Tag: Utah Lake

Planning, Preparation Help DEQ Keep Tabs on HABs

By 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 …

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Spills: Welcome to the Big Leagues, Rookie

By 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 …

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Harmful Algal Bloom or Green Ooze? Call DEQ

By 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 …

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Harmful Algal Blooms: When It Isn’t Good to Be Green

Interview 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 …

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Water Quality: The Power of Sister Agencies

By Suzan Tahir I have the privilege to live in one of the most beautiful states in the USA. Our state is an incredible and endless resource for hiking, skiing, backpacking, rock climbing, sightseeing, and other outdoors and recreational activities. We have extremely beautiful nature in abundance, but one of our most precious natural resources …

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