Latest news with #UtahLakeAuthority
Yahoo
7 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Carp chaos at Utah Lake as carp overpopulation becomes serious problem
UTAH COUNTY, Utah () — Utah Lake Authority is offering a monetary prize of $1,000 to the person who catches the most carp from Utah Lake to try to get carp overpopulation under control. 'When I first started here on the docks, you would look down at the water and you really couldn't see more than a quarter of an inch down,' Melanie Evans, sailing instructor for Bonneville School of Sailing said. For eight years, Melanie Evans has been sailing the lake. 'Every year it's getting a little clearer,' Evans said. She's on the lake nearly five times a week, and she sees the lake clearing up. 'What we're seeing is carp, and we can see a whole body of them which means the water is cleaner, and I think it's because of all the carp removal they're doing,' Evans said. That's exactly what the Utah Lake Authority and its partners have been working towards for over a decade: removing the carp, which are not native to the lake. Homes staying on the market longer across Utah this year Kelly Cannon-O'Day said over the last several years they're eliminated over 60% of the biomass in Utah Lake. 'Carp are a big problem because they make the water quality so poor and they're the ones that make it muddy and rip up the soil and crowd everything out,' O'Day said. O'Day is the communications manager for Utah Lake Authority and said Utah Lake plays a critical role in the state's ecosystem, supplying over a third of the water that flows into the Great Salt Lake. 'It's all part of one big watershed that connects everything, and so when we talk about the water quality of Utah Lake, we're talking about the entire ecosystem here, not just fish, but birds, amphibians, plant life, farming water and drinking water,' O'Day said. She said one of the most effective methods of carp control has been hiring commercial fishermen. 'Their nets were specifically made to catch carp and allow smaller fish to go through,' O'Day said. Nurse burnout is a huge issue in Utah now more than ever before, especially in rural areas She said fishermen were paid by the pound until carp numbers dropped so low that it became too expensive for them to continue. 'Caught so much carp that they weren't catching as much anymore so it became more expensive to run the specialized equipment,' O'Day said. Another high-tech solution they have used is traps with cameras and sensors. 'The traps actually come up and catch the carp and then they send a signal out to folks at DWR for them to come out and collect the fish,' O'Day said. Now a new solution this year. 'We developed the idea of a fishing tournament, a carp hunt, where you come out and remove carp by any legal means necessary,' O'Day said. A $1,000 price to the person who catches the most. 'It's a good thing and it helps the quality of the lake,' Evans said. Carp chaos at Utah Lake as carp overpopulation becomes serious problem Open Streets returns to Salt Lake City every weekend in June Cache Coffee working to spread hope through uplifting video — here's how you can help Two Utah campgrounds included in list of 50 Favorite Places to Camp in America Right Now: Hipcamp Family in Sandy stuck in insurance claim limbo after asbestos contamination Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Yahoo
Utah Lake Authority launches comedic campaign to improve public opinion
For some residents, Utah Lake may bring to mind concerns of harmful algal blooms, invasive carp and murky water. But Utah Lake Authority is hoping to change that perception through their Utah Lake is My Lake campaign to improve public opinion and dispel myths about the state's largest freshwater lake. The lake authority partnered with Harmon Brothers ad agency to create a series of ads and billboards that encourage locals to take advantage of the lake. While many tourists and new residents enjoy Utah Lake, there are still Utah County natives who refuse to use the lake due to a misconception that it is dirty or dangerous, according to Ryan Powell, Harmon Brothers creative director. 'This widespread perception is based on misinformation and facts that are 30 or 40 years out of date. In reality, Utah Lake is a beautiful lake, albeit a little quirky,' said Powell. '(Utah Lake has) undergone incredible restorative work and ... despite the progress, the stigma has stuck. So, we knew a typical awareness campaign wouldn't cut it, and we asked ourselves: Who would be best to fight these outdated ideas and spread the good news? The answer couldn't have been more obvious: the Germans.' The ads feature two German tourists — played by veteran Studio C actors Jason Gray and Whitney Call — who discuss what makes the lake great while making comedic and Utah-specific references. They demonstrate the variety of activities the lake can be used for, like paddleboarding and fishing, while also correcting some of the most common misconceptions about Utah Lake. While harmful algae may be a health concern at certain times of the year, Utah Lake has seen a 50% decrease in algal blooms since 2016. The lake is nutrient-rich and shallow in certain areas, providing ideal conditions for algal blooms to grow, but the blooms are not always harmful. When harmful algae blooms do occur, Utah Lake Recreational Monitoring issues an advisory so lake patrons can avoid illness. Over the last several decades, efforts to remove invasive carp from the lake have resulted in an around 80% decrease in the species' presence. Utah Lake is also home to a native species of fish called the June sucker, which was previously an endangered species. The June sucker is now only classified as a threatened species, marking a massive win for the lake, according to the Utah Lake Authority. Slapstick ads are a small part of Utah Lake is My Lake's yearlong awareness campaign. Utah Lake Authority plans to hold several events to increase community engagement and education about the lake, such as their Great Carp Hunt that includes a grand prize of $10,000. The authority also plans to gather more data on how many visitors the lake receives annually between the 35 access points along the 70-mile perimeter of the lake. Data on visitation will be gathered through eco-counters, a device that emits an infrared beam and counts the number of times a person or car passes through the beam. The first couple eco-counters, placed in August last year, have counted nearly 600,000 patrons so far and highlighted several boat marina access points as the most visited. This data will be used to understand what areas are most frequented and may suffer from overuse if not monitored. 