Once the carp are diminished, water plants will regrow, sediments will settle, and the June sucker will return, said Chris Keleher, assistant director of recovery programs for the Utah Department of Natural Resources.

Clearer water should also help mitigate the presence of polychlorinated biphenyl, a poison that collects in goopy sediments at the bottom of the lake. Fish ingest the PCBs and store them in their fatty tissue, which makes them dangerous for human consumption, according to Environmental Protection Agency standards.

Studies into the source of PCBs in Utah Lake and whether other fish in the lake are also tainted should be completed by December, said Chris Cline of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

"The fish sampling will tell us most about how (PCBs) are moving through the environment and on which pathways," Cline said. "A lot of times, once you understand that, you can work backward and start understanding the sources. I can't imagine that doing just this one study will give us all the answers, but I would imagine doing this will at least be a flashlight on the bigger picture."

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E-mail: achoate@desnews.com