Utah Lake sits a few miles away from the base of the Wasatch Front. It’s one of the largest freshwater lakes west of the Mississippi, dwarfed only by Nevada’s Lake Tahoe and Montana’s Flathead Lake. It’s a popular recreation spot for locals and tourists alike, featuring scenic views and a square mileage big enough to allow for watersports like sailing and wakeboarding. It’s also one the most nutrient-deficient lakes in the country.
“Utah Lake has a very high concentration of organic matter, specifically nitrogen and phosphorus,” explains Ryan Benson, CEO of the Utah Lake Restoration Project. “And when you get a high concentration of these chemicals, it leads to algal blooms and invasive bacteria that emit toxins that are harmful to wildlife, pets, and even humans.
A Problem and a Plan
For several decades, Utah residents as well as local leaders have known that the lake needed a clean up. But fixing a problem as big as Utah Lake’s was going to take some serious investment, as well as a real spark of creativity. Luckily, Ryan Benson has both.
Benson is a Utah native, and after graduating from Harvard Law School, he spent a decade working for some of the most prestigious law firms in the nation. And then, with 10 years of a career in the rearview mirror, he decided to make a change for the decade ahead.
“In my second decade in my career, I’ve worked to solve some of the most challenging conservation issues in the country,” Benson says. “About six years ago, I was asked to help with the Utah Lake Restoration Project. Since then, my role has expanded, and now I’m CEO.
The Project Takes Form
The Utah Lake Restoration team has many goals in mind, but the simplest is this: they’re committed to engaging in the largest water conservation effort in Utah history.
In 2018, the Utah State Legislature passed House Bill 272, which authorized the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire, and State Lands to transfer the ownership of Utah Lake to a private entity in exchange for a “comprehensive restoration” of the lake.
Upon passage of the bill, Benson and his team submitted a proposal and were selected as the stewards of the lake. Now, it was time for the real work to begin.
Saving Water, Saving Life
“Utah is the second-most arid state in America,” says Benson. “And it’s also experiencing a lot of growth, which means that the need for water and the supply of said water is at a crossroads.”
And with more multi-year megadroughts on the horizon, the need for a consistent freshwater supply is becoming an increasing concern. Utah Lake currently holds more than 280 billion gallons of water—and almost 50 percent is lost to evaporation every year.
That’s where the restoration team comes into play.
“Our project has a few key goals,” says Benson. “We need to reduce the evaporation of water in Utah Lake while increasing its water capacity at the same time.”
In an effort to accomplish these objectives, Benson’s team has made dredging the lake their primary focus, and has plans to begin doing so in 2023. Dredging is a process that removes material like silt and debris from bodies of water like lakes and streams. Oftentimes, the materials removed won’t be repurposed, but Benson has other plans.
Dredging Utah Lake will leave about a billion tons of dredge material, and Benson’s team will actually use the earth they remove to create islands in the lake. Eventually, these developed islands will create a beautiful waterfront community.
Protecting the Wildlife, Thanks to the Experts
But water isn’t the only natural resource the team wants to keep safe; Utah Lake is home to several species of fish, birds, and other wildlife, as well native plant species. Benson takes his responsibility to protect these creatures and their environment very seriously.
In order to preserve the rich ecosystem of the lake, Benson has brought on a team of experts who are busy conducting studies that examine all aspects of the lake and its eventual restoration, including research on wetlands, water circulation, lake-bottom sediments, limnology (the study of lakes), water quality, and watersheds among them.
“I’ve loved seeing people from a wide variety of backgrounds come together to collaborate and make this project possible,” says Benson. “With so many people adding their time, talents, and resources, who in other parts of life wouldn’t usually get a chance to work together, it’s really incredible.”
A Community That Cares
While Benson and his team love Utah Lake, they know it’s a much larger community they’ll have to answer to. And that’s why the project team is dedicated to bringing the community on board.
“People love the lake,” he says. “It’s why we’re asking people to voice their support for a restored ecosystem. Benson encourages people to engage with the project by sharing their support with state leaders and signing up for volunteer opportunities in the coming months.
“This project is happening because of the hard work of a great team of experts and a lot of willing people who are putting their heart and soul into making this project a reality,” says Benson. “We appreciate our state leadership and our supporters who are helping us to bring Utah Lake into the next century. It takes a village to bring this project through to fruition.”
And with hard work and careful planning, that village will soon have a new home on Utah Lake.
To learn more, visit utahlake.org.
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