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Saturday, April 6, 2013

This Day...The Lake

Photo by Laurianne Wakefield
 
Do you notice how much our lives are reckoned by the Lake?  The sunrises and sunsets are so breathtakingly beautiful that we pause to give thanks every day.  The lake goes down and we have beaches, it goes up and we have less tourists.  Our livelihood is the lake.  The deer and elk go down and up to the lake in the evening and we watch it all.  In the summer we boat, fish, swim in the cold water and water ski.  In the winter we watch every day to see if it will freeze so we can all go out on the ice and fish.  Each day the lake is a different blue, each hour a different picture as a background to our lives.  It is an amazing experience to live here.


Friday, April 5, 2013

Cisco Sonar

By Bryce Neilson,

I am tired….  I am tired of the snow on the ground….  I am tired of always having to wear a coat and long pants…. I am tired of looking out over the ice covered lake….  Most of these things are out of our control and are part of living in Bear Lake which I never get tired of.

The ice is on everyone’s mind.  First people want to know when it will freeze.  Once that happens, everyone is content until March.  Then it starts again, when will the ice go?

Many people assume that as the weather gets warm, it makes the ice soft on the top and it eventually melts.  That is true is small bodies of water but on Bear Lake things are different.  The rain and heat affect the ice surface but the water below needs to get warmer than 32 degrees.  The inflow from the Bear River and tributaries account for this impact.  This ice melts from the bottom up.  As the lake level increases it opens up a ring of water around the shoreline.  The lake then starts to get darker which means it is melting.  The wind starts pushing the huge ice mass around, it cracks and the blocks crash into each other.  More water opens up and one day, all of a sudden, it is gone.  It may push up on shore as a result of wind, but it will be bathed in a warm rain or just disappear.  I sure hope it melts before May. 

Sure signs of spring are here  The turkey vultures have returned to Randolph, calves are frolicking around, turkeys are gobbling and the deer are nibbling the "first green bite"  Enjoy.
 
 

 

 

Ice Melting on the Lake by Bryce Neilson

Brite Gas Special

Dear Editor, I had spoken with you on the phone about possibly receiving your blogs by email. 
 
I was going to let you know about a special that we are running. We are giving $50.00 Worth of FREE Propane Referral Cards. Existing customers can receive this just by the new customer mentioning their name as a referral. Qualifying new accounts must have a minimum 250 gallon tank capacity and must have been filled by BriteGas in order to receive their $50.00 worth of free propane. They can call us at 800-752-8778 for more information.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks so much & have a great weekend!!
Alysia Liechty
PO Box 627
Soda Springs ID 83276
Toll Free: 1-800-752-8778
Local: 547-2555
 

April 20 Earth Day Downtown Logan


Thursday, April 4, 2013

Remember, We Live On A Fault Line


The State is busy planning our Utah Shakeout exercise to be held on April 18, 2013. The day before the exercise, we, along with nearly 1 million of our closest friends, will practice Drop, Cover and Hold On in the State’s largest earthquake drill. We decided to separate these two events to allow more time for our public outreach and drill activities. 

This year’s exercise scenario begins where we concluded last year, 24 hours after a 7.0 earthquake along the Wasatch Front. The start time of the exercise will be event +24 hours. This will allow us to further our practice of mission assignments, resource allocation and information sharing. We are looking forward to testing our EOC operations and ensuring that we are able to efficiently manage the requests for resources and information. We will coordinate our efforts with FEMA and exercise how we request resources through the Action Request Form (ARF) process.  

We will also practice the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) to ensure we can get people here, from other states, when we need them. 

Our State Emergency Response Team (SERT) and Division of Emergency Management (DEM) staff have been regularly attending monthly meetings and practicing our activation responsibilities. Web EOC has been upgraded and new tools allow us more coordination and better information. We have looked at the lessons learned from last year’s exercise and tried to build on those identified areas of needed improvement. Each year we learn something new and work to improve our operation. 

Kris Repp, Kevin Holman and Matt Beaudry have worked diligently on this exercise to make it very productive. Their extra efforts in making sure every detail is handled will lead us to a successful exercise.

