Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
PROVO — Even with this past summer's high mountain runoff, Utah Lake was plagued again with an algae bloom. In 2017, however, the warning was sounded off much faster, thanks to a new secret weapon on the lake.
That secret weapon is three buoys each containing monitoring equipment that can provide real-time updates to water quality managers, helping them to better forecast an algae bloom so they can warn the public.
Ben Holcomb with the Utah Division of Water Quality said these monitoring stations on Utah Lake have proved invaluable in keeping track of unhealthy levels of bacteria in Utah Lake.
“We don't need to drive anywhere. I can quickly pull up the data on my computer and see what the conditions are,” Holcomb said.
Instead of weekly tests, results come in hourly and the data helps with other forecast methods such as satellite imagery and lab tested water samples in determining where an algae bloom is developing.
“So as we put those three sources together, then we can better predict what may be occurring and when," Holcomb said. "We can start building better modeling or better correlations with water quality to cyanobacteria and other biological components."
During the summer of 2016, the toxins in the water forced the lake to be closed to recreation for a time. This year, with the public warned about unsafe levels, fewer people reported illness associated with being at the lake.
The three monitoring stations are located west of the state park in Provo, near Bird Island on the south and two miles west of Vineyard on the north.
“This is just our first year of collecting data but that will be one of our long-term goals to get to that level," Holcomb said.
The buoys will remain in place for now. Two additional monitoring buoys are in place at other bodies of water that have had algae blooms in recent years. One is in Deer Creek Reservoir and the other at Scofield Reservoir in Central Utah.
Anyone interested in seeing the real-time data can visit the Utah Department of Water Quality's official website.
