Utah Lake Authority says decade of work cut phragmites coverage; restoration and funding remain priorities

Addie Valdez, conservation education programs manager for the Utah Lake Authority, said the agency and its partners have sharply reduced the spread of the invasive common reed Phragmites australis and are now shifting attention to restoring native wetland vegetation and long-term watershed coordination.

Valdez said the reed once covered almost 10,000 acres of Utah Lake shoreline in 2012 and that the Authority’s combined efforts have produced an estimated roughly 80% reduction, with about 1,500 acres remaining under treatment this year. "We started about 10,000 acres ... and we're now, I think, with our rough estimations, about 1,500 acres as of this year in our treatment," she said.

The reduction followed a decade of coordinated tactics and equipment upgrades, Valdez said, including the use of Marshmaster floating work platforms to…