Last year, it was reported that Utah's Great Salt Lake was in danger of disappearing entirely in just five years. Now, it will receive some much-needed relief, as water from nearby Utah Lake is set to be released into the Great Salt Lake.
The Great Salt Lake, the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere, is an important part of Utah's landscape, history, economy, and ecosystem. In November 2022, it was at its lowest level in recorded history, 17 feet below where it should have been.
The consequences of allowing the lake to dry up would have been devastating for the wildlife that rely on it, as well as millions of migratory birds.
The dry conditions — brought on by too much water being diverted away from the lake and toward farmland, as well as drought conditions exacerbated by climate change — were already leading to toxic dust and increased salinity that was upsetting the natural balance of the ecosystem.
"Irrigated agriculture has diverted too much of the river flow that the Great Salt Lake depends on," Ben Abbott, a plant and wildlife sciences professor at Brigham Young University, told Newsweek. "If we don't increase the amount of water getting to the lake, it could be gone within a decade."
"Even those who live far from Utah will be affected if we lose the lake. Industry and agriculture across the country and beyond depend on magnesium and fertilizer from the Great Salt Lake, and it is the most important inland wetland in the western U.S."
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Fortunately, an influx in precipitation around the surrounding mountains over the past year has led to healthy snowpacks, which has led to full reservoirs. This has opened the door for water from Utah Lake to be released into the Great Salt Lake and, previously, for water to be released from the Glen Canyon Dam into Lake Mead.
However, while moving water around is a necessary immediate step to avoid the worst-case scenario of these crucial bodies of water drying up, it is not a long-term solution to the problem. Last year, a coalition of environmental groups sued the Utah government for allowing the farming practices that have led to the crisis.
"We are trying to avert disaster. We are trying to force the hand of state government to take serious action," Brian Moench of the Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment told The Associated Press, via Business Insider, at the time.
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