Nutrient Dynamics in the Jordan River and Great
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment and Friends of Great Salt Lake, Petitioners/Appellants, Vs. Executive Director Of
Brigham Young University Law School BYU Law Digital Commons Utah Supreme Court Briefs (2000– ) 2015 Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment and Friends of Great Salt Lake, Petitioners/Appellants, vs. Executive Director of the Department of Environmental Quality Et Al., Respondents/ Appellees Utah Supreme Court Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.byu.edu/byu_sc2 Part of the Law Commons Original Brief Submitted to the Utah Court of Appeals; digitized by the Howard W. Hunter Law Library, J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. Recommended Citation Supplemental Submission, Utah Physicians v Department Environment, No. 20150344 (Utah Supreme Court, 2015). https://digitalcommons.law.byu.edu/byu_sc2/3312 This Supplemental Submission is brought to you for free and open access by BYU Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Utah Supreme Court Briefs (2000– ) by an authorized administrator of BYU Law Digital Commons. Policies regarding these Utah briefs are available at http://digitalcommons.law.byu.edu/ utah_court_briefs/policies.html. Please contact the Repository Manager at [email protected] with questions or feedback. IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF UTAH UTAH PHYSICIANS FOR A HEALTHY Appeal No. 20150344-SC ENVIRONMENT and FRIENDS OF GREAT SALT LAKE, Agency Decision Nos. Petitioners/Appellants, N10123-0041 v. DAQE-AN101230041-13 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE UTAH DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY, et al., Respondents/Appellees. SUPPLEMENTAL BRIEF OF HOLLY REFINING AND MARKETING CO. Appeal from the Final Order of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, Executive Director Amanda Smith Joro Walker Steven J. Christiansen (5265) Charles R. Dubuc David C. -
County Commission Update: Protecting a Vital Natural Resource
County Commission Update: Protecting a Vital Natural Resource By Wade Mathews, Public Information Officer It’s a remnant of an ancient body of water that once covered most of our county and much of the western states region. Now the Great Salt Lake is all that remains of Lake Bonneville. Because of its unique mineral qualities, the Great Salt Lake, specifically its south arm, provides a valuable resource to our county. The lake’s minerals are utilized by several large businesses in Tooele County, it provides recreation opportunities, and the lake is a great tourist attraction to this area. But that resource that is the Great Salt Lake is being threatened. The Tooele County Commission has learned of a proposal by Great Salt Lake Minerals Corporation (GSL), located on the north side of the lake that has the potential of decreasing the level of the southern arm by six to 30 inches a year. GSL originally proposed withdrawing 360,000 acre feet of water per year from the north arm of the lake. Due to some criticism, GSL may reduce that request. The lake is already at historic low levels due to the past draught experienced in the region. Commissioner Jerry Hurst says, “GSL’s proposal could have a drastic effect on the operations of our businesses located along the southern shore. Five major companies and several small businesses rely on the lake being at a certain level and on having high salinity content.” Those major companies include Morton Salt, Cargill Salt, Broken Arrow, US Magnesium and Allegheny Technologies. They make up the Tooele County Great Salt Lake South Arm Industry Consortium. -
Consequences of Drying Lake Systems Around the World
Consequences of Drying Lake Systems around the World Prepared for: State of Utah Great Salt Lake Advisory Council Prepared by: AECOM February 15, 2019 Consequences of Drying Lake Systems around the World Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..................................................................... 5 I. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................... 13 II. CONTEXT ................................................................................. 13 III. APPROACH ............................................................................. 16 IV. CASE STUDIES OF DRYING LAKE SYSTEMS ...................... 17 1. LAKE URMIA ..................................................................................................... 17 a) Overview of Lake Characteristics .................................................................... 18 b) Economic Consequences ............................................................................... 19 c) Social Consequences ..................................................................................... 20 d) Environmental Consequences ........................................................................ 21 e) Relevance to Great Salt Lake ......................................................................... 21 2. ARAL SEA ........................................................................................................ 22 a) Overview of Lake Characteristics .................................................................... 22 b) Economic -
