Staying Afloat: How a sailing school managed during Utah Lake's toxic algae scares.

• Author: Madison, Rachel
• Position: Lessons Learned

In mid-2016, it was hard to find a local--or national--news outlet that hadn't reported on the toxic algae problem at Utah Lake. The 150-square-mile lake was plagued by bright blue-green, soupy textured algae that caused more than 125 people to call the Utah Poison Control Center with complaints of headaches, vomiting and rashes. Because of this--and further water testing that deemed the lake unsafe for recreating--Utah Lake was closed for a short time in July 2016.

The threat, though not as severe, popped up again in mid-2017 when another algal bloom began to grow in the lake. Even though the lake wasn't shut down this year, one business, The Bonneville School of Sailing & Seamanship, has had to fight back against the perception that the lake is off-limits to recreation.

Taking a hit

Todd and Louise Frye, owners of the Bonneville School of Sailing & Seamanship at Utah Lake, admit that 2016 was a rough year for business.

"We almost didn't survive last year," Louise says. "We did really well in 2015, and then last year with the algae bloom and media coverage of it, we had people calling us even into this spring thinking the lake was still closed even though it was only closed for two weeks last summer."

When the lake closed, Louise says they were completely caught off guard. "We went out that morning and they had shut the lake down," she says. "It was a surprise. Everyone was taken aback. We had to call up people we had scheduled. There were cables across all the ramps with signs saying the lake was closed. Our business didn't go anywhere after that."

The sailing school took a major hit, losing nearly four months of business from July until October. The Fryes did do some sailing at Jordanelle Reservoir in September, but the driving distance, along with new fees and added special use permits, prevented them from staying there longer. "We're glad we could sail there, otherwise we would have been in more dire straits," Todd says.

The sailing school had been increasing its number of students each year until 2016, and now they're trying to get back to where they left off, Louise says. "We took out 27 groups of students in 2015, and in 2016 we only took out seven groups," she says. "That's pretty significant. So far this year, we're up to 23 groups of students." In comparison, during their first-ever sailing season in 2007, the Fryes taught sailing lessons to eight people total.

"Last year was a significant dip and we're climbing back up above...