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OREM — Utah Rep. John Curtis is the eternal optimist when it comes to Utah Lake. The congressman sees a glass that is half full and a lake that is actually well on its way to bringing beauty and economic development to the state.
"I get what this lake is and what it can be," he told participants at the Utah Lake Symposium held Monday at Utah Valley University in Orem and coordinated by the Utah Lake Authority and its research partners.
"We need to put together a vision that resonates with people."
Luke Peterson, executive director of the Utah Lake Authority, can point to the success stories that have happened over the last 50 years.
The most recent conquests include reducing the land cover of phragmites by 70% and getting the June sucker fish downlisted from "endangered" to "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act overseen by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Carp, which at one point overwhelmed the lake, have been significantly reduced to where scientists, biologists and other caretakers of the lake are having to devise new, more sophisticated ways to trap them and dispose of them.
Peterson said both of those were huge milestones. He says if you were to envision a mountain, lake restoration efforts are nearing the peak, but the steps have become more precarious and complex because it is the little things that can trip you up, such as complacency.
"If you think about it, we've been rolling a ball uphill for so long, and we're trying to get it up over the top to where there's maybe a level ground up here, and we put a lot of progress in, a lot of energy into getting it that high," Peterson said. "But it takes a minute of doing nothing for it to roll back down. So we're trying to get over that hill and get it to that stable place. It's tricky and it requires increasingly sophisticated and innovative tools."
Curtis noted that the Great Salt Lake, which reached historic lows in November of 2022, has garnered national media and research attention, which is a good thing.
"Wouldn't it be nice to have that same sort of attention on Utah Lake?"
The two systems are connected, with Utah Lake feeding the Jordan River which in turn delivers water to the Great Salt Lake. Utah Lake, at 24 miles long and occupying an area of 150 square miles, is operated as a water storage reservoir for the benefit of Utah and Salt Lake county residents.
The fight against phragmites has been focused on replacing native plants once the noxious reed-like plants have been removed.
Addy Valdez, a conservation biologist with the Utah Lake Authority, showcased for guests a greenhouse on Utah Valley University's campus where native grasses, forbs, sedges and bulrushes, all pollinators grown that are part of an aggressive pollination plant campaign run by the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food.
The plants serve multiple purposes by helping to keep the phragmites at bay, serving as food for increasingly challenged pollinators such as bees and being easy on the eye with colorful blooms, such as the evening primrose.
Beyond that, Valdez said, the plants build a connection to Utah Lake with the volunteers who come out to slosh in the mud to give the plants a new home in the ground.
"They're just like little babies, we're helping them to grow, be strong."
A crowning achievement for Utah Lake supporters would be the construction of a nature center next to the Lindon harbor.
Curtis has already secured $5 million in funding for the center, and proponents are hoping for another $15 million in one-time funding from the state Legislature to get the project underway by this fall. Another $2.3 million is being requested in ongoing funding from lawmakers.
Peterson said there is strong support from Utah county lawmakers, former Gov. Gary Herbert, local mayors and Curtis for the center. It would serve as a gateway of sorts, or an identifying symbol for the lake itself, since it has 28 separate access points.
He said Lindon's involvement, as well as the involvement of Utah Valley University, the authority and the congressman, speaks to what he believes will be the selling point for the funding.
"It speaks to the fact that there is a real need, a real commitment."
