| OCR Text |
Show willows, greasewood, sagebrush, rabbit brush, cattails, and tules. ( Nonrotated pasture, greasewood, sagebrush, and rabbit brush are sometimes not considered to be phreatophytes, but are classified as such in recent reports by the U. S. Geological Survey, the Soil Conservation Service, local universities, and others.) Areas of wet meadows and nonrotated pastures are economically the most valuable of all the phreatophytes because of their use for livestock grazing, wildlife habitat, and cropping for meadow hay. Areas inhabited by sagebrush, greasewoods, and rabbit brush are generally more like desert. In most cases these plants would obtain their water supply from direct precipitation and groundwater fringes. Water salvage from these areas would be less productive than the wetter areas. Areas that produce cattails, willows, cottonwoods, salt cedar, and tules offer the best potential for water salvage. Areas of this type within the Bonneville Unit are found near lakes and reservoirs and along the streams. Large areas around the Great Salt Lake, Utah Lake, Mona Reservoir, and Sevier Bridge Reservoir have some water- salvage potential. Streams with substantial phreatophyte growth are the Duchesne River, the Jordan River, and the Sevier River. /- lr The 1969 Hydrologic Inventory of Utah Lake Drainage Area " states that " Two subareasin the Utah Lake Drainage area have significant phreatophyte problems. The net depletion by phreatophytes has been computed as 56, U00 acre- feet annually. Much of this depletion occurs near the shores of Utah Lake and could be curtailed." Areas in the Utah Lake drainage with phreatophyte control potential include about 6,200 acres in Wasatch County and about 25,000 acres in Utah County. The phreatophyte or wetland areas associated with Utah Lake are indicated by the shaded areas in Figure H- T, which was adapted from the report mentioned above. 11 Figure H- T shows that the larger blocks where salvage could be accomplished are within the Provo and Goshen Bay areas. The State- administered Powell Slough Wildlife Management Area is another large wetland area. The remaining wetland area consists mostly of a narrow band around the shore of the lake which is supplied in part by the fluctuating lake waters. Diking of Provo and Goshen Bays would accomplish salvage on a major portion of these areas. However, wildlife interests are opposed to dewatering these and similar 525 |
