12-03-2019, 07:45 PM
It will be interesting to see where this whole project ends up in 20 more years. I will be pretty old by then, but someday I hope to see Utah Lake rehabilitated to something like it was 200 years ago.
I would like to see it restored to a Lake which can sustain itself with little management. This may mean that few or none of the original species even exist there anymore. But that is just nature in progress. Something new takes over the old.
One thing I have never really heard much of is establishing a balanced lake ecosystem. For example, from what I have read and understand there used to be over 17 different species of fish in Utah Lake. This ranged from little minnows, like sticklebacks, shiners etc, to large trout. There were shell fish, aquatic snails, all sorts of waterfowl, beavers, muskrats and other mammals. Water plants, like lilies, cat tails and other edible plants would have abounded. Amphibians of many sorts would have been abundant.
Since there were no man made dams, irrigation projects and water control, the lake would have went through natural cycles of highs and lows. even to the point of flooding areas where there are now homes and farms. And times when there was little more than rivers running though the lowest areas.
But with that said, I have not heard or read much about restoring the lake to something like it used to be. A balanced ecosystem, even though it does not contain the same species. All the elements need to be there. A balance of plants, animals, predators and prey. From crustaceans, shellfish, mammals, amphibians, birds, plants, algae, to the fish.
IMO... The current project has all been about politics and money.
But... there will never be any change until people are educated and demand it. Or until we have a political leader who takes it on as a special interest. It needs to be an approach which will restore the lake to something similar to what it was before. A balanced ecosystem.
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I would like to see it restored to a Lake which can sustain itself with little management. This may mean that few or none of the original species even exist there anymore. But that is just nature in progress. Something new takes over the old.
One thing I have never really heard much of is establishing a balanced lake ecosystem. For example, from what I have read and understand there used to be over 17 different species of fish in Utah Lake. This ranged from little minnows, like sticklebacks, shiners etc, to large trout. There were shell fish, aquatic snails, all sorts of waterfowl, beavers, muskrats and other mammals. Water plants, like lilies, cat tails and other edible plants would have abounded. Amphibians of many sorts would have been abundant.
Since there were no man made dams, irrigation projects and water control, the lake would have went through natural cycles of highs and lows. even to the point of flooding areas where there are now homes and farms. And times when there was little more than rivers running though the lowest areas.
But with that said, I have not heard or read much about restoring the lake to something like it used to be. A balanced ecosystem, even though it does not contain the same species. All the elements need to be there. A balance of plants, animals, predators and prey. From crustaceans, shellfish, mammals, amphibians, birds, plants, algae, to the fish.
IMO... The current project has all been about politics and money.
But... there will never be any change until people are educated and demand it. Or until we have a political leader who takes it on as a special interest. It needs to be an approach which will restore the lake to something similar to what it was before. A balanced ecosystem.
[signature]