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UTAH COUNTY — Reservoir and lake levels across the state are dropping quickly, leaving some businesses high and dry.
Utah Lake's water level is getting so low at the entrance to the marina that in a week or two, some sailboats won't be able to get in or out.
Todd Frye, who captains sailboats for the Bonneville School of Sailing, said he hasn't seen the water this low at the mouth of the marina in about a decade, at about 3 1/2 to five feet deep.
"This year we're back to looking at a very early pull out, sooner than we want to," Frye said. "We've never had to pull out, or had the threat of pulling out this early before."
In a couple of weeks, when they cannot get out into the lake, they'll miss out on a few months of business.
Utah Lake was 90 percent full midway through 2012, but at the same time in 2013, the water level was at 70 percent and dropping. Deer Creek and Jordanelle reservoirs run into Utah Lake, and they are currently around 60 percent full and will likely be around 50 percent by the end of the month.
Utah had poor snow pack two years in a row and has just come off the hottest July on record on the Wasatch front. The lake is losing a lot of water to evaporation due to the heat.
The water level in Utah Lake does fluctuate throughout the year, because it is a shallow lake. Dredging the harbor is a solution, but that costs money and the state park system is lean on funding.
