Evaporation of Much Needed Water

During the summer months when the weather is hot and dry, the lake evaporation rate peaks at a whopping 651 million gallons per day, which is twice the total water used by all other sources. The water evaporated is enough to supply about one million people per day. The high rate of evaporation is due to the lake's large surface area in relation to its depth and temperature. After precipitation, it is estimated that the lake loses 75 billion gallons of water per year through evaporation.

Is there any way to recover this lost water?  ​

​Renewable Energy Innovations has already begun dialog with environmental engineers and scientists. Our purpose is to look at the various proposed methods of addressing evaporation rates of the water in the Utah lake balanced with the environmental issues. The discussions have centered around obvious questions:

​What if we reduce the surface area of the lake and increase its depth?

​How much more water can we store and not lose to evaporation?

This is much more than an engineering exercise as we also must  consider balance with the environment. ​Renewable Energy Innovations will spend much more time evaluating this solution due to its size and impact on Utah Lake and its ecosystem.

Dredging the Lake

There has been much speculation over the years about dredging Utah lake. Of the water and lake specialists, there is little question that dredging would be beneficial to the lake.

​Renewable Energy Innovations is looking into many other ​environmental considerations as well as the cost/benefit analysis that would support such actions. While dredging may solve some problems, it will change the very nature of Utah lake as we know it today.

​A Bridge or Causeway

Along with dredging is also the concept of constructing a bridge or causeway across the lake and linking it to a few hundred acres of recreational and residential islands. Potentially, this could generate hundreds of millions of dollars from its development.

​​The sediments from dredging could be used to build these islands and recreational areas, which would add depth to the lake and significantly reduce its surface area and water evaporation.​

The dredging material could also be used to build a berm around the lake to create: picnic, playground and camping areas, walking, jogging, biking and horse trails, and a beautiful scenic roadway around the entire lake.

High-Capacity Reservoir

​Renewable Energy Innovations believes that dredging the lake, building islands and recreational areas connected with a causeway and berms around the lake will significantly reduce the surface area and lake water evaporation. This combined effort can create an opportunity for a high-capacity reservoir.

The reservoir will help to balance the seasons, water levels and provide in times of drought.  Utah and Salt Lake Counties need water in all of its many uses. Utah lake could be the means for providing that to over a million people in years to come.