Huntsman ceremoniously signed into law legislation that makes the state a member of the Utah Lake Commission.

“We don't get things done in this state unless we come together,” Huntsman told a room of city, county and state officials. “Now we have an opportunity to sit around a table with a common sense of purpose.”

Several state representatives will sit on the commission along with local officials and other stakeholders, while the state will fund 35 percent of the panel's budget.

The commission has been a long time coming. A special Utah Lake Study Committee was created to study the issue, and last September proposed the formation of the commission.

Once the governor signed HCR1, passed last month by the Legislature, local governmental representatives, including those from nine Utah County cities and the Central Utah Water Conservancy District ceremoniously signed the interlocal agreement that establishes the commission.

“This is one of the most important actions that we've taken together in many years in Utah County,” said study-committee Chairman and Provo Mayor Lewis Billings.

The commission's task: encourage lake use, coordinate communication among stakeholders, protect and preserve the resource and improve recreational access.

Those improvements will start with the development of a Utah Lake master plan, a process that will likely take six months, according to Utah County Public Works Director Clyde Naylor.

Rep. Stephen Clark, R-Provo, who sponsored the state legislation, noted any other state would have long since taken action to improve a resource such as Utah Lake.

“We were now going to bring a diamond out of the rough,” Clark said.

Friday's signing also afforded officials the chance to announce a massive carp-removal initiative.

In an effort to clean up the lake and create a better ecological system for the June sucker, a fish naturally found only in Utah Lake, officials want to remove 75 percent of the 5.9 million carp.

According to the June Sucker Recovery Implementation Program Web site, the endangered species declined from the millions in the early 19th century to fewer than 1,000 today.

The process would remove 4.7 million carp - enough to fill about 27,260 trucks and enough to stretch the fish end to end all the way to Cleveland. To illustrate that point, a carp-filled truck sat outside the Utah Lake State Park visitor's center.

Chris Keleher, the recovery program's assistant director, said the commission is a good start to improving the lake and helping protect the June sucker.

“We look forward to sitting at the table with these partners,” Keleher said, “. . . a major step in the right direction.”

toddh@sltrib.com