In response to “Polling shows strong support for Utah Lake dredging, but critics say survey is biased”:
Utah Lake has a reputation issue, not a restoration issue. Outdated but stubborn narratives about the lake’s health have opened the door for a development project to manipulate public opinion. The recent poll of Utah County residents conducted by G1 Research but commissioned by Lake Restoration Solutions is not proof of support for dredging and artificial islands, but instead confirmation of the company’s desire to gain support with use of false information.
We do not need LRS to “restore” Utah Lake. Local and state efforts are already successfully improving the health of the lake. Hundreds of projects over the last 50 years have done incredible things. Water quality, algal blooms, fish populations and wetland habitats are all significantly improved. Each project works with the natural systems of the lake and encourages sustainable human interaction.
Yet, LRS insists that the lake is still damaged and in need of saving — and that their invasive, expensive plan is the only way to do it. This proposal includes dredging one billion cubic yards of sediment to build 18,000 acres of islands, which they would own and populate with a city of up to half a million people. They claim this can be done for $6 billion. Yet, dredging projects across the world have proven incredibly expensive, damaging, and, in most cases, failures. Palm Jumeirah in Dubai, Ocean Flower in China, and Kansai Airport in Japan — all sinking. Also, each of these was under 3000 acres and cost between $12-31 billion to complete.
As a Utah County resident, I put my faith and support in our proven-successful local restoration efforts.
Teri Lyn Harman, Saratoga Springs
from The Salt Lake Tribune https://ift.tt/gYIVxoG
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