Willard Bay .... to go away? (ot)

[Old_Coot]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 2]Today I heard something on the radio that I found disturbing and wanted to study a little deeper. So I took a look at today's Standard-Examiner ([/size][/font][url "http://www.standard.net/"][font "Comic Sans MS"][size 2]http://www.standard.net/[/size][/font][/url][font "Comic Sans MS"][size 2]) news paper and my fears were confirmed.[/size][/font]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 2]There is a study going on to see if the water that ends up in Willard Bay could be redirected into an underground aquifer before reaching the Bay.[/size][/font]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 2]Apparently, there is an extremely large underground aquifer under the Weber County area that holds much of the water that Weber county wells draw it's drinking water from. A Weber State University professor has built a pond that gathers runoff water before it hits Willard Bay and soaks it into that big aquifer in the ground. It seams to be working![/size][/font]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 2]Several times in the article, Willard Bay and it's water is referred to as some kind of "waste".[/size][/font] [indent]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 2]"Much of it (the runoff) ends up in Willard Bay, where it evaporates. People watch it and wonder 'Isn't there some way to keep from WASTING all that water'?"[/size][/font][/indent]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 2]I have been out there hundreds of times and NEVER wondered if there was a way to keep it from being "wasted". I, on the other hand, have always felt blessed that it existed. Even marveled at the Corps of Engineers that constructed it.[/size][/font]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 2]And then to contradict themselves, the arcticle says that this test diversion will continue until the end of April because ". . . that's when agricultural users will want it back again." [/size][/font][font "Comic Sans MS"][size 2]Want it backe again? Want it back again for what? Dahh. So, I ask . . . Is this water "wasted" or is it being used by agricultural users? Which?[/size][/font]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 2]Now that there is a potential of loosing Willard Bay, I'm realizing just how much I love it's walleyes and wipers. In a previous post, someone referred to Utah's fishing waters as being diverse with varieties. One big reason that is so true is because of the walleye and wipers in Willard.[/size][/font]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 2]If the project and it's research turns out to prove doable, then Willard may in fact see it's demise. Besides, when you have to battle against the argument of drinking water for a fast growing Wasatch Front, you are on the loosing side. Even when you consider water sports, wetlands, crops, and heaven forbid . . . . . fishing. We sure wouldn't want to "waste" all that good water if we can keep it in the ground.[/size][/font]

[mad] [mad] [mad] [mad] [mad] [mad] [mad] [mad] [mad] [mad] [mad]
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[FlyFishingMoose]

Coot: this is disturbing indeed. But think of it...we allow all the run-off along the front to go wasted into the Great Salt Lake where it is unusable excpet for some chemical companies and brine shrimp. Why on earth haven't we decided to tap this great expanse of water for something other than fouling up the air when the wind blows in the wrong direction. The creation of Willard was the right thing to do years ago and it should be the same thing we do with all the waters flowing towards the Great Lake mess. Harvest and harness these waters to something other than keep the GSL in salt water. The idea years ago was to build another dike similar to willard and create another fresh water body before wasting the water in the GSL. Yes it would cost millions, but would it not benefit the wasche front more?

Thanks for letting me rant!
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[DKSRenegade]

Old Coot, I can't link to the Standard site from your post for some reason. I remember some years back when I heard that the water in Willard was put there for farming and the recreation use was only a by-product. Because of the out cry of the sportsmen, things were supposed to have changed, putting more focus on the fishing and recreational use of the bay. I hope that it will stay that way. There are a number of new drinking water plans in the works including piping Bear River water to the south to meet the growing need for water. I hope that this is not part of that plan! It would be devastating to loose such a prime fishery as Willard Bay. I hope that it will be looked at and then forgot about for ever! DKS
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[Theekillerbee]

This is indeed troubling news....I hope it does not come to pass. Willard was punished enough through the past few drought years, we don't need to divert any more water away from this precious resource. I wish the H20 managers would come up with another plan. How about move pinview dam a mile down the canyon? Make other reservoirs bigger as well? Stinking environmentalists and all of the red tape the government has to go through to even build a new dam. We need to have another large reservoir up here to accomodate the growth. A dam at the mouth of Weber canyon would be an excellent asset. My 2 cents anyways.
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[polokid]

BEE- I like the way you think, I have been saying that for years all along the wasatch front!!! There is plenty of places they can build dams and storage areas for water, excuse me for saying this, but the save the canyons freaks dont see the whole picture.


[url "http://kutv.com/utah/UT--RechargingAquifer-en/resources_news_html"]http://kutv.com/utah/UT--RechargingAquifer-en/resources_news_html[/url]
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[icthys]

I read the same article, but with what I got out of it it's almost like we read an entirely different version. I was never under the impression that the aquifier would ever replace Willard Bay. From my understanding these aquifiers would only collect water during runoff and still it wouldn't be taking all of the water during the runoff period. I also understand that these aquifiers have been used for quite sometime already.

If you want to be concerned whether or not Willard is going to have a enough water we all need to be much more aware of the amount of water we use and how we use it on a personal level. Do you shut the water off when you wash your hands? Do you shut off the shower when you soap up? These are simple things that don't seem like a big deal but when you are talking about 10's of thousands of people it certainly makes a difference. And then there are the golf courses, do we really need one on each corner like a gas station? I better stop right here about golf courses.

I think someone mentioned something about the "big picture". The bottom line is water is for staying alive, not fishing. I would much rather have water to drink and grow crops to survive than to have water for fishing.
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[HFT]

FFM. you are missing my favorite use of the great salt lake: the marshes. I had a guy in last week who caught a monster cat out there. I love to duck hunt out there, the water is not wasted if they let it run to the Salt lake.

On another note: a rumor I heard this morning they said they were only going to raise willard 4 feet this year,bummer.
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