07-20-2016, 06:03 AM
I think things are horrible right now on Utah lake and people are rightly concerned, but as much as it irks me to see how low the lake level has been allowed to get (many factors at play on that subject) I still think that we won't see a super massive die off of the fish.
When this stuff starts to break up and it's on its down cycle for the year it will also be blown into dense but smaller areas of the lake, relatively speaking. As the algae decomposes and starts displacing oxygen in the water it will be pretty much localized to the areas that it has blown or drifted to. That means bad news for fish in those immediately affected areas and probably high mortality, but in the larger picture there is an awful lot of surface area on Utah lake from which to draw oxygen from the air.
If the majority of dissolved oxygen in Utah lake is acquired by transfer from the air that makes contact with the lakes surface then business as usual will take place for much of the lake despite the localized areas of oxygen depletion and fish kill. They areas of open water out away from the shore lines will surely hold many fish and of the several different species that use the lake. I'm sure the catfish and carp will do just fine in a large area of the lake. My biggest concerns are the shoreline and weed line oriented species such as LMB, crappies, bluegills, and perch. They stand to have their young and many of their adult populations decimated due to the localization of the oxygen depletion coinciding with their preferred habitat.
The other wildcard is how the released cyanotoxins will affect the overall volume of lake water and if it will be widespread and equally toxic in all areas of the lake or will it too be localized with the highest and most damaging levels being where the shoreline oriented species hang out?
I suppose we will start to come to an understanding of the actual impact over the next year or three, but in the mean time, Utah water managers should really hatch a plan to put more water back into the lake and downstream water users should try to be more responsible with the limited amounts of water that we, as a state, have to draw from. It alway ticks me off to hear about the state not doing enough to assure that there will be enough water, yet many ranchers and farmers I know will be watering heavy during periods when we do have heavy seasonal rains and justify it by saying "it's our shares, we pay for it, and we will use it no matter what". If all the ranchers and farmers could just cut cut a small smidge of their water use, I think it could make a huge difference.
Rant over.....
Mike
[signature]
When this stuff starts to break up and it's on its down cycle for the year it will also be blown into dense but smaller areas of the lake, relatively speaking. As the algae decomposes and starts displacing oxygen in the water it will be pretty much localized to the areas that it has blown or drifted to. That means bad news for fish in those immediately affected areas and probably high mortality, but in the larger picture there is an awful lot of surface area on Utah lake from which to draw oxygen from the air.
If the majority of dissolved oxygen in Utah lake is acquired by transfer from the air that makes contact with the lakes surface then business as usual will take place for much of the lake despite the localized areas of oxygen depletion and fish kill. They areas of open water out away from the shore lines will surely hold many fish and of the several different species that use the lake. I'm sure the catfish and carp will do just fine in a large area of the lake. My biggest concerns are the shoreline and weed line oriented species such as LMB, crappies, bluegills, and perch. They stand to have their young and many of their adult populations decimated due to the localization of the oxygen depletion coinciding with their preferred habitat.
The other wildcard is how the released cyanotoxins will affect the overall volume of lake water and if it will be widespread and equally toxic in all areas of the lake or will it too be localized with the highest and most damaging levels being where the shoreline oriented species hang out?
I suppose we will start to come to an understanding of the actual impact over the next year or three, but in the mean time, Utah water managers should really hatch a plan to put more water back into the lake and downstream water users should try to be more responsible with the limited amounts of water that we, as a state, have to draw from. It alway ticks me off to hear about the state not doing enough to assure that there will be enough water, yet many ranchers and farmers I know will be watering heavy during periods when we do have heavy seasonal rains and justify it by saying "it's our shares, we pay for it, and we will use it no matter what". If all the ranchers and farmers could just cut cut a small smidge of their water use, I think it could make a huge difference.
Rant over.....
Mike
[signature]