Utah Lake - Utah, USA
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Lord Mot
N 40° 14.483 W 111° 44.788
12T E 436506 N 4454816
The Largest Naturally-occuring freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River
Waymark Code: WMF1DD
Location: Utah, United States
Date Posted: 08/06/2012
Views: 8
Utah Lake is a freshwater lake in the U.S. state of Utah. On the western side of Utah Valley, the lake is overlooked by Mount Timpanogos and Mount Nebo. The lake's only river outlet, the Jordan River, is a tributary of the Great Salt Lake and is highly regulated with pumps. Evaporation accounts for 42% of the outflow of the lake, which leaves the lake slightly saline. The elevation of the lake is legally at 4,489 feet (1,368 m) above sea level. If the lake elevation goes any higher, the Jordan River pumps and gates are left open.
The first European to see Utah Lake was Father Silvestre Vélez de Escalante in 1776. He stayed with the Timpanogots band of Ute Tribe for three days. The Timpanogots were later moved out or integrated with the Mormon settlers between the 1850s and 1870s. The fish of the lake were overharvested by the settlers and restocked with non-native species. Although thirteen species of fish are native to the lake, only the Utah sucker and the critically endangered June sucker remain. The dominant species in the lake is the common carp, introduced in 1883 as an alternative to the over harvested native fish. The carp is now estimated at 90% of the biomass of the lake and is contributing to a decline in native fish populations by severely altering the ecosystem. Pollution has also caused problems with the lake's ecosystem. Raw sewage was dumped into the lake as late as 1967. Pollution problems still remain; the lake's phosphorus and mineral salt levels are in violation of the Clean Water Act.
Utah Lake is a remnant of a much larger pleistocene lake called Lake Bonneville, which existed from 75,000 to 8,000 years ago.[9] At its peak 30,000 years ago, Lake Bonneville reached an elevation of 5,090 feet (1,550 m) above sea level and had a surface area of 19,800 square miles (51,000 km), which was nearly as large as Lake Michigan. The weight of the lake depressed sections of the lake bottom by as much as 240 feet (73 m) before the surface rebounded when the lake dried up.[10] About 12,000 years ago, the climate of the region became warmer and drier. As evaporation rates exceeded inflow rates, the lake began to dry up, leaving Utah Lake, the Great Salt Lake, Sevier Lake, and Rush Lake as remnants
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