# Utah Lake Restoration?



## USMARINEhuntinfool (Sep 15, 2007)

So I was talking to some old timers when I was home on leave a while back, got talking about fishing of course like old timers due... Anywho they were telling me that Utah Lake used to be at one point in time many many many years ago a really good cutthroat trout fishing lake... Used to also be very clear and pretty... They said however that over the years all the sediment from irigation and runoff and all that is what has made the lake seem murky... Along with the invasion of carp destroying all of the habitat.... I know on the old forum some fellars were talking about wanting to restore utah lake to its former glory.... My question is, is this possible? What would it take to do this and would it be feasable.... Now I would imagine that its possible, it would probably take the lake being dredged and deepened, forming some Islands re-planting the habitat, and getting rid of some pests, but it would be pretty awesome and would get a lot more people out and about playing and fishing on it no? Maybe I'm just up in the night but I think that would be awesome....


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## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

*Re: Utah Lake Recovery?*

That would be way too large a project to attempt. It can't happen. They wouldn't be able to kill the carp, first of all. Secondly, the damage has already been done.

The pioneers are the main culprits in their settling of the canyons that provide the water for Utah Lake. Supposedly, it used to be about 20 ft deeper throughout much of the lake and when the canyons and surrounding areas of the valley were settled and farmed upon, the livestock and clear cutting deposited all the silt that washed into the lake.

The Germans moved into Vineyard (no offense, Germans) and built little ponds on their properties to house their favorite delicacy: The carp. Eventually, the carp found their way into the lake and tribs and started munching the vegetation off the bottom and have been busy doing just that (plus reproducing like mad) ever since.

There used to be commercial fishing boats on Utah Lake pulling out thousands of cutts daily, but obviously those times have passed.

I wish it were feasible to dredge the lake, but it's too shallow for the dredging equipment that can handle such a task and the vents stick out of the water, effectively stopping the equipment from working. The last part is hearsay. The other information came from the college thesis of a guy I work with. He dug up a lot of information about it and is pretty quick to talk about it when mentioned.

The funny part is that the lake was already spoiled pretty badly before Geneva was even around. The steel mill's pollution (and Utah Valley's sewage) contributed to the problems, but the main problems came from upstream erosion and carp.

That's all I know. I can't see Utah Lake ever being "fixed". It's sad, but it's still a pretty lake anyway, when you get away from the city.


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## .45 (Sep 21, 2007)

Carp were actually introducted........http://www.junesuckerrecovery.org/pdfs/june24.pdf

Good luck getting all of Geneva's junk out of there.....there's got to be 100's of chemical's and metals left behind....


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## campfire (Sep 9, 2007)

The really sad thing is that there is historical evidence that the strain of Bonneville Cutthroat that inhabited Utah lake were comparable in size to the Lahontan Cutthroat from Pyramid lake, like 20 lbs. But alas, I agree that Utah lake is past saving for the reasons allready mentioned. And I guess those "Utah Lake cutthroat" are "gone forever".  But it brings up some interesting speculation. Namely, if the Bonneville Cutthroat trout that inhabit the streams along the wasatch front have the same genetics as those now extinct "Utah Lake Cutthroat", could they achieve the same size if stocked in a favorable habitat to achieve that kind of growth? This seems to be the case with the Lehontan Cutthroat. It might be academic but it is an intersting thought anyway.


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## great googly moogly (Jan 26, 2008)

campfire said:


> The really sad thing is that there is historical evidence that the strain of Bonneville Cutthroat that inhabited Utah lake were comparable in size to the Lahontan Cutthroat from Pyramid lake, like 20 lbs. But alas, I agree that Utah lake is past saving for the reasons allready mentioned. And I guess those "Utah Lake cutthroat" are "gone forever".  But it brings up some interesting speculation. Namely, if the Bonneville Cutthroat trout that inhabit the streams along the wasatch front have the same genetics as those now extinct "Utah Lake Cutthroat", could they achieve the same size if stocked in a favorable habitat to achieve that kind of growth? This seems to be the case with the Lehontan Cutthroat. It might be academic but it is an intersting thought anyway.


there were Lahontans in walker lake that went 60-70 80 pounds, 20lbs was a dink . . .

killing walker lake is prob the biggest environmental loss of the US in decades, but nobody knows about it

ggm


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## 2fishon (Jan 13, 2008)

Utah Lake is a fantastic fishery just like it is. LMB, white bass, walleye, channel cat, bullhead cat, crappie, bluegill, green sunfish, perch, even a trout sometimes. I would like to see less pollution, but who wouldn't. Utah Lake gets a bad name because of the stained water. I'd be much more worried about Mercury that are in alot of Utah's "pretty" lakes.


