The Great Salt Lake is the only thing that protects Utah from dust storms that are filled with arsenic. The lake is quickly drying up. The water level was first recorded on Sunday.
The average daily surface water elevation is 4,190.1 feet. The Great Salt Lake has lost about 10 feet of elevation because the historical average has been 4,200 above sea level. The lake is only about 30 feet deep. In the 1980's, the lake's surface area was over three thousand square miles. It covers less than 1000 now.
The director of Utah's Department of Natural Resources said that this is not the type of record they want to break. The lake is not in good shape. We are working with stakeholders who value the lake and recognize that more action is needed.
Normally, Great Salt Lake would go through seasonal cycles of water loss and replenishment in the summer and fill back up in the winter. Many of the tributaries that used to drain into the shallow lake basin have been used for other purposes. Human consumption has reduced the Great Salt Lake's volume by about half of what it would be otherwise.
There is less water in the Southwest than there has been in the past 1200 years. In Utah, 100% of the state is currently in a state of dry weather. 42% of the last 22 years were attributed to climate change.
The summer is likely to be the last one. The US Geological Survey said that lake levels will probably get worse before they improve. In the summer and fall,poration rates from the lake are higher.
There is a chance of toxic dust storms when the lake bed is dry. Heavy metals, arsenic, and other compounds have been piling up below the surface due to decades of mining. Most of the harmful dust is held back by a hardened crust, but wind it down over time and it will crack.
There is a vision of what Utah's future could be. Beginning in the 1940s, the Aral Sea was diverted for irrigation. The desert is polluted with dust. The communities that remain around the lake have high rates of cancer and other diseases.
The Great Salt Lake's decline has other negative impacts as well. The lake has a lot of economic value for Utah. The indirect value of things like ecosystem services, and the public health costs and consequences of allowing it to dry up are not included in the direct annual output figure.
There are implications for the environment and wildlife if Salt Lake shrinks. Millions of migratory birds use the lake as a stop on their journeys.
It is obvious that more water needs to be diverted back into Utah. The problem has been taken seriously by state lawmakers and the governor.
The governor declared a state of emergency due to the dry spell. There have been a number of recently proposed and adopted water conservativism. In the same legislative session, many important water saving measures, like prohibitions on lawn watering, were struck down due to the influence of special interest groups.
State legislators are not making the tough compromises and are considering more out-there proposals.
Even if Utah adopted every single practical water saving measure on the docket, it wouldn't be enough to save the lake. Before the Great Salt Lake crosses the Utah border, most of the water is used up. Idaho and Wyoming share water rights to the Bear River. There's climate change, and there's a lot of dry weather.
It is up to Utah to decide the fate of the lake. Its neighbors, as well as the country, and the world.
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