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UTAH STATE LAKE PARK — Years of drought has claimed another victim in the state, draining Utah Lake to less than half full and compromising the safe retrieval of stranded boats or personal watercraft.
As the July 4th weekend approaches, Jason Allen, manager of Utah Lake State Park, said shallow water at the lake's marinas is preventing the safe launch of Boston Whaler rescue vessels capable of towing capsized boats or other watercraft.
"What we want people to know is when we go out there, we will still come and get them," he said. "But we can't get out of the marina without sustaining substantial damage to our equipment."
The lake is at its lowest level since 2004, and while it usually averages 8 to 9 feet in depth, marina levels have plunged to 3 feet or less.
Allen said the parks division is limited to using its flat-bottomed duck hunting boats equipped with an outboard motor that can manuever in shallow water. Those vessels aren't designed to rescue equipment or stranded boats and can't be used in rough water.
The situation forced an alteration in a rescue just Tuesday afternoon, when a storm came up at the same time a boat at the south end of the lake encountered a mechanical problem.
Wind-fueled waves at Utah Lake can crest as high as 5 or 6 feet, Allen said, swamping the ability of a "mud-buddy" boat to get to a rescue.
Volunteer members of the Utah County Sheriff's Search and Rescue team went to the stranded boat and its three occupants on personal watercraft and were able to rescue the people.
Allen said the owner of the boat wasn't pleased to have to leave it in the water, but the agencies are stressing they can't risk injury to their rescuers, or suffer damage to their vessels for people's property.
Stranded boats can be retrieved at a later date, but its up to the owner how to do that and at the owner's expense.
Allen said the parks division is making adjustments by arranging for a 17-foot river jet boat to come up from Green River that can maneuver in shallower water, but it will not likely arrive until mid-July.
The boat will possibly allow park officials to resume rescue operations of stranded vessels, but Allen said they are still reviewing its capabilities.
Low water is causing an odd problem to play out at Utah Lake. While visitation is down by about two-thirds this year, search and rescue operations and vessel assists are outpacing last year's numbers — 43 compared to 35.
Allen suspects the numbers are up because boaters still run into trouble, but the pool of available help on the lake is diminished due to fewer helpful boaters able to assist a fellow boater in trouble.
Warned that low lake levels would pose problems getting in and out of marinas, the Utah Legislature in 2015 approved $1.5 million for dredging at Utah Lake, but the parks division is still going through the federal permitting process because the lake is home to an endangered species of fish — the June sucker. Dredging is expected to begin this winter.
Lawmakers also scrambled to put together money in an emergency appropriation for the dredging of the Great Salt Lake Marina, where historic low water forced most boats docked for the sailing season to pull out for other locations.
