Well I certainly got quite a bit of responses to wanting to crane back in. But I also had several inquiries on dredging and Lake Level predictions. I don't have much of an update on dredging right now. Currently there is a plan in place but is awaiting comment/approval from Army Corp. If they approve it we could be dredging very soon. If not, we will need to rethink the plan. I'm hoping to hear news this week. The engineers feel fairly confident that the Corp will approve the plan. I'm much more guarded in my assessment right now. It is too early to come up with a lake level prediction right now. But here is where things sit with water levels. The lake has come up nearly a foot since our low of 4192.4 in December. Today we hit 4193.3. This puts almost enough water in the mouth for the 4' draft boats to get out to the lake. Almost enough. This is also a much quicker and significant rise compared to last year. Here is a water-year comparison from last year to this year 2014-2015 2015-2016 October 1% 39% Bad month but better than last year November 39% 29% Another bad month December 114% 181% phenomenal January 63% 141% phenomenal February 23% 38% might rebound some from the storm today As of yesterday we are at 44% of moisture (direct precipitation) and 95% of snowpack. This is not where we need to be but it is an incredible improvement over last year. Current NOAA predictions show a wetter-than-normal pattern through July of this year. If this holds true we could see a good water year. By mid-March I should have a better idea on what I think the lake will do. On a good note, the lake is so small right now that it won't take as much runoff to raise the lake as there is less surface area to cover. On a bad note is that the north half and the south half are 2 feet difference in elevation. We could lose a lot of water through the year to the north half. With regards to a March crane day, I am just waiting to hear from Army Corp. Then I will make a decision. I will keep you posted. Dave Shearer Harbor Master Great Salt Lake State Marina Antelope Island State Marina 801-209-9142
