For those who may not be in the know: The Great Salt Lake is in dire straits. In fact, the situation is so bad that if we don’t make drastic changes this year, we could pass the point of no return and lose the Great Salt Lake forever.
Why the Great Salt Lake matters
The Great Salt Lake isn’t a great source of drinking or irrigation water – so some may question why we need it at all. Sufficeth to say, the Great Salt Lake is a critical part of the environment, not just for Utah, but for the entire Western United States.
Firstly, the Great Salt Lake is a habitat for around 10 million migratory birds. If that habitat disappears, changes in bird behavior could have unimaginable consequences on everything from bird breeding to insect populations and from insect populations to crop damage – and everything in between. We would see a complete environmental collapse and be caught in the ensuing chaos.
Secondly, the Great Salt Lake’s lake bed is full of pretty potent stuff. It contains tons of dangerous materials like arsenic, zirconium, copper, and antimony. Without the water to keep it contained, this will blow all over the Western United States, leading to increased rates of cancer, heart disease, bronchitis, and asthma.
But if the environmental and health consequences don’t alarm you, maybe the economic consequences will. The Great Salt Lake brings in roughly $2.5 billion a year in economic activity from tourism and resource extraction.
Long story short: Without the Great Salt Lake, the Western United States, and especially Utah, is well and truly screwed.
Remember the Dust Bowl?
The Dust Bowl was a period of intense drought during the 1930s in the Southern United States – exacerbated by poor agricultural practices. Crops and livestock died across the entire region, destroying jobs and livelihoods during the already difficult times of the Great Depression. This caused a mass migration away from the region as farmers and others sought work in more hospitable environments.
Nearly 100 years later, conditions in the United States and Utah are looking eerily similar. With markets in chaos and inflation rising, the Great Salt Lake is on the verge of ushering in another Dust Bowl.
How to save the Great Salt Lake
There’s no way to mince words here: We need to reduce water consumption by 30-50%, starting this year, to save the Great Salt Lake. 2023 may be our last great chance to turn things around.
Due to a larger than normal snowpack, we currently have a surplus of water. But since the Great Salt Lake has been running in the negative since 2020, this alone isn’t enough to restore it. Utah’s legislators absolutely must prevent water from being diverted away from the Great Salt Lake as well.
This means the Weber, Jordan, and Bear rivers need to run largely unhindered into the Great Salt Lake. We need to greatly reduce how much we tap them for water.
Why do we divert water from the Great Salt Lake?
The Weber, Jordan, and Bear rivers supply various communities along their paths with water for drinking, agriculture, and commercial production. While we can reduce water consumption in all areas, the biggest offenders for water waste come from agricultural and commercial production.
Utah’s state legislators need to pass emergency measures to block agricultural and commercial entities from using so much water. Additionally, local governments would do well to enact emergency measures of their own – including xeriscaping all public properties, restricting lawn watering, and hefty fines for large water use.
To adapt to these emergency measures, businesses and farms – especially those of the “mega” variety – would do well to enact sustainable water practices. Additionally, there may need to be a critical rethink on the crops and livestock that are grown and raised in what is, scientifically speaking, an arid desert.
What can individuals do to save the Great Salt Lake?
First and foremost, if you live in Utah, write both your state legislators and your local elected officials and encourage them to make water conservation their #1 priority. If you live in the Bear River range, you can also encourage your local leaders to oppose the proposed Bear River Development.
Encourage your workplace and any businesses you frequent to adopt sustainable water conservation practices as well.
At home, practice water conservation by not watering your lawn (or better yet, getting rid of your lawn), showering less frequently, and not flushing the toilet between 9PM-9AM. Only run laundry when you can do a full load and stop taking baths altogether.
If you live outside of Utah, contact your state’s governor and legislators and tell them to pressure Utah’s leaders to do more to conserve water.
Our last best chance to save the Western U.S.
I won’t pretend that 2023 and beyond won’t be painful as we adjust to a water-conserving mindset and economy. But it will be far less painful than a second Dust Bowl. This year is our last best chance to really turn things around. Let’s not let it go to waste.
Letter Template
Please feel free to use the following template to write to your elected officials on this issue (though, speaking candidly, letters are always more likely to be read if they’re in your own words). Go here if you need help contacting your elected officials.
Dear <NAME AND TITLE>,
I am writing to you today to urge you to take action on the Great Salt Lake crisis. Experts are sounding the alarm bells that if we don’t do something to curb 30-50% of our water usage starting in the next several months, we will likely lose the Great Salt Lake permanently in the next five years.
That would almost certainly make Utah the epicenter of a new Dust Bowl. This would not only lead to a mass exodus of people leaving Utah, crippling our economy, but the dry lake bed would fill our air with arsenic and other dangerous materials.
Drastic measures must be taken – including:
– Xeriscaping all public (government) property.
– Strictly regulating water usage for businesses and farms.
– Imposing water restrictions in residential areas.
– Fostering sustainable water usage at all levels.I understand these measures will be felt. They will hurt. I will likely be impacted personally by these changes. But they are far preferable to a modern era Dust Bowl.
This year, we have been blessed (so far) with an abundance of snowfall. This is our last best chance to make changes that will allow Utah to remain “the place” for generations to come.
I am begging you not to waste the opportunity that has been given us.
Thank you for taking this into consideration. Godspeed to you and your colleagues on this issue.
Sincerely,
<NAME>