Editor’s note: This article is published through the Great Salt Lake Collaborative, a solutions journalism initiative that partners news, education and media organizations to help inform people about the plight of the Great Salt Lake.
FARMINGTON — The Great Salt Lake is once again in peril as its levels slide closer to its all-time low set three years ago, but a new joint public-private mission seeks to save the lake ahead of the 2034 Winter Olympics and beyond.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox announced the formation of GSL 2034, a new public-private charter that calls on all Utahns — residents, farmers, business leaders, researchers and elected leaders to “stand shoulder-to-shoulder” in a commitment to take steps to help the lake. It also comes with a $200 million donation pledge, half of which has already been committed by the organization Ducks Unlimited over the next decade, while local business leaders plan to raise the other half.
The money raised will go toward multiple solutions that protect the lake.
“We will not let the Great Salt Lake fail,” Cox said, standing at a podium overlooking a drying Farmington Bay Wednesday afternoon, while surrounded by state and congressional leaders, as well as prominent figures in Utah’s business community. “It’s part of the soul of Utah. It’s who we are. It’s what we’re known for across the world and across time.”
Wednesday’s announcement followed a meeting between state and federal officials, as well as several prominent business leaders. The group met as the lake continues to drop closer to its all-time low amid hot and dry conditions since springtime.
The lake’s southern arm has fallen to 4,191.1 feet elevation, a tick above its northern arm. Both arms are approximately 2½ feet below the lake’s record low set in 2022, and 7 feet below what the state considers its minimum healthy level.
Its decline dropped the lake back into the “serious adverse effects” range outlined in the state’s management plan. Researchers say potential impacts on mineral production, recreation and air quality emerge after the Great Salt Lake slips below 4,192 feet elevation, as water becomes more scarce and its exposed lakebed pushes dust toward communities during wind events.
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ON THE GREAT SALT LAKE (AP) — A brisk wind caught a Kevlar-fiber sail, sending it snapping as Bob Derby and Randy Atkin pulled lines to turn Red Stripe, their 25-foot boat, through the briny waters of the imperiled Great Salt Lake.
Little could be heard beyond the low hum of trucks wheeling past a copper smelter on the lake’s shoreline — a respite from the bustle of Salt Lake City and its booming suburbs that push farther into Utah’s deserts and farmland each year.
“Everything that happened today drifts off behind you and there’s nothing like it,’” said Derby, a 61-year-old veteran sailor battling cancer. “There’s no better therapy than being on the lake.”
It’s a feeling old friends Derby and Atkin weren’t sure they’d experience again.
Randy Atkin unfurls a sail while boating on the Great Salt Lake on Wednesday, June 14, 2023, near Magna, Utah. Sailors back out on the water are rejoicing after a snowy winter provided temporary reprieve. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Empty docks are visible at the Antelope Island Marina due to record low water levels on Aug. 31, 2022, on the Great Salt Lake, near Syracuse, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) –
Rick Bowmer/AP
Historic snowpack this winter increased the Great Salt Lake’s elevation beyond last year’s record lows set and refilled the docks at the Antelope Island State Park Marina on June 15, 2023, near Syracuse, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) –
Rick Bowmer/AP
Sail boats are hoisted back into the Great Salt Lake Marina on June 6, 2023, in Magna, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
The Red Stripe’s return comes after it and hundreds of other sailboats were hoisted out of the shrinking Great Salt Lake as water levels plummeted in recent years, leaving docks along the lake’s parched southern shore caked with dried mud. The harbormaster at Great Salt Lake State Park’s marina, Dave Shearer, wondered whether he’d see their return before he retires.
But a record winter of snow has melted and run down through the creeks, streams and rivers that feed the lake, raising its peak level this season about 6 feet (1.8 meters) from last year’s record low — enough to let sailors crane their boats back into the water and convene their beloved Wednesday races where cold beer and banter are as important as who wins.
Tyler Oborn fire spins at a gathering of dancers and performers on the shoreline of the Great Salt Lake on June 15, 2023, in Magna, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
With their return, they’ve joined many others — farmers, skiers and nearby homeowners — in rejoicing over the surprise rise of the Great Salt Lake amid long-term megadrought.
“There’s finally some life back in the marina,” said Tyler Oborn, who guides pontoon tours on the lake and enjoys fire-dancing on its shoreline.
But it’s not clear it will last.
The Great Salt Lake faces a supply-demand imbalance: As climate change-fueled drought decreases the amount of water that cascades down through the region’s mountains and rivers, appetite for water is increasing from booming towns along the Wasatch Front as well as the farmers whose livelihoods hinge on their fields of alfalfa and onions.
“Everybody talks about the lake being up, but it’s coming from a historic low. That was an unbelievable catastrophe,” said Derby, who works for a medical device manufacturer. “Now it’s just like a moderate disaster. I worry that everybody declares victory, says the Great Salt Lake has been saved and that we can stop worrying about conserving water.”
Boats were removed in 2021 and many were put back in 2023
The diminished Great Salt Lake isn’t the boating mecca or vacation destination it was decades ago, when its footprint was about twice the size it is now. But it remains a lifeblood for Utah’s economy, sustaining a $1.5 billion-a-year mining industry that extracts minerals including magnesium and table salt, an $80 million brine shrimp industry for fish feed and a $1.4 billlion ski industry that markets itself with the fluffy “lake effect” snow that the geography supplies.
Brigham Young University ecologist Ben Abbott, who authored a January study that warned the lake could dry up within five years, said every foot of lake level rise helps — especially in suppressing hazardous dust from the exposed lake bed. But 6 feet — and images of boats going back in the water — shouldn’t calm the sense of urgency for Utah to take action that could guarantee the lake’s survival, he said.
“Back on a crashing plane is not where we want to be,” Abbott said. “We should be viewing this big winter as a lease on life and an opportunity to get our long-term conservation measures in place.”
Before the bump from this winter’s record snow, dire warnings like Abbott’s made saving the Great Salt Lake a top priority for Utah politicians. State and local officials offered millions in incentives to encourage farmers to conserve and pushed education for homeowners and municipalities. But they’ve avoided considering draconian policies beingimplementedelsewhere in the drought-stricken West: water rationing, zoning requirements or fines for overuse.
“Mother Nature really helped us out,” Republican Sen. Scott Sandall said earlier this year, during Utah’s legislative session. “We didn’t have to pull that lever for emergency use.”
A young person runs through the Great Salt Lake on June 15, 2023, near Magna, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Kelsey Isis performs during a gathering of dancers and performers at sunset on the shoreline of the Great Salt Lake on June 15, 2023, in Magna, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
If the great lake resumes its decline, it could mean collapse of the ecosystem. Without enough water flowing to the lake, the reefs that nurture species such as brine fly and shrimp will be decimated, in turn affecting the larger species that feed on them, including pelicans and other migratory birds. And every bit of exposed lakebed means more arsenic-laced dust available for wind to pick up and carry to nearby homes, schools and office parks.
For now, Derby and other sailors are relishing the opportunity to unfurl their sails and reconnect with friends over crisp breezes and corny jokes.
“It’s so nice, it’s beautiful,” said Atkin, looking up at the sails. “You feel the power of the wind a little bit, how bad can it be?”
The sun sets on the Great Salt Lake on June 15, 2023, near Magna, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
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