It was good to see so many faces at the Antelope Island outing this last Saturday.  I hope we were able to pass on some helpful information about dredging and snowpack / lake levels.  But for those that weren’t there it is time to face some very hard facts of where we are right now.

 

First for the good news.  1.5 million dollars has been allocated by the legislature for dredging the Great Salt Lake Marina in fiscal year 2016.  Fiscal year 2016 begins this July 1st.  Any dredging efforts cannot begin until then.  More about dredging  later in this email.

 

And now for the hard, realistic facts.  We have had an abysmal winter snowpack.  Today our snowpack is 57% and dropping fast.  Yet the lake is not rising very fast at all.  In fact we have probably already topped out for the year at 4194.1’ above sea level.  That means we only came up 1 foot this year instead of the normal two feet.  We are likely to lose 2.8’ of lake level this summer bringing us to a new historic low of 4191.3’.  That will leave us 1.6’ at the marina mouth and about 3 to 3.5’ inside the marina by fall.

 

By late May anyone with a draft of 4’ or more will be stuck in the marina.

 

By late June anyone with a draft of 3.5’ or more will be stuck in the marina.

 

By late July anyone with a draft over 3’ will be stuck in the marina.

 

By late July there will only be about 1 foot of water depth at the launch ramp.

 

By the time we can realistically dredge there will be about 3’ of water in the south basin of the marina.  The west basin will be lost to the sailboats.

 

I HIGHLY ENCOURAGE ANY VESSEL WITH A DRAFT OVER 4 FEET TO PULL OUT ON THE APRIL 23RD CRANE DAY.  If You do not pull by then you will likely become stuck in your slip within a month or more.  And you will not be able to get to the crane out slip much after mid-May.  AND CONSIDER THAT, IF YOU ARE STUCK IN YOUR SLIP, WE CANNOT DREDGE THAT SLIP.

 

And I further recommend anyone with a draft over 3’ pull out sometime in mid-May to early June.  We will keep you posted on the lake level and likely Crane Day for the smaller draft boats in the coming month.

 

And the lake level outlook for next year is also grim.  By fall the reservoirs and ground water will be so low that most of next year’s snowpack will go into replenishing them rather than to Great Salt Lake.  We would need a snowpack of 140% or more for the lake to have a net rise next year.

 

I know this is horrible news and that it brings an extra burden to slip renters in de-rigging boats, paying for crane time and scrounging up trailers, stands or cradles.  But things will hopefully look much brighter after dredging is done.

 

Current Plan

So here is the current plan.

·         Dredging money of 1.5 million has been appropriated for Great Salt Lake sometime after July.

·         The original dredging plan calls for dredging the whole marina and cutting a new path across the reef in an area known as the REEF CHANNEL.  This is in line with the marina mouth and heading directly towards Promontory.  This path is only ½ miles of dredging as opposed to 1.7 Miles of dredging the DEEP CHANNEL.  The cost of dredging the whole marina and the REEF CHANNEL was estimated at 1.175 million dollars.  That might leave enough money to modify the breakwall’s dogleg and make it a sea wall instead.  This might help mitigate future silting inside the marina but might still mean periodic maintenance of silting at the mouth.  The estimated cost for modifying the mouth was $400,000.

·         The marina was originally dredged to 4188’ back in 1980.  That is six feet lower than the current lake level.  I have talked to a couple of dredgers who are confident they can dredge deeper than that.  But we will not know how successful dredging will be until it is actually completed.  So I caution everyone with a draft of over four feet to get out while they can still reach the crane out slip.

·         There is much we need to do before dredging is done.  We have already lost B dock and will begin to lose C dock this spring.  So we will be relocating boats from those two docks to other slips.  We will move as many boats into the south basin as possible this spring.  This will minimize boats being stuck in their slips as well as free up the west basin for dredging  work.

·         We will charge winter rates for those boats currently trapped in the marina starting April 1st.

·         This May we are bringing in an excavator to dig out parts of the berm near each of the docks in the south basin.  The purpose of this is so that gangways can settle down instead of bottom out and being higher than the docks.  And it will allow the docks to fall straight down rather than bottom out on the berm and begin twisting and buckling.  We will also try to cut out part of the lower shelf of the breakwall to widen the marina mouth some until dredging can begin.

 

What Happens Next?

·         We need to get all boats with drafts over three feet out of the marina before they become stuck in their slips.  If you are stuck in your slip we cannot dredge.  Please, please consider pulling out this spring or summer while you still can so that we can be as successful with dredging as possible.  I know many of your boats need maintenance work.  Consider this a good time to do that.

