This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Utah Lake is an example of what can happen to a pristine natural resource when it is used by humans with little regard for its physical and ecological value. At one time, Utah Lake was a clear, deep, freshwater mountain lake, surrounded by a natural forest of local trees and full of native trout and other fish. It was literally a treasure for the early pioneers in the Salt Lake Valley, as the fish were caught and sent north to feed the people, and the trees were felled and shipped to Salt Lake for building materials.

With the forest razed, the next spring runoff eroded great quantities of the exposed soil into the lake. After decades of this erosion, the lake bottom filled with debris and Utah Lake became a shallow, muddy body of water. The indigenous trout were fished into extinction. As communities were established along the edge of the lake in what became Utah County, their sewage flowed into the lake for more than a century, creating a giant breeding ground for bacteria and algae.

Twenty years ago, a group in Utah County attempted to create a Save Utah Lake Committee that included a diverse group of people – some who could see the great potential for family recreation, some who wanted to bring back a healthy fish population and some who wanted to stop polluting and destroying this once-beautiful lake. All our efforts came to a halt when we learned that the water in Utah Lake was actually owned by Kennecott (now Rio Tinto) and Salt Lake County, and had been for decades. No one could find out how they gained possession of the water in the lake, but records showed no one could move ahead with efforts to improve the quality of the water in the lake because it was "owned" by these two entities (who seemed to have no interest in investing in improving water quality).

A 2009 Utah Lake Commission Master Plan's 59-page report focused on the development of the land around the lake, and related transportation issues, but euphemistically and inaccurately mentioned water quality in one sentence: "The lake features high quality water (chemically , biologically, and visually) that is free from deleterious contaminants and suitable for its beneficial uses." Today the entire lake is closed because it has concentrations of algal cells in the water are three times the threshold for closing a body of water.

The land underneath the lake is owned by the state of Utah and the management and quality of the water is also monitored by state and some county agencies. That this once unspoiled gem has become a giant toxic nightmare speaks volumes about state control of natural resources. Utahns should use Utah Lake as the prime example of the state's inability and unwillingness to care for our state's resources, or to view them as anything other than a potential source of revenue for the private sector.

With the threat of toxic algae moving north into Salt Lake County, perhaps the state will get serious about trying to save Utah Lake.

Candace Jacobson lives in Provo and is a member of the original Save Utah Lake Committee.