One of the biggest misconceptions about Utah Lake is that it’s getting worse.
Check out this new study by BYU master’s student Kaylee Tanner. Using NASA’s Landsat data, she and her team reconstructed 40 years of algal activity on the lake.
They found that blooms have decreased for nearly all of the lake, with the largest improvements in summer and fall.
This progress is all the more impressive when you consider that the human population in the watershed has tripled over that time period and climate change is increasing algal reproduction as the water warms.
We need to sustain and expand ongoing restoration work to further increase water flow, decrease pollutant delivery, and restore habitat.
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