Brought this over from the Salt Lake thread, where they were posting prolifically about it. Reading some of the posts it would almost seem as if many are unaware of the major ongoing cleanup of the carp, which are the major historical issue. That cleanup is beginning to show some excellent results now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RC14
I have mixed feelings about this project... I also like the ambition of this project although, I agree it makes it very unrealistic.
However, I don't want the lake to become criss crossed with causways like the Great Salt Lake. I think the island being proposed looks much too large. I would prefer most of the lake remain natural as it was before it became polluted.
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I agree RC14. Criss crossing the lake with causeways would be a big and visually ugly mistake. As the population of the Wasatch Front grows the Lake will become an extremely valuable recreation resource. Also, the shoreline value will only continue to climb into the stratosphere. They don't need to stick an island in the middle of the Lake in order to fund its continuing clean up. A lot of progress is already being made to resolve its major reasons for decline this past century. As everyone knows the major issue has been the carp population. Carp have destroyed the natural lake bottom vegetation and habitat. Here's a link to one of the more recent 2017 articles about the ongoing effort and success in removing the carp issue.
Regarding algae blooms, which is the other major issue. Algae blooms are a nation wide problem. It would seem the major culprit is a result of the waste water treatment plants release into the lake of treated waste water. The good news is a lot of heads are involved on a national level to resolve the problem.
After many years, Utah Lake's carp removal project starting to see some desired results
Katie England, Daily Herald - http://www.heraldextra.com/news/loca...23385f3af.html
...Vegetation monitoring has been a part of the project all along, and for years none of the desired type of plants were found. “That all changed last spring when we went out and started to find some of these submerged vegetation beds out in the lake,” Mills said...
...More than 25 million pounds of removed carp and $4.9 million later, biologists are already beginning to see some of those desired results — including the return of vegetation crucial to the June suckers’ continued survival.
The original goal was to remove 5 million pounds of carp each year in order to reduce the population enough for the vegetation to come back, said Mike Mills, coordinator for the June sucker recovery program. Though the 5 million per year goal has never quite been reached, the density of the carp population in the lake has dropped drastically...
...Carp are responsible for that lack of habitat because of the way they feed off the bottom of the lake. They tear up the bottom as they feed, destroying the underwater plant life, like pond weed and duck weed that provide refuge habitat for young June suckers...
...Vegetation monitoring has been a part of the project all along, and for years none of the desired type of plants were found. “That all changed last spring when we went out and started to find some of these submerged vegetation beds out in the lake,” Mills said...
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