and ecological hazards. Some of that stuff can kill fish (Junies), and it is expensive. Neither factor is likely to be popular with the powers that be.
I am definitely interested in what is to be discussed at the meeting. Likely to need my box of Kleenex. I cry at funerals for old friends.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]
Before Jordanelle was opened in the early 1990s, Deer Creek filled and spilled almost every year...even in some fairly low snowfall years. And Utah Lake was always full in the spring and only a few feet down even after the driest summers.
In a "normal" year, there is enough water to fill both Deer Creek and Jordanelle, with enough left over to maintain Utah Lake at a reasonable level. The past three or four years, Utah Lake has kept getting lower and lower...as has Jordanelle. This year the water wizards elected to fill Jordanelle and let Utah Lake fend for itself. So right now Jordanelle is the highest it has been in 4 years and Utah Lake is at a historic low level. The water in Jordanelle would go a long way toward solving the Utah Lake problem.
Utah Lake is shallow in the best of times. And it gets increasing large amounts of "runoff" and waste water from the growning population of Utah Valley. But it is normally flushed out each year by large volumes of fresh water from the annual snowpack. So the lake has still managed to hang in there in spite of all the abuse.
This year it started out lower than it was last fall. And only a small amount of runoff was allowed to run downhill into the lake. But even before the lake could show any kind of a rise they opened the gates at the Jordan River and water began pouring out much faster than it was allowed to come in. Instead of a good annual flushing and a rapid rise in water levels it was in drain mode before it ever rose at all.
The waste water (treated or not) kept pouring in and the excessive amounts of phosphates, nitrates and other nutrients kept building to feed the algae. The proportions of nutrients to fresh water got to be vastly greater than the lake had ever experienced before. Add some high summer heat and ALGAE BLOOM.
Sadly, the solution at this point is not merely to pour more fresh water into the lake. The time for that was in April and May. And Jordanelle is not likely to give up precious water needed by the recreationists who are paying for the new aquatic park.
What is the solution? From past experience with smaller bodies of water and community lake maintenance I would think chemistry. There are algaecides that can halt and knock out heavy algae blooms. Two problems...cost and ecological hazards. Some of that stuff can kill fish (Junies), and it is expensive. Neither factor is likely to be popular with the powers that be.
I am definitely interested in what is to be discussed at the meeting. Likely to need my box of Kleenex. I cry at funerals for old friends.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]