'We want people to recognize that the lake is actually doing really well,' said Luke Peterson, Utah Lake Authority executive director. 'This is an asset that we have treated as a deficit up to this point. So, Utah Lake is My Lake is really focused on helping people to see the value of the lake, taking ownership and recognizing that they have this wonderful resource in their backyard. There is always room for improvement — and Utah Lake has room for improvement — but it is just getting better with each day.' Utah Lake Authority conducted a study to gain insights into the public perception of the lake and found that many felt it was more important to conserve the Great Salt Lake rather than Utah Lake. This becomes problematic, Peterson explained, because many don't understand that one-third of the Great Salt Lake's water runs through Utah Lake, and the larger lake would die without its smaller partner. Additionally, Utah Lake provides several streams of income for the area, made up of hundreds of jobs created by the lake and resulting in millions of dollars in economic activity, according to Peterson. '(Utah Lake Authority has) done tremendous work to get us to where we are, to change the perception in Utah County,' said Utah County Commissioner Skyler Beltran. 'We've invested in this — not only financially, but emotionally and ecologically — because we care. We care, as a commission, that this is a resource that our community can use to recreate. If we can get people to the lake, we can boost our economy; we can boost local business. The opportunities are really endless for this lake.' To help plant more native wildlife along the lake, Utah Lake Authority will host an Earth Day Planting Party on Monday, April 26. The lake authority has been working to remove phragmites — an invasive reed grass— from the area, and wants to replace them with more attractive and productive pollinating plants. The event will be held at 9 a.m. at 282 W. 1600 North in Vineyard. More information and updates on the Utah Lake is My Lake campaign can be found on the Utah Lake Authority's Facebook page.
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
A UVU nature and research center for Utah Lake may get legislative lift
A legislative measure which gives a nod to a new nature and research center affiliated with Utah Valley University and focused on all things Utah Lake passed the House Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment committee earlier this week. SB319 by Sen. Brady Brammer, R-Pleasant Grove, deals with funding for the center, which the Utah Lake Authority wants to see become a reality so residents and visitors can better understand the value of the lake. Luke Peterson, executive director of the Utah Lake Authority, testified last fall before a committee of lawmakers that the lake has been shedding its negative reputation. He emphasized that attitudes are changing over time, especially if a resident overcomes their previous discriminatory attitudes and visits the lake to see the decades of work that has been done to restore it to its best possible state. At the time, he emphasized the lake's interconnectivity to the Great Salt Lake. 'Obviously, we see that people are concerned about Great Salt Lake and we all are and appreciate that. What's behind this data that I think is interesting is how many people we discovered do not realize that Utah Lake provides water to Great Salt Lake. And I find this over and over again, it really startles me,' Peterson said. 'So, helping people to understand that the fate of the two lakes is tied — so if Utah Lake dies, Great Salt Lake dies — is really critical for us as well. So that gave us some information there.' Utah Lake was once a repository for raw sewage. Nonnative 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 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. Six years, federal officials downgraded the June sucker from endangered to threatened, a huge victory and recognition of the work that has gone into its recovery — with a population that stands at 30,000 fish. '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,' Peterson told the Deseret News. Phragmites have been reduced by 70% — another hard, thankless task. Phragmites are an invasive reed that sucks water like it has been desert deprived for weeks and then takes over native vegetation. A crowning achievement for Utah Lake supporters would be the construction of a nature center next to the Lindon harbor. As a representative in Congress, then Rep. John Curtis, R-Utah, secured $5 million in funding for the center. Brammer's bill takes a pool of already allocated funds from the Department of Natural Resources and transfers that $2.1 million to Utah Valley University because the nature and research center will be a campus asset. Proponents were hoping for $15 million in one-time funding from the state Legislature to get the project underway by this fall, but in a year where revenues are tight, that didn't happen. 'Obviously, we'll have to come back next session, and we're also working on fundraising and so forth for the next year,' Peterson said. 'But with that money, plus the money that we got from then Congressman Curtis, we definitely have the money to get plans developed and see how far we can we can get it a long,' Peterson said.
