Great Salt Lake water scrutinized

There's been a lot of talk lately about what's in the water.

People are concerned about mercury levels recently found in the Great Salt Lake and in the population of ducks that live there. Others worry about the amount of nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen, elements necessary for organisms to live but which in higher quantities can cause serious environmental problems.

While not everyone agrees on the severity of the water problem or what should be done about it, they understand that what happens to the water in the Great Salt Lake affects everyone, said Leland Myers, district manager for the Central Davis Sewer District.

Although much of the attention for the water quality issue has focused on mercury, Myers said there are other pollutants in the lake that could cause as much concern for the public.

"Mercury is a concern, but it's not the only real concern," he said.

Human interference in the ecology of the local environment has affected the lake in ways researchers are now trying to understand. The Central Davis Sewer District, along with Wayne Wurtsbaugh, a professor of limnology (or the study of inland waters) from Utah State University, is in the process of conducting $1 million worth of research to study the impact of water discharged from wastewater treatment plants and other sources of nutrients in the lake.

There is always something in the water when it reaches the lake, Myers said. In addition to the nutrients water naturally picks up on it's way to the lake, nine sewage treatment plants across the Wasatch Front release treated water into either the Great Salt Lake or the Jordan River, which also ends up in the lake.

Through the research they are now conducting, Myers and Wurtsbaugh want to find out if the nutrients in the lake are causing problems for the local ecosystem.

"We need good solutions based on good science," Myers said.

Driving out to Farmington Bay in mid-October, Myers talked about the many contrasting views people have of the Great Salt Lake.

"You have some really divergent attitudes about what's going on," he said.

Those differing viewpoints can create problems when protecting the environment and regulating discharges into the lake. Depending on how information surrounding the health of the lake is perceived by the general population, either too much may be done to clean up the lake, or nothing at all will be done.