‘What’s the rush?’ ask those upstream and downstream of Utah’s largest freshwater lake.
(Francisco Kjolseth | Tribune file photo) This July 26, 2019, file photo shows Lincoln Beach at the southern end of Utah Lake has been closed because of a toxic algal bloom. The Legislature snubbed a bill Wednesday that would have created a new authority to manage and clean up the lake, Utah's largest fresh water lake.
| Feb. 24, 2021, 7:25 p.m.
A bill that would turn over management of the beleaguered Utah Lake to a new taxing authority was swamped by opposition during its first committee hearing Tuesday.
Under the bill, the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands would turn over control over the state-owned lake bed to the Utah Lake Authority. The authority would then serve as a political subdivision, eventually enacting a tax on the project area to fund its ongoing operations and environmental restoration, estimated to cost as much as $7 billion.