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## flint (Sep 13, 2007)

I question whether there was ever a commercial fishery for cutthroat trout on Utah Lake. I am pretty familier with local history and have never heard that. The pioneers may have done a limited amount of hand netting, but I'm not sure that really qualifies. In more modern times there have been a handful of commerical fishing ventures, including one that is still active after three generations. The main target of these efforts was always carp.

I also do not believe that there is 20 feet of silt in Utah Lake. There is significant silt build up in spots, but there are also areas where the bottom is clear and hard. Utah Lake has always been comparatively shallow and variations in depth over time probably had as much to do with drought and rainfall cycles as anything else. 

The colored water is primarily the result of algae blooms resulting from agricultural run off and the carp that keep the water stirred up. Obviously the aforementioned silt is also a problem when heavy winds regularly stir up the lake.


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## rapalahunter (Oct 13, 2007)

There are many articles about Utah Lake Cutthroat. Just Google!

An Excerpt of one:
Bonneville cutthroats served as a major food source for American Indians and later for Mormon pioneers and other early inhabitants. Don Duff, a forest service biologist and member of the group who discovered Bonneville cutthroats in Birch Creek, relates the significance of the trout in Utah.

"After the pioneers came into the Great Salt Lake Valley, they subsisted on native Bonneville cutthroats which grew up to 40 pounds in Utah Lake. This was during the 1850s when the pioneers were hard pressed for food. So both the Bonneville cutthroat and the California seagull played an important role in the preservation and subsistence of the Mormon pioneers in the settlement of this state."

The cutthroat trout grew so big and plentiful in Utah Lake that commercial fishing ventures were built along the lakeshore to supply fish to the booming mining and railroad camps. An 1864 historical account states that in one haul of a commercial net, between 3,500 and 3,700 pounds of cutthroats were caught.

Not only was the Bonneville cutthroat an important dietary resource for pioneers, it was fun to catch. In 1859, naturalist George Suckley raved about the Bonneville cutthroat's "sport to the fly fisher, and a delicacy to the epicure." (Because the Bonneville cutthroat trout played such an important role in Utah's history, the 1997 state legislature named it Utah's state fish, bumping the old state fish, the rainbow trout, a species that was imported from California in 1883.)

Sadly, no matter how plentiful the cutthroat supply once seemed, by 1930 only one Bonneville cutthroat was caught in Utah Lake during the entire fishing season. Meanwhile, introduced trout species such as rainbows, German browns and eastern brook trout filled the void left by the Bonneville cutthroat. Unfortunately, many of Utah's recreational anglers failed to recognize the disappearing Bonneville cutthroat. By the time the fishing public took interest in preserving native species, the Bonneville cutthroats were all but extinct. Fortunately, the species still survived.

Link to article: http://www.redrockadventure.com/adventu ... throat.htm

There are more if you look.


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## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

A really good read indeed. Nice link.


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## flint (Sep 13, 2007)

I stand corrected.


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## Improv (Sep 8, 2007)

Here is another great artical regarding the carp removal plan.

http://www.utahlakecommission.org/minutes022306.pdf


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## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

...These people actually think they can remove the carp?

Shah, right! I'll die of old age before they turn that lake around. Why waste the money?

It's already a great bass fishery (so I hear) and it produces huge catfish. It's too big to do anything about its current condition.


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## USMARINEhuntinfool (Sep 15, 2007)

So it looks like they're already started on something thats good I'm curious to see what they're going to come up with.... I guess we'll see next year huh....


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## Poo Pie (Nov 23, 2007)

Improv said:


> Here is another great artical regarding the carp removal plan.
> 
> http://www.utahlakecommission.org/minutes022306.pdf


So... It's been two years since the minutes of this meeting were posted. I don't fish Utah Lake much so maybe some others can tell me, Have you noticed a declination in the carp population in the past two years? Just curious... Or did my laziness of not reading the entire article get the best of me and is this program yet to start?


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