The Utah Valley Earth Forum will host an online public forum Tuesday to discuss possibilities for the restoration of Utah Lake.

The UVEF is Utah Valley’s oldest environmental organization. Its forum “Restoring Utah Lake: What is the Science?” will take place on Zoom at 7 p.m.

“Many Utahns, especially in Utah Valley, agree that Utah Lake needs additional restoration,” according to a press release. “Less well known is that numerous helpful restoration efforts have been happening for many years, and more are currently underway. The lake is gradually being restored in a careful, scientifically sound way.”‘

The Utah Lake Restoration Project, created by Lake Restoration Solutions, will be a topic of discussion at this forum. This project proposes dredging Utah Lake in order to create human-made islands for various uses, such as residential communities, recreational spaces and estuaries.

Representatives of Lake Restoration Solutions claim that the Utah Lake Restoration Project will help to make Utah Lake deeper, cleaner and healthier, although it has received criticism from the UVEF as well as other local conservation organizations and even the director of Utah’s Division of Forestry, Fire, and State Lands.

A group of scientists will speak as panelists at the forum and discuss what they believe to be the scientific implications of the Utah Lake Restoration Project, as well as other restoration efforts.

Panelists for this forum will include:

• Patrick Belmont, Utah State University professor and Watershed Sciences department head.
• Janice Brahney, USU professor of environmental biochemistry.
• Ben Abbott, Brigham Young University professor of ecosystem ecology.
• Kevin Shurtleff, Utah Valley University professor of chemistry with a focus on algal blooms.
• Sam Rushforth, emeritus Dean of the UVU College of Science.
• Keith Hambrecht, invasive species coordinator at the FFSL and Utah Department of Natural Resources.
• Brian Moench, physician and founder of the Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment.

According to a press release, representatives from Lake Restoration Solutions did not respond to repeated requests to participate in the forum and provide panelists from the company.

For more information or to register for this event, visit UVEF.org. A livestream of the forum will be available at Facebook.com/theUVEF.

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