Jordan River Utah Temple History
Local History | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Historical Background of the Jordan River Utah Temple In the middle of the Salt Lake Valley, there unbelievable, and this temple is an answer is a river that runs from south to north. After to prayer and a dream come true.” Mormon pioneers entered the valley in 1847, The Jordan River Temple became the 20th they named the river the Jordan River. The operating temple in the Church, the sev- land near this river in the southern part of enth built in Utah, and the second temple the valley passed through several pioneer in the Salt Lake Valley. It was the fourth- families throughout three decades. In 1880, largest temple in the Church following the a 19-year-old English immigrant named Salt Lake, Los Angeles and Washington William Holt bought 15 acres of land from D.C. Temples. More than 34 years after the his uncle Jesse Vincent for $2.00 an acre. It original dedication, the Jordan River Utah remained in the Holt family and was passed Temple was closed in February of 2016 for to Holt’s son, Alma, in 1948. extensive renovation. In the autumn of 1977, Alma Holt and his At the time of the Jordan River Temple’s ear- family felt inspired to donate the 15-acre ly construction in June 1979, the population parcel of land in South Jordan to the Church. of South Jordan had grown to approximately On February 3, 1978, President Spencer W. 7,492, and the temple served approximate- Kimball announced plans to construct a ly 267,000 people in 72 stakes (a stake is temple on that prominent site overlooking similar to a diocese) in South Jordan and its the valley below. -
Introducing Terminal Lakes Joe Eilers and Ron Larson
Terminal Lakes Introducing Terminal Lakes Joe Eilers and Ron Larson Study Lakes akes tend to be among the more ephemeral features of the landscape Land generally are formed and disappear rapidly on a geological time frame. However, to see groups of lakes disappear within a lifetime is typically not a natural phenomenon. Here in Oregon, we’ve witnessed the desiccation of what was formerly a 16-mile-long lake in a little over a decade. Endorehic lakes, commonly referred to as terminal lakes because they lack an outlet, are among the most vulnerable of lakes to human intervention. Because terminal lakes are usually located in arid environments where water is extremely valuable, they are the first to lose among the competing forces for water. But that doesn’t have to be the case. In some respects, terminal lakes are far easier to restore than eutrophic/hypereutrophic systems. No expensive alum treatments, no dredging, no chemicals . just add water and life returns: but as those in West know, “Whiskey is for drinking; water is for fighting over.” And fight we must. In this issue of LakeLine, we describe a series of terminal lakes in the western United States starting with the least saline lake among the group, Walker Lake, and ending with Lake Winnemucca, which was desiccated in the 20th century (Figure 1). Like all lakes, each of these has a unique story to relate with different Figure 1. Terminal lakes in the western United States described in this issue. chemistry and biota. The loss of Lake Winnemucca is an informative tale, but it a wider audience and reach a solution migration when the birds replenish fat is not necessarily the inevitable outcome that ensures adequate water to save the reserves. -
Jordan River Total Maximum Daily Load Water Quality Study - Phase 1
Jordan River Total Maximum Daily Load Water Quality Study - Phase 1 Prepared for: Utah Department of Environmental Quality Division of Water Quality 195 North 1950 West Salt Lake City, Utah 84116 Carl Adams- Project Supervisor Hilary Arens- Project Manager Prepared by: Cirrus Ecological Solutions, LC 965 South 100 West, Suite 200 Logan, Utah 84321 Stantec Consulting Inc. 3995 South 700 East, Suite 300 Salt Lake City, Utah 84107 EPA APPROVAL DATE JUNE 5, 2013 i Jordan River TMDL Jordan River – 1 (UT16020204-001) Waterbody ID Jordan River – 2 (UT16020204-002) Jordan River – 3 (UT16020204-003) Parameter of Concern Dissolved Oxygen Pollutant of Concern Total Organic Matter Class 3B Protected for warm water species of game fish and aquatic life, including the necessary Impaired Beneficial Use aquatic organisms in their food chain. Loading Assessment Current Load 2,225,523 kg/yr Total Organic Matter Loading Capacity 1,373,630 kg/yr or 3,763 kg/day Total Organic Matter (38% reduction) Load capacity based on OM concentrations that result in DO model endpoint of 5.5 mg/L, Margin of Safety including 1.0 mg/L implicit MOS added to the instantaneous DO water quality standard of 4.5 mg/L. Bulk Load Allocation 684,586 kg/yr Total Organic Matter (35% reduction) Bulk Waste Load 689,044 kg/yr Total Organic Matter (41% reduction) Allocation Defined Total OM load to lower Jordan River (kg/yr) <= 1,373,630 kg/yr Targets/Endpoints Dissolved Oxygen => 4.5 mg/L Nonpoint Pollutant Utah Lake, Tributaries, Diffuse Runoff, Irrigation Return Flow, Groundwater Sources -
Meet the Jordan River: an Ecological Walk Along the Riparian Zone
