By Bryce Neilson
Spring is trying its best to arrive at Bear Lake but as I look out and the recent dusting of snow and 32F this morning, it is not having much success. Forecasts look like we will immediately move into summer. The runoff this spring has been weird, just like everything else. We had normal amounts of snow but no big runoff as it melted. Apparently, most went into the ground which will provide us water in the future. Bear Lake is slowly rising with an elevation of 5919.25’ and an inflow of 400 cfs. It is hard to predict how much higher it will get before it peaks, but the are not releasing any water at present.
One thing that is seen during times like this is the buildup of a black muck just above the waterline along the shore, primarily between St. Charles and Garden City. It rarely build up along the east side of the Lake. It has occurred many times before and causes many shoreline homeowners grief, but where does it come from and what is it?
It is called “organic detritus”, which is plant material that is breaking down and decomposing. Many people believe that it comes into the Lake from the Bear River and Mud Lake. I do not think that is the source. When the Lake starts to rise in the spring that it inundates the millions of terrestrial plants that have been growing on the beaches all summer long are now dead. As the remaining live plants drown, they die and begin to decompose. They then break down into smaller particles, the lakes wave action suspends them in the water column. As the waves ebb and flow, they pull or deposit these plant particles on the shoreline. Since plants do better where there are more nutrients, the places were people live along the shore grow more vegetation due to fertilizing and property runoff. In the areas where the wetlands have been filled, the water flows in through drains which are high in nutrients. The natural currents then distribute the organic detritus along the shore, and it build up as the lake continues to rise. These rows of black debris are considered unsightly and people will spend a lot of time cleaning it up. It makes excellent mulch but watch out of the weed seeds.
Is there anything that can be done about the “muck”? Not really, since it is a natural function of the Lake. In or out of the water it is important biologically for animals and future plants. It is one of the conditions people have to accept living along Bear Lake’s shoreline.