·         State Parks will need to make sure the funding is correct and transferred to the correct agencies in July before any work can begin on dredging.  The money that was appropriated by the legislature is as follows:

o   $500,000 from State Parks Park Fees restricted funds

o   $1,000,000 from State Lands restricted funds.

·         These funds are not available until July 1st.

·         Because of the amount of money involved DFCM will manage the initial process of bidding for engineers and dredgers.

·         An engineer firm will have to be hired using an RFQ process.

·         Parks will work closely with the engineer on where, how deep, and what to do with the spoils.

·         The engineering firm will be responsible for all Army Corps permits and environmental issues.

·         After engineering is complete a bid will be put out for a contractor following all DFCM rules and criteria.

·         Once construction begins Parks will oversee the project until completion.

·         One option is to purchase the dredge equipment.

·         To sum it up the project will strictly follow all DFCM guidelines and will be Design/Bid/Build.

 

Crane Day and Storage

·         Crane Day is still Saturday, April 23rd and possibly April 24th depending on the demand for pulling out.  And right now demand is high.

·         I still recommend anyone with a draft over 4.0’ utilize this crane day.  Remember that we do not know how successful dredging will be and I would not want to see you trapped not being able to get to the crane out slip.

·         Drafts of less than 4.0’ might be able to wait until June before pulling out.  We will closely monitor lake levels and keep you informed.  Remember that we could have less than four feet of water in the marina (south basin) by mid-July and the west basin will be mostly lost.

·         On April 23rd Crane Day we will have two cranes on-site.  One crane will be stationed at the top of J dock.  This crane will have to be 120 to 240 tons to accommodate the reach and weight of some of the heavier boats.  The second smaller crane will be stationed where we will be storing boats on stands and cradles.

·         Please get your stands and cradles ordered ASAP.  More on stands and cradle availability in a bit.

·         We will try to have three to four trailers available to put boats on temporarily so that we can shuttle the boats that don’t have trailers, over to the storage area where the second crane will lift you off the trailer and put you on stands or cradles.  Costs for each pick could be anywhere from $75 to $300 dollars (estimate only!) depending on how many boats sign up and how long each boat takes to put on trailers and stands.

·         PLEASE RSVP for crane spots ASAP!  To save as much money for each boater we will choreograph crane day so that we keep a very  good and steady flow.  Right now we have so many boats signed up that crane day is likely to bleed over to April 24th.

·         We will begin storing boats in the south parking lot between the dumpsters (entry area) and the Marina Office.  Monthly costs will be $25.00.  If we run out of room in the south parking lot we will start storing boats in the west parking lot against the fence line for the docks.

·         For those that will be pulling out but do not want to give up your slip for fear of not getting your slip back, do not worry.  We will not rent out your slip.  We may move a boat into it temporarily in order to accommodate dredging efforts.  But we will reserve your slip and no cost to you.

 

Cradles and Boat Stands

Boat stands can be purchased at West Marine.  You will need a minimum of five stands.  Four stands for the sides of your boat and one bow stand.  This is needed to properly secure your boat the best possible.

Cradles can be purchased at several locations.  The three off the top of my head are as follows:

·         Chad Wardle 801-440-8518

·         Advanced RV 801-965-0661 (ask for Dave Llorett)  He also has room to store boats at his store.

·         Lakepoint Custom Fab and Machine 801-250-9503 (ask for Jeremy Wells)

 

 

RSVP for Crane Day

To RSVP for Crane Day please email me at dshearer@gslmarina.com.  I need to know the following information:

·         Name

·         Phone Number

·         Type of Boat

·         Name of Boat

·         Whether you have your own trailer or you will have stands or you will have cradles (This is very important to know for scheduling purpose

·         Whether you want to store your boat at the marina or you will be taking it away.

·         Whether you want to keep your slip or want to give up your slip (remember that we will not charge you for your slip until dredging is complete and we have a crane day to go back in)

 

Not All is Doom and Gloom – Trend Change?

It isn’t the end of the world.  Or should I say it isn’t the end of Great Salt Lake.  Some studies indicate that the lake has actually dried up three times in the last 10,000 years.  I have also been studying the lake for some time now.  What doomed us this year was storm track.  The storms just didn’t come over the lake this year.  We had a high pressure camped over us all winter pushing the storms over the top of Utah or destroying them all together as they hit the high pressure.  The storms WILL return.  Remember four years ago?  We came up a record five feet.  And it felt like winter would never end.  The lake kept rising all the way into July. One long-term study indicates that the lake will begin an upswing in lake elevation in 2017.

 

I know that this was a long email.  But it is important to get this information out to you.

 

If you have any questions please feel free to email or call.

 

Thank you.

 

Dave