Pineview Dropped. The Lakebed Had Been Holding Cars.
On September 26, National Public Lands Day, more than 100 people showed up at Pineview Reservoir with safety vests and trash bags. They walked across what looked like a grassy field. It was the bottom of the reservoir.
Pineview's water level has been dropping because of a water pipeline project, KUTV reported. The U.S. Forest Service partnered with the Ogden Valley Watershed Action Group to use the low water to remove trash that normally sits out of sight under the surface.
What Came Up
The list is the kind every diver recognizes. Automobiles. Kayak paddles. Lots of sunglasses. Crocs. Volunteer Jim Richardson, who lives nearby, described a lot of it as things people lost by accident, and a lot of it as trash people had dumped overboard. The week before, two young men bowfishing at the reservoir found an old grenade, and a bomb squad was called out.
“While it's low, we gotta take every opportunity to clean it up, right?” said Amy Khan, another nearby resident who came to help.
Liz Hill of the Forest Service's Ogden Ranger District told KUTV that much of the trash had been underwater for years and could harm vegetation and aquatic life. She also pointed out that Pineview is a water source for the whole Ogden area. Trina White of the watershed group said the Forest Service would handle the heavy work, using equipment to pull out old drums and old tires, while volunteers picked up the garbage.
A Window That Closes
That is a good day's work, and it only happened because the water went away. Most of the time, nobody gets that chance. When the pipeline work is done and Pineview fills back up, whatever was not picked up goes back under, and so does everything sitting in the deeper water that never came into view at all.
That is the pattern on reservoirs across Utah. A dry year or a construction drawdown exposes the shallow edges for a few weeks. The deep middle stays deep. The debris down there keeps sitting in water that people drink, irrigate with and swim in.
Where Divers Come In
Fathom Restoration is a disabled-veteran-led Utah 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and our volunteer divers work below the waterline, where a dropping reservoir does not reach. We go under the surface of Utah lakes and reservoirs and bring up what has settled where nobody can see it. On two September crew dives in Rainbow Bay at Deer Creek Reservoir, we brought up about 58 pounds of trash by our estimate, including paddles, fishing tackle, beer cans, chunks of glass, sunglasses and hats. Paddles and sunglasses, the same things Pineview's lakebed gave up.
The Cars Are the Hard Part
Bags of trash are one thing. A car on the bottom is another. Our Utah Waterways Submerged Debris Atlas documents an estimated 499 submerged items across 20 Utah lakes, including 56 vehicles and 103 vessels that are individually confirmed.
A sunken vehicle carries a fuel tank, engine oil, ethylene glycol and a lead acid battery. Under the Clean Water Act, a discharge that leaves a visible sheen on the water is reportable. The U.S. Geological Survey has tracked petroleum contamination persisting in groundwater for decades at its research site near Bemidji, Minnesota.
We are building toward the recovery of submerged vehicles and vessels, and we are doing it in order: insurance, permits and commercial dive certification first. Until then, our work is volunteer dive cleanups, one bay at a time.
Do Not Wait for the Water to Drop
Pineview's volunteers had the right idea. Take every opportunity. The lesson for the rest of the state is that the opportunity does not have to depend on a drawdown. The debris is there at full pool too. It is just harder to see.
Fathom Restoration is a disabled-veteran-led Utah 501(c)(3) nonprofit running volunteer dive cleanups on Utah's lakes and waterways and building toward the recovery of submerged vehicles and vessels. Donate or volunteer at fathomrestoration.org.