Meet the Jordan River: An Ecological Walk Along the Riparian Zone A riparian zone, like the one you're walking along today, is the interface between land and a river or stream. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks are called riparian vegetation, and are characterized by hydrophilic (“water loving”) plants. Riparian zones are significant in ecology, environmental management, and civil engineering because of their role in soil conservation, habitat biodiversity, and the influence they have on fauna and aquatic ecosystems, including grassland, woodland, and wetlands. 1. “Education Tree” 2. Sandbar or Coyote Willow Old male Box Elder Salix exigua Acer negundo Z Sandbar Willow is an important Box Elders are one of the most plants in the riparian zone. It valuable trees native trees for grows in thickets up to 8 feet tall riparian wildlife habitat. on both sides of the river. They stabilize streambanks, provide cover and cooling, and Look for graceful arching their brittle branches create hollows for bird nests. branches and delicate yellow Caterpillars, aphids and Box Elder bugs feed on the tree and catkins in spring. are food source many bird species Beavers use branches for food and construction. Yellow warblers hunt for insects under the protection of the willow Box Elder wood was used for bowls, pipe stems, and drums. thicket. Box Elders are the only members of the maple family with Fremont Indians used willow for home construction, fishing compound leaves. weirs, and basket making. Easily propagated by plunging cut stems into the mud near the water. 3. Hemp Dogbane and Common 4. -
Great Salt Lake FAQ June 2013 Natural History Museum of Utah
Great Salt Lake FAQ June 2013 Natural History Museum of Utah What is the origin of the Great Salt Lake? o After the Lake Bonneville flood, the Great Basin gradually became warmer and drier. Lake Bonneville began to shrink due to increased evaporation. Today's Great Salt Lake is a large remnant of Lake Bonneville, and occupies the lowest depression in the Great Basin. Who discovered Great Salt Lake? o The Spanish missionary explorers Dominguez and Escalante learned of Great Salt Lake from the Native Americans in 1776, but they never actually saw it. The first white person known to have visited the lake was Jim Bridger in 1825. Other fur trappers, such as Etienne Provost, may have beaten Bridger to its shores, but there is no proof of this. The first scientific examination of the lake was undertaken in 1843 by John C. Fremont; this expedition included the legendary Kit Carson. A cross, carved into a rock near the summit of Fremont Island, reportedly by Carson, can still be seen today. Why is the Great Salt Lake salty? o Much of the salt now contained in the Great Salt Lake was originally in the water of Lake Bonneville. Even though Lake Bonneville was fairly fresh, it contained salt that concentrated as its water evaporated. A small amount of dissolved salts, leached from the soil and rocks, is deposited in Great Salt Lake every year by rivers that flow into the lake. About two million tons of dissolved salts enter the lake each year by this means. Where does the Great Salt Lake get its water, and where does the water go? o Great Salt Lake receives water from four main rivers and numerous small streams (66 percent), direct precipitation into the lake (31 percent), and from ground water (3 percent). -
Understanding Great Salt Lake Bird Festival Visitors: Applying the Recreational Specialization Framework
Understanding Great Salt Lake Bird Festival Visitors: Applying the Recreational Specialization Framework Steven W. Burr David Scott1 Introduction The growth of birdwatching over the last two decades has been staggering. According to the recent National Survey of Recreation and the Environment (NSRE) (2000-2002), one-third (33%) of American adults said they went birdwatching at least once during the previous 12 months. According to NSRE data, the number of people who regarded themselves as birdwatchers increased 27% between 1995 and 2001 and an incredible 225% between 1982 and 1991. Although most people watch birds exclusively in their yards, 40% of birdwatchers leave their homes to look at birds (U.S. Department of Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, 2002). The economic impacts of birdwatching are remarkable as well, with thousands of birders visiting birding “hotspots” and collectively spending millions of dollars during such outings, resulting in significant economic benefits locally (Crandall, Leones, & Colby, 1992; Kerlinger & Wiedner, 1994; Kim, Scott, Thigpen, & Kim, 1997; Eubanks, Kerlinger, & Payne, 1993). This has spurred community development and conservation leaders to develop festivals and special events attractive to birdwatchers. Today, there are approximately 200 birdwatching and wildlife-watching festivals held throughout the United States and Canada (American Birding Association, 2001). One of these is the Great Salt Lake Bird Festival, which was established in 1999 and has experienced growth over the years in the number of visitors attending, with approximately 3,000 visitors attending in 2002 and 3,500 attending in 2003 (N. Roundy, personal communication, July 15, 2003). -
Native Unionoida Surveys, Distribution, and Metapopulation Dynamics in the Jordan River-Utah Lake Drainage, UT
