The Utah Lake Restoration Project is a plan to provide a comprehensive restoration and improvement of Utah Lake.
Utah is the fastest growing state in the country, but also the second driest.
Jon Benson with Utah Lake Restoration Project says the project with provide 30 billion gallons of additional water to the state through its water conversation and clean water clean-up project. He says the project would also add water storage and provide the ability to distribute significant water to the Great Salt Lake.
It's an undertaking, he says, between Lake Restoration Solutions and the State of Utah, with the largest ecological, water, and geotechnical study ever conducted on Utah Lake.
According to Benson, the intent of the project will:
• Significantly improve Utah Lake's water quality, which has been impaired by high nutrient levels making the lake's water unsafe for recreation and culinary water use.
• Restore key aspects of Utah Lake's ecosystem to its natural function and regulation
• Conserve approximately 30 billion gallons of water annually
Starting last year, and continuing over the next few years, teams of scientists and researchers have been analyzing Utah Lake's waters, wetlands, sediments and ecosystem.
Utah Lake Resturation Project has hired a team of international experts with advanced degrees in water conservation, lake restoration, geotechnical, seismic, dredging, engineering, environmental remediation, fisheries, and dozens of other key disciplines.
Their findings will provide the additional data and science needed to inform the specific design and evaluate the preferred alternatives for undertaking this important conservation and restoration initiative.
Using science, innovation and proven engineering processes, Benson says it is possible to restore Utah Lake for the benefit of future generations of Utahns.
"To assemble a private/public capital of more than $6 billion, we have worked over the past several years with philanthropists, environmental impact-oriented funds, business leaders, government and global infrastructure financial institutions," he says.
Over the coming years, Benson says they will provide additional information on how the funding raised by Lake Restoration Solutions, paired with government programmatic funding, will effectuate this important conservation vision without additional tax and regulatory burden on state residents.
You can learn more at lakerestorationsolutions.com.
