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Show ( 4) Utah Lake This body of water is the largest fresh water lake in Utah and supports the State* s most valuable warm water fishery,. In addition to fishing, the Lake provides recreationists opportunities to hunt, boat, water ski, picnic, and camp0 The opportunity to observe, photograph, appreciate, and learn about a variety of bird and animal life is also present. The marshes of Provo and Goshen Bay are unique in this respect. The easy accessibility of the Lake to large concentrations of people makes it an extremely valuable commodity. Utah Lake State Park, located near the middle of the east shore at the west end of Provo1s Center Street, already provides summer and winter recreation for an average of about 200,000 people a year since 1968 when the Park was established,, Utilization of the Park as well as the Lake has been strongly influenced by assessments of the quality of the lake water, which because of high chemical and biological loads, accompanied by the churning up of bottom sediments, is continually turbido In 1969, excessively high counts of coliform bacteria found in water samples from the vicinity of Park beaches resulted in this area being officially declared unfit for swimmingo After this, Park attendance dropped from a peak of nearly 350,000 in 1969 to a minimum of about 196,000 in 1971. Indications are that usage is again increasing since more than 250.000 people used the Park in the first 10 months of 1972.9° While most activity on the lake occurs during the summer months, winter activities such as ice skating and snowmobiling are becoming more popular. The winter commercial fishery attracts visitors. Because of the State Park! s present popularity, future plans by the Utah Parks and Recreation Division include construction of a fenced- in play area with playground equipment for children, additional campgrounds, and improvements to existing campgrounds. In addition, the construction of two more boat harbors south of the existing facilities is planned. ( 5) Jordan River Since the turn of the century there have been numerous attempts to utilize the Jordan River for one type of recreation or another. But none have persisted other 151 |
