Experts explore problems, promises of Utah Lake


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PROVO — Water quality regulators, biologists, health administrators and water resource managers are continuing to unravel the impacts of last summer's unprecedented algal bloom outbreaks in multiple water bodies, hoping that lessons learned in 2016 will provide solutions this summer.

While managers are optimistic the above average water year will lessen the incidence of outbreaks at places like shallow Utah Lake, they're also keenly aware that stagnant water coupled with an abundance of sunshine could spell trouble.

Jodi Garberg, manager of environmental programs with the Utah Division of Water Quality, said the scope and timing of last year's harmful algal bloom outbreaks sent people scrambling.

"It's something we didn't expect," she said Tuesday at the first Utah Lake Summit at the Utah Valley Convention Center in Provo. "We didn't expect all the downstream effects on secondary water users."

The mid-July outbreak happened a month ahead of when algal blooms typically infest the lake and spread to cover nearly all of the lake's surface. Beaches and marinas were closed because of the proliferation of cyanobacteria, which can contain toxins that present severe health risks to respiratory and nervous systems.

Garberg said the initial response to the blooms at Utah Lake underscored the potential seriousness of the toxins.

"It was a very dense, noxious order," she said. "It was hard to breathe at times."

Hundreds of people reported symptoms to the Utah Poison Control Center as a result of incidental contact with the water or aerosolized toxins, but there were no serious exposures or deaths.

State water quality regulators, health departments, researchers and water managers are engaged in a multiprong study to more accurately predict risks to the formation of harmful algal blooms and if there are ways to bolster the lake's health to help curtail an outbreak.

In 2014, the Utah Water Quality Board adopted a rule establishing a technology-based standard for the discharge of phosphorus into waterways by wastewater treatment plants.

The rule, which requires reductions by 2020, is intended to cut the discharge of phosphorus by the plants by two-thirds and reduce the nutrient's concentrations in lakes and reservoirs. State regulators say an excess of nutrients contributes to impairment in Utah waters, including decreased oxygen levels and increased presence of algae.

A few presenters at the summit, however, disagreed with that contention.

LaVere Merritt, professor emeritus at BYU, told summit participants he believes that wastewater treatment plants could invest millions in upgrades and not make "any difference" in the level of nutrients.

The biology of the lake is such that Merritt said it is naturally impacted by atmospheric deposits of minerals — not a discharge from treatment plants.

"Half of its inflow is evaporated, doubling the concentrations," he added.

"It's a remarkable system that cleanses itself naturally," he said. "This is taking a shotgun to solve the problem when you need a marksman."

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Amy Joi O'Donoghue

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