Rush Lake (Tooele County, Utah)

The lake is located in a broad valley named Rush Valley near the town of Stockton and several miles south of Tooele, and is fed by snowmelt from six mountain ranges. These are the Sheeprock Mountains in the south, the East Tintic Mountains to the southeast, the Oquirrh Mountains to the east, South Mountain to the north, the Stansbury Mountains to the northwest and west, and the Onaqui Mountains to the southwest. The runoff from these mountain regions create only intermittent surface flow to the lake, but does reach it via groundwater seepage. The highest point in the watershed is Lowe Peak, at . The outflow mostly consists of evaporation, and a very small amount seeps through the sandspit that impounds it from the main Great Salt Lake valley. ==Climate and ecology==

Two major vegetation communities inhabit the Rush Lake watershed. These are sagebrush-grass and pinyon-juniper. The former is found in lower elevations and the valley floor, and the latter is found at higher elevations on the mountains along with other forms of alpine vegetation. The average annual precipitation is , and the annual frost-free season surrounding the lake ranges from 100 to 140 days. Cattle and sheep rangelands take up most of the catchment area. The lake is inhabited by several different species of fish. These include, in order of abundance, Utah chub, carp, green sunfish, bluegill, largemouth bass, channel catfish, yellow perch, black crappie, and black bullhead. The lake has not been stocked with fish since 1988, when 71,000 largemouth bass fry were released in the lake. ==References==