We also have our partners, who are subject matter experts, writing injects. This will make our exercise content very realistic and our capabilities adequately tested. 

If you have any questions about the exercise, please email me at judywatanabe@utah.gov.
 

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Bear Lake Water Levels Predicted


 

By Claudia Cottle,
Bear Lake Watch
 
What we didn't get, won't get and what we'll lose. Seems like there has been no good news this year.


 It's hard to fathom that such a long hard winter could leave us with such a poor water supply, but that is absolutely the case.  The snowpack in the Bear River basin sits at 71% of normal, the low level snow  is all gone, the mid level is mostly gone. Sadly, not much of the meager high level  snow in the headwaters of  Uintahs  will be making its way to Bear Lake, as the upstream, Woodruff Narrows Reservoir is very low (15%) and is in line to fill before any water would pass down the river.  The flows in the Bear River are expected to be so low that  the Stewart Dam diversion will be less than twenty percent of normal. The reality is that if you were watching closely you already saw the "peak" of the runoff from the river during the third week in March, when Rainbow Canal was at 200cfs. Even last year we got up over 600cfs for a few days in April.  It is not expected to go anywhere near that this year.   On April 1, inflow at the Causeway  was only 150 cfs. (No, this is not an April Fool's joke!)

 

The 2012 lake level ended at 5915.5 ft. Since then it has come up roughly a foot and is only expected to gain another 7 inches.   This means that 2013 will be topping off at a high of around 5917.3. As bad as that  sounds,  the increase of 1.8 feet, doesn't even make the  "Top 20 Worst" list for Bear Lake. That list is dominated by the 1990's and the early 2000's.  Hopefully the 2010's don't take over the list.

 

Where we will be by the end of the summer depends on the weather and the good practices of crop producers. It is one of the unusual years, when it's a very bad water year, but because the lake is still relatively high, the downstream irrigators will be permitted a full allocation of 245,000 af. (as per the Bear Lake Settlement Agreement ). It is also a year that they may actually need to use most of it. Most years there is enough rain and other water in the lower river system, that they do not use their full allocation. The outlook doesn't look for that. Only properly timed rain events can help.

 

Most of our downstream irrigators are committed to conservation . They know that water left in Bear Lake is like money in a savings account. So how much will actually be withdrawn depends on the weather creating the need by being hot and dry or satisfying the need with cool rain.

  

Therefore, with each foot of elevation being approximately 70,000 af, the lake could be drawn down  3 1/2 feet. But we're still not done, nature will be taking its share also through evaporation. It is estimated Bea Lake looses +/- 30 inches a year. This is also a scenario for the pumping to start early, so the lake will probably peak in early May and then start down. 2001 was a similar year but the peak was July 1st.So the good news for some and the bad news for other is that there will be more beach sooner than later.

 

Job Openings in Rich County Schools

March 25, 2013

 
Rich County School District is accepting applications

for the following positions for the 2013-2014 school year:
 
One Part-Time Special Education Aide at South Rich Elementary
 

Two Part-Time Classroom Aides at North Rich Elementary
 

Two Part-Time Special Education Aides at

Rich Middle School/North Rich Elementary
 
Must be willing to submit to a background check.


Must be willing to meet the “highly qualified” paraprofessional standards as required by the State Board Rule. Interested individuals must be 18 years old, be a high school graduate or equivalent, have the ability to communicate effectively and help others, have a valid Driver’s License, and be willing and able to transport school age children in a district-owned vehicle. Must also be able to lift 50 pounds. Applicants should have the ability to work with children, operate office machines, perform routine record keeping functions, and establish and maintain working relationships with co-workers, teachers, students, and the public.
 
Application can be found online
Send application to: Rich School District
                                   
Attn: Superintendent Dale Lamborn
P O Box 67, 25 South 100 West, Randolph, Utah 84064
                                   
Phone 435-793-2135 
 
Fax 435-793-2136
                                   
Email  dlamborn@richschool.org

Kindergarten Registration Reminder

This is a second reminder of Kindergarten Registration.   Registration is April 29, 2013. If you have a preschooler who will turn five before September 1, 2013, please call NRE 946-3359 X200 to schedule an appointment to register.