This year’s Utah Lake Festival scheduled for Saturday, June 4, has been canceled due to high water levels and flooding at the Utah Lake State Park. However, the State Park will remain open to general visitors on that day. High water has forced the closure of some boat ramps and parking areas, but the State Park staff is working hard to accommodate those wanting to recreate on Utah Lake.
“After assessing the lake’s water level, areas that are flooded, how fast the lake is continuing to rise, the safety conditions and limited parking available due to the flooding, we decided it was best to cancel the Festival,” says June Sucker Recovery Implementation Program Local Coordinator, Michael Mills. “We just felt like this is the right thing to do this year and hope everyone will mark their calendars for the 2012 Utah Lake Festival, which will be held on June 2.
The JSRIP, which co-sponsors the Festival, is designed to recover the endangered June sucker fish that lives only in Utah Lake and recover the ecosystem that it depends upon. The event is also sponsored by the Utah Lake Commission, a group comprised of local and government officials and state agency leaders, and Utah Lake State Park.
KBYU will air the documentary Utah Lake: Legacy on Sunday, June 5 at 3:30 pm, and on Wednesday, June 15 at 9:00 pm. The 60-minute documentary explores the rich history of Utah Lake, how its resources have helped foster the growth of the surrounding communities, the impact it has had on residents and how its ecosystem has been altered and is in harms’ way.
Even though Utah Lake, which spans 24 miles in length and 13 miles in width, is one of the largest freshwater lakes west of the Mississippi and is located in an urban core that is home to nearly 2 million people who rely on it and its tributaries for their drinking water, few residents think much about it and fewer take the time to actually visit it.