Bold water conservation strategies and changes in long-standing law and water policies are needed to slow the alarming shrinking of the Great Salt Lake.
A recent report from an by an advisory panel found upstream diversions have long prevented vast quantities from replenishing the lake, reducing the lake by half its normal size with further declines predicted. The Great Salt Lake Advisory Council fears the lake’s steady contraction is putting at risk a singular ecosystem that supports $1.3 billion in economic activity associated with brine shrimp, mineral extraction and recreation and provides an essential resting and nesting refuge for millions of migrating birds.