09-24-2004, 07:04 PM
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Survey: Public perception of Utah Lake low
Caleb Warnock DAILY HERALD
Only half of Utahns feel Utah Lake is valuable.
That is one of the results of a Dan Jones & Associates survey that was presented to Utah County mayors at a Thursday morning meeting to discuss Utah Lake. The survey was paid for by the June Sucker Recovery Implementation Program, which oversees federally mandated work to bring back healthy populations of the endangered June sucker.
The survey asked 500 Utahns from across the state 58 questions about their perceptions of Utah Lake and the June sucker. Mayors only recently requested a copy of the survey, which was completed in August 2002 and compiled in early 2003 for the private use of the June Sucker Recovery Implementation Program.
Utah County mayors recently formed a task force to study Utah Lake after the state began a federally mandated study this spring that will determine how to lower phosphorus and salt levels in the lake. Elected officials widely believe the study could lead to a property tax increase of as much as $1 billion for Utah County residents.
Just more than half of those surveyed said they have visited the lake, and about the same number said they believe Utah Lake is somewhat or heavily polluted, according to the survey results.
Cindy Gubler of Vanguard Media, the firm hired by the June Sucker Recovery Implementation Program to oversee the survey and other public relations efforts for the program, said some of the survey results were surprising.
"Utah Lake is one of the largest lakes west of the Mississippi, and yet people's perception is so low and the amount of visitors is so low, given how close it is to urban cities along the Wasatch Front," she said. "The other thing we were surprised about was the public's support for the Endangered Species Act, and what little information people had about the June sucker."
According to the survey results, 74 percent of respondents favor the Endangered Species act, but only 40 percent feel it is important to save the June sucker, she said.
"I think the reason that drops is because so many people hadn't heard of the June sucker," Gubler said, noting 83 percent of respondents said they had never heard of the fish.
One result of the survey found that almost no information about the June sucker is available to the public on the Internet. As a result, recovery program officials plan to unveil a new Web site for the public this fall, in addition to a documentary on Utah Lake that will air on public television and a new informational kiosk to be placed at the Utah Lake State Park boat harbor.
Mayors on Thursday also heard testimony from Ray Loveless, director of water quality programs for Mountainland Association of Governments, who said he believes as much as 70 percent of the phosphorus in Utah Lake is coming from sewer effluent and farming operations.
Utah Lake consistently tests at double the amount of phosphorus pollution local lake experts believe the lake can handle, and quadruple the standard set by the Environmental Protection Agency, he said.
Removing phosphorus from sewer effluent before it reaches the lake would cost tens of millions of dollars to Utah County residents, he said, and the county's largest dairy farm is already paying more than $750,000 a year to keep manure from its 5,000 cows from polluting the lake and underground aquifer. More farmers will likely be required to take similar measures.
Provo Mayor Lewis K. Billings, who heads the committee of mayors studying the Utah Lake issues, said mayors expect to study both the public perception survey and water quality data for months.
State officials classified Utah Lake as "impaired" several years ago because of the amount of phosphorus trapped in the water and mud of the lake as the result of years of sewage and agricultural runoff. The phosphorus causes blooms of algae, which in turn deplete oxygen in the water, potentially killing fish. The lake also has grown so salty that water can no longer be used for irrigating orchards, for example.
The federal Environmental Protection Agency requires the state to monitor all lakes and rivers for pollution and other impaired uses. In Utah, 150 water bodies have been classified as impaired, and each will eventually be the subject of an in-depth study to determine how to restore them to health. This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D1. There are 3 comments on this story
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Friday, September 24, 2004 - 12:00 AM [url "http://www.harktheherald.com/print.php?sid=35560"]
[/url] | [url "http://www.harktheherald.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Recommend_Us&file=index&req=FriendSend&sid=35560"][/url]Survey: Public perception of Utah Lake low
Caleb Warnock DAILY HERALD
Only half of Utahns feel Utah Lake is valuable.
That is one of the results of a Dan Jones & Associates survey that was presented to Utah County mayors at a Thursday morning meeting to discuss Utah Lake. The survey was paid for by the June Sucker Recovery Implementation Program, which oversees federally mandated work to bring back healthy populations of the endangered June sucker.
The survey asked 500 Utahns from across the state 58 questions about their perceptions of Utah Lake and the June sucker. Mayors only recently requested a copy of the survey, which was completed in August 2002 and compiled in early 2003 for the private use of the June Sucker Recovery Implementation Program.
Utah County mayors recently formed a task force to study Utah Lake after the state began a federally mandated study this spring that will determine how to lower phosphorus and salt levels in the lake. Elected officials widely believe the study could lead to a property tax increase of as much as $1 billion for Utah County residents.
Just more than half of those surveyed said they have visited the lake, and about the same number said they believe Utah Lake is somewhat or heavily polluted, according to the survey results.
Cindy Gubler of Vanguard Media, the firm hired by the June Sucker Recovery Implementation Program to oversee the survey and other public relations efforts for the program, said some of the survey results were surprising.
"Utah Lake is one of the largest lakes west of the Mississippi, and yet people's perception is so low and the amount of visitors is so low, given how close it is to urban cities along the Wasatch Front," she said. "The other thing we were surprised about was the public's support for the Endangered Species Act, and what little information people had about the June sucker."
According to the survey results, 74 percent of respondents favor the Endangered Species act, but only 40 percent feel it is important to save the June sucker, she said.
"I think the reason that drops is because so many people hadn't heard of the June sucker," Gubler said, noting 83 percent of respondents said they had never heard of the fish.
One result of the survey found that almost no information about the June sucker is available to the public on the Internet. As a result, recovery program officials plan to unveil a new Web site for the public this fall, in addition to a documentary on Utah Lake that will air on public television and a new informational kiosk to be placed at the Utah Lake State Park boat harbor.
Mayors on Thursday also heard testimony from Ray Loveless, director of water quality programs for Mountainland Association of Governments, who said he believes as much as 70 percent of the phosphorus in Utah Lake is coming from sewer effluent and farming operations.
Utah Lake consistently tests at double the amount of phosphorus pollution local lake experts believe the lake can handle, and quadruple the standard set by the Environmental Protection Agency, he said.
Removing phosphorus from sewer effluent before it reaches the lake would cost tens of millions of dollars to Utah County residents, he said, and the county's largest dairy farm is already paying more than $750,000 a year to keep manure from its 5,000 cows from polluting the lake and underground aquifer. More farmers will likely be required to take similar measures.
Provo Mayor Lewis K. Billings, who heads the committee of mayors studying the Utah Lake issues, said mayors expect to study both the public perception survey and water quality data for months.
State officials classified Utah Lake as "impaired" several years ago because of the amount of phosphorus trapped in the water and mud of the lake as the result of years of sewage and agricultural runoff. The phosphorus causes blooms of algae, which in turn deplete oxygen in the water, potentially killing fish. The lake also has grown so salty that water can no longer be used for irrigating orchards, for example.
The federal Environmental Protection Agency requires the state to monitor all lakes and rivers for pollution and other impaired uses. In Utah, 150 water bodies have been classified as impaired, and each will eventually be the subject of an in-depth study to determine how to restore them to health. This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D1. There are 3 comments on this story
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