Mythbusting my childhood dreams

How is this the first time I’ve been to Utah Lake? This was the only thought in my mind the first time I went out on an inflatable kayak last November. Even in the beginning of a gray winter, there was enough light to stare entranced at birds I had never seen before. On what would have been a dreary day, the lake still sparkled a bit through shadows; the mountains and the mist were as picturesque as any postcard. The thought, “How is this the first time? What have I been doing? Look at what I’ve been missing!” got louder and louder throughout the evening until I could unload my amazement onto my roommate later that night. All my life the lake has loomed as a toxic, algae-filled cesspool. When I saw the lake as a kid, shining in the distance as my family went on car picnics, it didn't make any sense. In my childhood mind, that beautiful water couldn't be the green slime I heard everyone talk about. Why would my family go to Utah Lake if all we had to rely on were tales of how awful it was? We never went, and I never thought to verify.

As the controversy surrounding Utah Lake's future (islands or no islands)has loomed large lately, it's become clear that I was not the only one to grow up thinking the worst about Utah Lake. Our own misconceptions about the lake are what allow promises of the lake of our dreams to blind us. If all we see is a problem, we will dredge, build and destroy for a foolish expectation of clear water. Lake Restoration Solutions has promised their islands will restore the lake for us, while anyone who grew up as I did has probably ignored Utah Lake and its unique qualities. Instead of appreciating its bird migrations or recreation, we only remember that it's murky, that it's shallow, and that it's toxic.

 In reality, the murk is helpful, the shallow depth integral, and the toxic algal blooms are fewer and less severe than we realize. Not only that, but due to the tireless work of scientists and citizens that love the lake, Utah Lake has improved greatly in the past 35 years.

Utah Lake is one of several lakes formed from the ancient Lake Bonneville. It is a sister lake to the Great Salt Lake and Sevier Lake, the shallow sister. She’s murky, with plenty of wind-driven waves. This murkiness, or turbidity, is part of why the idea of it being a polluted mess sticks so well in our brains. 

The first time a friend of mine went to the lake, she was sure it would be smelly. She got there, and though she couldn't see the bottom of the lake, there wasn't a smell. Her not being able to see the bottom isn’t a new development for the lake, it has never been clear. All that sediment is from our limestone cave mountains dissolving and bubbling up through underground springs and turning back into silt. That same silt traps excess nutrients, cleans toxins, keeps our milky lake clean and beautiful. My friend who was surprised by a lack of smell was also surprised by the amount of human trash but ended up coming back to clean it up. Being on the lake put her on a path towards environmentalism and gave her a place to go to find peace when stressed.

Another one of my friends had a boat growing up. She and her family would go out on Utah Lake in the summer and have a blast getting sunburnt, but what she remembers most vividly is jumping off the boat one day and getting stuck in the mud. The lake had to be pretty shallow for her to get her 10-year-old feet lodged in the water. This shallowness has certainly caused a lot of people frustration over the years, especially in years of drought. One of Lake Restoration Solutions promises is to make the lake deeper, making it easier for boats and reducing evaporation. Unfortunately, if we dredge up that mud my friend got stuck in, we're going to be stuck with a lot more problems.

That mud is a home for microorganisms that clean the lake, and they can't live any deeper. Dredging would make the lake too deep for oxygen to reach the bottom, meaning fish would die, and cleaning organisms would never come back. If we make the lake deeper and reduce evaporation, we can also say goodbye to having good snowpack in years to come. Our shallow lake allows clouds to build, evaporating like water on a plate instead of in a cup. Then, those clouds dump water on our mountains as snow. If you have skied at Sundance or watered your lawn in August, you have Utah Lake to thank in part. In these years of drought, we can all come together to use water efficiently and keep the lake as high as we can. However, if we deepen it with a dredge, we'll lose the clean water, ecosystems and the weather created by our shallow lake.

Of course, the elephant in the room is algae. For those of you who have had smelly experiences at the lake, algal blooms are a possible source of that stink. Some of them are toxic, but the whole story is more complicated (and hopeful) than it seems. Not all algae create toxins, in fact, the "algae" we worry about is actually a bacteria. Cyanobacteria have the potential to release toxins like microcystin, which harms your liver. However, for this to happen, you basically have to eat it. From what I heard as a kid, it seemed like Utah Lake was always green with the stuff. The reality is that blooms are becoming less frequent. In fact, Utah Lake got rated on the lowest tier for algal bloom severity and persistence in a nationwide satellite study, making it cleaner than a lot of other bodies of water in Utah. 

Frustratingly, blooms on a lake this big tend to have isolated hot spots, and those hot spots are often near water treatment outlets and marinas, right where people are there to see them and interact with them. Since blooms happen most where people are, it makes sense that the lake seems to always be toxic. Well, there's still more good news. First of all, algal bloom warnings don't mean the water is instantly fatal. If a regular “warning” level is issued for your favorite dock, that warning is most helpful for those who have had sensitive skin reactions. Folks like my roommate with eczema, or those with dogs and kids who would drink the water should take a drive to another spot on the lake. Otherwise, as long as you don't ingest the algae you're fine to kayak or swim however you like. If you google the lake and there is a proper “danger” warning, for Provo Bay, for example, that bay would close for everyone. Don’t give up on getting out on the water though, you can drive to another part of the lake and the water quality will be perfect, and you shouldn’t have to go far. Large murky lakes like ours allow most of the lake to stay clean, even when fighting an algal bloom. The silt prevents sunlight from blooming algae all the way across our huge and diverse lake. Algal blooms become less frightening when we realize we can outdrive the smell, and there’s so much being done to make them even less frequent. Utah Lake isn’t green with toxicity, she's resilient and getting better. 

Utah Lake’s true story isn’t one of a lake of toxic sludge that no one cares for. So many people care. Water treatment plants are updating their practices as they serve us every day to improve both long-term lake health and treat short-term algal blooms. The restoration of the Hobble Creek Delta has brought back the June Sucker, my favorite kiss-faced fish. The June sucker is no longer endangered, though still threatened. Overwhelming carp populations have been reduced by 75%. There are more walking/biking trails than ever, taking you through wetlands and right up to the shores.

 I went out on Utah Lake for the first time last year on an inflatable kayak with a friend. Finally, I could touch the unique, silty water I had seen gleam from afar my whole life. Finally, I saw diving birds, and hawks, and gorgeous views I never realized were within my reach. We can’t sacrifice this in exchange for islands promising a lake that never existed. They will only deliver expensive harm. Instead, let's visit it. Let's change the stories we tell our neighbors about its waters, and appreciate what is already being done to preserve its future. It’s our unique, milky, shallow, beautiful Utah Lake that makes the valley a home. It's our Utah Lake that invites thought, play, and community. 

For sources and more information, visit this website:

https://pws.byu.edu/utah-lake/about-utah-lake