OCR Text |
Show 6B Lakeside Review South, Wednesday, April 11, 1984 Great Salt Lake Rising to Threatening Level y f BARRY KAWA Review Staff , A GREAT SALT LAKE beachfront West Bountiful land- till, floating sewer plants and a ferry transporting visitors to' An- iclope Island may lie in store for Davis County residents if the Great Salt Lake continue to rise. . J . - . T "K gf- ul. Frankly, I , - f Utf?' 4s ' , I - v " dont know what - ' K'v: v $ " ? VJ JSli r.: sr irrs O - T g ' Vjyjyyy w.r i ( yTl iI, Si - Jj ,v &'J f(s aT . o . X - 300-fo- flood-contr- 1988. Hawkins uses a system of past lake patterns, current lake cycles, ot Its been a total failure, Hawkins said. They said on Sept. 1, 1982, that there was one chance in 100 the lake would reach the lake about 9 inches. Work began recently on the breach, which the Army Corps of Engineers says could also in4203.75 mark that year. It went crease evaporation rates by creto 4205. On Sept. 1 of last year ating a greater surface area of they said there was one chance less saline water. This could lowin 100 the lake would reach er the lake level more rapidly 4207.65. Id be embarrassed if during the summer and possibly my forecasting model were that reduce flood damage in the future. far off. Hawkins said the rising lake level will naturally break the Southern Pacific Railroad Causeway extending across the lake and there is no need for the he said. The Environmental Health Division continuously monitors county cities water for possible fecal contamination through high bacteria counts. Harvey said if floods start occuring this spring, the checks will increase to about three or four samples per day in each water system affect- pressurized water systems, as long as theyre not physically damaged, should not have any major contamination problems, he said. Wells could potentially have some problems but we dont expect any. Harvey cited the mudslide in Rqddreek 4ha,t hjt,. he ( Irj mington reservoirs last spring causing the water to become very dirty and the town to be put on a boil order until the system could be cleaned up. In Bountiful during last years flooding, Harvey said bacterial samples from the water system revealed a problem because of broken water lines repaired with such connections as fire hoses. We just couldnt guarantee the integrity of the system, he said. Harvey said the Health Department recommends boiling, drinking water for 5 minutes before using when the boil order is given to a city. He said this is uspallyj saferr ithan othejf.purir 10-1- ' the state for solving the flooding problems on the lake. Were gambling with the guy upstairs, Reynolds said. I dont know what hes going to do and all we can do at this point is to remain in a reactionary mode since there hasnt been any big amount of money made available. Reynolds estimates actual current damage to wildlife and parks is about $8 million to $9 million. Reynolds said the state may ask the Legislature next year for .funds to build a bridge or other structure to Antelope Island. He said his department hopes to have some engineering work But Utah Department of Natural Resources Executive Direc- done this year on other possible tor Temple A. Reynolds said the ways to alleviate lake flooding $3.7 million to fund the breach but noted, theres no quick fix is all the Legislature has given and theres no cheap fix. , If Runoff Affects systems, The and feed in area farmlands. ol projects will be able to protect the landfill. A Weber State College professor who accurately predicted the lake level in 1976, 1981 and 1983 says the situation will probably get worse. Dr. Dale Hawkins, a professor of finance at WSC and a Kaysville resident, says the lake has a 90 percent chance of reaching the 4210 level this year and a 60 percent chance of a 4215 foot level by ed by flooding. 1 tT BIRDS FORCED out of natural nesting grounds by high level of Great Salt Lake fly over will happen,1 he said. But if the angles of rises and a number of state to pay $3.7 million to do it. lake tops 4,209 feet, well be esstock market analyst techniques The state legislature hopes to to compile his predictions. He control some of the flooding by sentially landfilling in the lake. wide breach in the. claims the states forecasting a However, BARD Manager mer Barlow said he believes model has been very inaccurate causeway which experts say workers using dirt from for the last two years. could lower the south arm of the Use Caution ContamiFARMINGTON nation of water supplies and failure of septic tanks can happen during floods as they did last year in Davis County and conditions will be monitored closely again this year, says an official of the Davis County Health Department. Richard Harvey, Davis County Environmental and Laboratories Division director, said 'orders to boil drinking water were issued to Farmington and parts of South Weber and Bountiful during last years flooding. We had a lot of problems with drinking water but it was more due. to the physical intrusion pf flood damage into thei' .water A ' . ' Far- g 4 y ! - mington Bay Bird Refuge and the West Layton and Kaysville wildlife marshes. Many of the wildfowl have been driven out of their nests, dikes have been damaged and plantlife in the areas has been aflected. ' But the problem for Davis County is the threat to the sewage treatment plant. Da-- vis County Planning Department Director Rick Mayfield said that it is a top priority of the county and he is very, very concerned. v, A representative of the James M. Montgomery engineering firm said if the lake rises to 4210 feet above sea level, the plant would be threatened by flooding from all sides, and the access road would be flooded for 900 feet from the plant. . County Environmental Health Director Richard Harvey said the lake poses problems for the BARD landfill in West Bountifmost-pressin- ,v&. T..4 5 k-- -- Latest figures from the U.S. Geological Survey show the lake has reached 4,207.33 above sea level, up six inches in the last two weeks. The level .was at 4202.45 exactly, year ago. . Davis County officials are concerned over the possible flooding of South Davis Sewer District facilities and the Bay Area Re-- ,, fuse District in West Bountiful. The rising of the lake has closed the causeway road to Antelope. Island in Syracuse, prompting State Parks and Recreation officials to call for bids on a ferry transport service tb the island. . Flooding has also damaged the ''outhwesf"area of the 5 ' y.'w, Water Systems fying methods such as chlorinat- ing the water. According to Harvey, another possible byproduct of flooding is the failure of septic tanks due to high ground water tables. We did see quite a few septic tank failures, he said. And the rumors Im beginning to hear is there are starting to be a lot of failures this spring in some of the lower areas of the county. Septic tanks fail when the ground water table goes up as in the lower areas around the rapidly rising Great Salt Lake. The Utah Department of Health policy is septic tank wastes and sewage contaminated groundwater from, flooded septic tanks not be discharged onto the ground or body of water. Its a real difficult situation in some areas, Harvey said. They will just have to watch that theres not surfacing sewage and people in those circumstances may have some tough times for the next three or four months. Harvey said in most cases the water table must go back down and excess water dryed out before septic tanks can begin working again. People with septic tank failures are advised to call the Environmental Division of the Davis County Health Department for detailed |