The public trust doctrine is a longstanding legal principal establishing that certain natural and cultural resources are preserved for public use.
“So it is the state as trustee protecting those resources for the public,” said Stuart Gillespie.
Stuart Gillespie is a senior attorney with Earthjustice, a nonprofit dedicated to litigating environmental issues. Earthjustice filed a lawsuit in 2023 on behalf of conservation and community health groups who argue the state of Utah has violated this doctrine.
“What we have here is a public trust resource that the state has a duty to protect and it's abdicated that duty so it's breached its trust obligations,” said Gillespie.
The state filed a motion to dismiss the case and last week Third District Court Judge Laura Scott denied the state’s request, ruling the case does have merit and will proceed. She also questioned the state's willingness to protect the lake under the public trust doctrine.
“The court rejected the state's extreme position, that's how she characterized it, that the public trust doctrine does not include the navigable waters of the Great Salt Lake, and the state had taken that position because it did not want to deal with the upstream diversions of water that were drying up the Great Salt Lake and precipitating an ecological collapse and public health crisis,” said Gillespie.
However, Judge Scott also rejected the plaintiff's request to block upstream water diversions, referencing a section of law on whether something is best decided through legislative action versus an issue for the courts to decide.
Based on the ruling, Gillespie said the state cannot just rely on voluntary donations of water or voluntary approaches. He said that state has to take affirmative steps to get more water to the lake to avoid a crisis.
“And so the next step is to proceed forward with litigation into discovery and trial to establish both the state's duties as trustee and also its breach of those duties and what the court has to do the remedy the harm here,” said Gillespie.
In a statement to Fox 13 News about the ruling, Utah's Department of Natural Resources said the state remains unwavering in its commitment to maintaining the health of the Great Salt Lake. The agency also said they believe Utah’s collaborative approach will prevail in court as this case continues, because it is critical in getting the lake to a healthier range for generations to come.
This story 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—and what can be done to make a difference before it is too late. Read all of our stories at greatsaltlakenews.org.
