Deseret News – Emeritus BYU professor and Utah Lake expert LeVere Merritt implored lawmakers to halt wastewater treatment plant upgrades to tackle nutrient pollution, a proposal he says has no scientific basis and will have little effect on the lake’s water quality.
Deseret News – One of northern Utah’s most critical rivers is getting a targeted boost to its health in a multimillion-dollar effort to reduce phosphorus, a naturally occurring nutrient that threatens its water quality.
Deseret News – Researchers at Brigham Young University will return to Utah Lake Wednesday to take additional water samples to determine the concentration of toxins produced by blue-green algae.
Deseret News – On Wednesday the public had a chance to weigh in on a 197-page draft water strategy from the Governor’s Water Strategy Advisory Team. It alternately drew praise and criticism.
The newly released Recommended State Water Strategy is open for public comment through June 26 before it goes to the governor’s desk.
Deseret News – While the lower- and mid-elevation snow has melted, the high mountain snowpack has yet to come down — and everyone is holding their breath that it behaves and melts in an orderly fashion.
A crowd of 250 gathered at the Utah Valley Convention Center for a one-day summit to better understand the nature of Utah Lake. See a summary and presentation files here.
Deseret News – Managers of water systems are engaged in a juggling act to release enough water to make room for snowmelt but not too much so downstream communities don’t flood.
Deseret News – Let’s embrace Utah Lake as a fantastic basin-bottom lake that, admittedly, has some characteristics that some people don’t like. However, to try to change it into something that it cannot become will only result in frustration, even dismay, when it fails.
Deseret News – Most of Utah’s reservoirs will fill this summer thanks to the hefty snowfall stored in the state’s mountains. The latest report issued by the NRCS said precipitation for February was at 156% of average, helping levels at reservoirs increase by 6% in just a month’s time.
Deseret News – A legislative committee unanimously endorsed a resolution calling for increased emphasis on solving the many challenges facing Utah Lake.
New York Times – Dam crises and failures in California and Nevada shed light on the state of American infrastructure.
Even after significant water conservation, global water sustainability will require that water be used more than once. The many barriers that hinder water reuse fall into four general categories, but they can be overcome.
Since 2000, a prolonged drought in the Colorado River Basin has impacted regional water supply, hydropower, recreation, and ecosystems. This application by the U.S. Geological Survey and Bureau of Reclamation uses open data to explore the 16-year drought and its effects.
DEQ – The online “2016 State of the Environment Report” highlights the progress of the agencies that regulate Utah’s air, land, and water.