Version 1.5 Native Unionoida Surveys, Distribution, and Metapopulation Dynamics in the Jordan River-Utah Lake Drainage, UT Report To: Wasatch Front Water Quality Council Salt Lake City, UT By: David C. Richards, Ph.D. OreoHelix Consulting Vineyard, UT 84058 email: [email protected] phone: 406.580.7816 May 26, 2017 Native Unionoida Surveys and Metapopulation Dynamics Jordan River-Utah Lake Drainage 1 One of the few remaining live adult Anodonta found lying on the surface of what was mostly comprised of thousands of invasive Asian clams, Corbicula, in Currant Creek, a former tributary to Utah Lake, August 2016. Summary North America supports the richest diversity of freshwater mollusks on the planet. Although the western USA is relatively mollusk depauperate, the one exception is the historically rich molluskan fauna of the Bonneville Basin area, including waters that enter terminal Great Salt Lake and in particular those waters in the Jordan River-Utah Lake drainage. These mollusk taxa serve vital ecosystem functions and are truly a Utah natural heritage. Unfortunately, freshwater mollusks are also the most imperiled animal groups in the world, including those found in UT. The distribution, status, and ecologies of Utah’s freshwater mussels are poorly known, despite this unique and irreplaceable natural heritage and their protection under the Clean Water Act. Very few mussel specific surveys have been conducted in UT which requires specialized training, survey methods, and identification. We conducted the most extensive and intensive survey of native mussels in the Jordan River-Utah Lake drainage to date from 2014 to 2016 using a combination of reconnaissance and qualitative mussel survey methods. -
Inverness Square •
Click images to view full size Inverness Square Murray, Utah Project Type: Residential Volume 38 Number 02 January–March 2008 Case Number: C038002 PROJECT TYPE Comprising 119 Federal-style brick townhouses on a seven-acre (2.84-ha) site, Inverness Square is located on a former brownfield close to a regional commuter rail line. One of the first of its kind in Murray, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City, the new urbanist infill community has helped revitalize a formerly blighted area through environmental remediation and enhanced streetscapes. In addition, the project, developed by Hamlet Homes, was intended as workforce housing with opening prices starting at $140,000. LOCATION Outer Suburban SITE SIZE 7.02 acres/2.84 hectares LAND USES Townhomes KEYWORDS/SPECIAL FEATURES Brownfield Zero-Lot-Line Housing Infill Development Workforce Housing WEB SITE www.hamlethomes.com PROJECT ADDRESS 300 West and 4800 South Murray, Utah DEVELOPER Hamlet Development Corporation Murray, Utah 801-281-2223 www.hamlethomes.com ARCHITECT D.W. Taylor Associates, Inc. Ellicott City, Maryland 410-964-1181 www.dwtaylor.com PLANNER Blake McCutchan & Associates Salt Lake City, Utah 801-467-0067 GENERAL DESCRIPTION Providing workforce housing in a suburb of Salt Lake City, Inverness Square consists of 119 moderately priced Federal-style townhomes. Developed by Hamlet Homes, the project required environmental remediation of mining- related contaminants—a major development roadblock in the former industrial town of Murray, Utah. In addition to its dense, urban design, Inverness Square is within a half-mile (0.8 km) of the nearest TRAX station, the light-rail system that connects the greater Salt Lake area. -
Decline of the World's Saline Lakes
PERSPECTIVE PUBLISHED ONLINE: 23 OCTOBER 2017 | DOI: 10.1038/NGEO3052 Decline of the world’s saline lakes Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh1*, Craig Miller2, Sarah E. Null1, R. Justin DeRose3, Peter Wilcock1, Maura Hahnenberger4, Frank Howe5 and Johnnie Moore6 Many of the world’s saline lakes are shrinking at alarming rates, reducing waterbird habitat and economic benefits while threatening human health. Saline lakes are long-term basin-wide integrators of climatic conditions that shrink and grow with natural climatic variation. In contrast, water withdrawals for human use exert a sustained reduction in lake inflows and levels. Quantifying the relative contributions of natural variability and human impacts to lake inflows is needed to preserve these lakes. With a credible water balance, causes of lake decline from water diversions or climate variability can be identified and the inflow needed to maintain lake health can be defined. Without a water balance, natural variability can be an excuse for inaction. Here we describe the decline of several of the world’s large saline lakes and use a water balance for Great Salt Lake (USA) to demonstrate that consumptive water use rather than long-term climate change has greatly reduced its size. The inflow needed to maintain bird habitat, support lake-related industries and prevent dust storms that threaten human health and agriculture can be identified and provides the information to evaluate the difficult tradeoffs between direct benefits of consumptive water use and ecosystem services provided by saline lakes. arge saline lakes represent 44% of the volume and 23% of the of migratory shorebirds and waterfowl utilize saline lakes for nest- area of all lakes on Earth1.