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The Great Salt Lake is quickly disappearing. Each year since 2020, the lake has received less than a third its average stream flow, leading to a total loss of 73 percent of its water and 60 percent of its area. The Utah Legislature has until March 3rd to take immediate action to save the lake, according to an opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times by Stephen Trimble.
A recent report details the urgency of rescuing the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere. According to the scientists, legislators and Utahns have underestimated the consequences of losing the lake. Saline loss triggers a long-term cycle of environmental, health, and economic suffering. The lake directly provides $2.5 billion in economic productivity each year from recreation and jobs, and without a coordinated rescue mission, this revenue will be lost.
Scientists are now calling on the Utah Legislature to fund and facilitate the rescue, which will require a combination of substantial cuts to water use and purchasing of water to refill the lake at a rate of 2.5 million acre-feet per year, a marked increase from recent efforts that have returned only 0.1 million acre-feet per year. Unfortunately, waiting another year for meaningful action is not an option—if legislative action is not taken in the next 24 days, the lake will be completely gone in five years, Trimble warns.
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We believe that our people, and all of the things in the Mojave Desert, came from this mountain, that life was given to us from this mountain. That's really the belief that my tribe has held since our existence.”
