Washington supports the lake: Utah Lake Authority receives $7.7 million in federal funding
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- Birds fly at the Provo River Delta at the mouth of Utah Lake on Monday, March 2, 2026, in Provo.
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- Utah Lake is pictured Monday, March 2, 2026, in Provo.
Utah Lake is doing “a hell of a lot better than anybody thinks it’s doing,” said Utah Lake Authority Director Luke Peterson, but he said the lake still faces “big hairy challenges” that lack simple solutions.
For starters, the authority continues working to improve the lake’s quality, an issue exacerbated by invasive carp. Similar to the Great Salt Lake, water quantity is a concern. There are also aspirations of improving recreation around the lake.
Utah’s representatives in Washington have committed to investing in problem-solving for these issues through congressionally directed funding.
Peterson confirmed to the Daily Herald on Monday the Utah Lake Authority recently received $7.7 million in federal funds that will go toward separate areas of improvements at Utah Lake.
Sen. John Curtis and Rep. Mike Kennedy sponsored $4 million for a Utah Lake nature center, while Rep. Burgess Owens sponsored $2.5 million for recreation access improvements and Curtis sponsored $1.2 million to combat invasive species, according to Peterson. Through additional grants, Peterson said the ULA has received just over $10 million in funding.
The sum will go a long way in boosting the lake authority, which receives $1.5 million annually in state funding.
“We are so grateful for the budget we get from the state of Utah every year. We could not do the work that needs to be done on Utah Lake with that alone,” Peterson said. “So it’s imperative we go and get as many matching dollars from federal sources, from different grants, sponsorships, you name it.”
Peterson said he’s worked alongside Curtis, Owens and Kennedy and their staffs to acquire this funding for nearly the entirety of the two years he’s spent at the lake authority and admitted he may have grown a few gray hairs throughout the process.
He said the funds were originally included in last year’s budget but were stripped out after Congress issued a continuing resolution to reopen the federal government. But they pushed the funding across the finish line this winter.
“The invasive species money came a little bit earlier, and then the rest came in that last budget bill that Congress passed,” Peterson said. “So yeah, it was a long, hard slog. … (The congressmen) have a lot going on, but they still helped us make this all happen.”
Peterson said the invasive species funds will most likely go toward eliminating carp, which threaten the lake’s ecosystem and increase algal blooms by eating the vegetation at the lake’s bottom.
The fight against the species began in 2009, and more than 35 million pounds of carp have been removed since, according to the lake authority, with the estimated current population of carp sitting between 50% and 75% of the original figure.
“Dealing with carp is the closest thing we have to a silver bullet for the challenges at Utah Lake,” Peterson said. “If we can get the carp population down low enough, it will benefit native species. It will improve water quality, water clarity and reduce harmful algal blooms.”
The recreation improvement funds will focus on the southern end of Utah Lake, including Goshen Bay, where a bill is currently in the state Legislature to turn the area into a waterfowl management area. Peterson said there is an opportunity in the rural area to build out trails and other improvements.
“There’s about 20,000 acres of wetland down there that is designated to be preserved and conserved,” he said. “And so we want to complement that with those dollars.”
The nature center was first proposed by the Utah Lake Commission around 2011, Peterson said, and would be built in partnership with Utah Valley University. It would serve as a research and educational center.
