This summer, permanent Harmful Algal Bloom education/awareness signs have been installed around Utah Lake at common access points. These signs will help communicate conditions on the lake and what visitors should do to protect their health.
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The Utah County Health Department (UCHD) closed the Lincoln Marina due to exceptionally high cyanobacteria cell-count concentrations. UCHD also posted Danger/Closure signs in the Lincoln Beach area of Utah Lake.
Swedes Access (Provo Bay), the State Park Day Use Area, and Sandy Beach areas continue to be under a Warning Advisory.
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The Utah County Health Department (UCHD) has issued a Warning Advisory for Utah Lake due to toxin levels that exceed health-based thresholds. UCHD advises people, their pets, and other animals to stay out of Provo Bay, Lincoln Marina, Sandy Beach, and the Utah Lake State Park Day Use area.
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Summertime means movie sequels. Star Wars, The Avengers and Jurassic Park return to theaters this year. Also making a comeback are harmful algal blooms.
Read MoreBy Suzan Tahir Some of you might have heard about harmful algal blooms (HABs), and some of you might not…yet. But HABs are happening nationwide, mostly in the warm summer months. As you know, we have trillions of bacteria (good bacteria and bad bacteria) living in our gut (gastrointestinal tract), and they coexist until something …
Read MoreBy Barbara Crouch, Guest Blogger DEQ invites guest bloggers to share their thoughts on issues that impact our environment. We appreciate their insights and the opportunity to broaden the conversation with others in the community. Most people think of the Utah Poison Control Center (UPCC) as the go-to resource if their child/grandchild puts something in …
Read MoreBy Kevin Okleberry It was on a bright Monday morning, July 11, 2016, when I walked into the Multi-Agency State Office Building in west Salt Lake City to begin my new job as the Spills Coordinator for the Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ’s) Division of Water Quality (DWQ). I was a bit nervous, but also …
Read MoreBy Ben Holcomb Harmful algal blooms have been in the news a lot lately, from the massive scums lining the Florida coast to the blue-green mats that covered Utah Lake and forced its closure. Predicting when these blooms will occur is one of the greatest challenges we face at the Division of Water Quality (DWQ). …
Read MoreBy Donna Kemp Spangler It was like a scene from Ghostbusters: a mysterious green ooze was bubbling up from a street drain in a Bluffdale neighborhood on July 21, prompting a social media frenzy that it was somehow connected to the harmful algal bloom that had engulfed Utah Lake and spread throughout the Jordan River …
Read MoreInterview with Ben Holcomb If you’ve ever recreated at one of Utah’s lakes or reservoirs, you’ve probably seen areas where greenish scum was floating on the water or collecting on the shore. What you probably didn’t know — at least until this past week with the closure of Utah Lake — was that this bright-green water …
Read MoreBy Hilary Arens If you’ve ever recreated at one of Utah’s lakes or reservoirs during the late summer or early fall, you’ve probably seen areas where greenish scum was floating on the water or collecting on the shore. What you probably didn’t know was that this bright-green water is a sign of an algal bloom. …
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