The Great Salt Lake is drying out - Meet the scientist writing its obituary
Some things are so precious, so essential for the common good, they cannot be bought or sold. They fall, instead, to the public trust, a doctrine of common law that dates to the Roman Empire.
Great Salt Lake is one. The world’s eighth largest saline lake is the cornerstone of Utah’s outdoorsy lifestyle, supports 7,700 jobs and $1bn in annual economic output. Millions of migratory birds flock to its shores, earning it a reputation as “America’s Serengeti”.
And, it is dying.
The lake hit a record low in November 2022. Despite a subsequent record snowfall that winter, its footprint remains one-third what it was a few decades ago. That’s 11ft lower than when the lake was first measured in the mid-1800s.
Without dramatic intervention, the lake will disappear in five years, according to 2023 research from Brigham Young University.
The Great Salt Lake crisis embodies Utah’s push-pull between a pro-growth mindset, long embedded in the American west, and the need to protect a critical natural resource.
Threats to Great Salt Lake are colliding on two fronts. More water is being diverted upstream for booming development, which has made Utah the fastest-growing US state, particularly around the Salt Lake City area. And long foretold consequences of climate change are bedding in, drying up rivers and streams, and
