Learn about how the collapsing Great Salt Lake is ALREADY impacting our lives and Utah's economy.
Please watch and consider this 30-minute-long discussion of the existential crisis facing Utah due to the collapsed Great Salt Lake.
The Great Salt Lake is disappearing. With two-thirds of its water gone and more than half of its area desiccated, experts warn that Utah is sitting on an environmental time bomb. In this episode of "Deseret Voices," host Jane Clayson Johnson sits down with two leading figures at the forefront of the restoration movement to discuss the stark reality of the lake's decline, the catastrophic health and economic risks of inaction, and why there is still profound hope for a solution.
Our Guests:
Dr. Ben Abbott: Professor of ecology at Brigham Young University and executive director of Grow the Flow Utah. Dr. Abbott brings global expertise in water security and a deep ecological understanding of the lake’s current crisis.
Josh Romney: Co-founder and chairman of Great Salt Lake Rising and a dedicated Utahn fighting to ensure the state remains a safe, thriving home for future generations. Romney bridges the gap between environmental necessity, economic reality, and political action.
What We Discuss in This Episode:
The Shocking Reality: Why the shrinking lake is a "local problem with a global warning," and how its disappearance impacts local weather patterns and winter snowpack.
The Hidden Health Hazards: The dangerous composition of the exposed lakebed dust — including toxic levels of arsenic, mercury, and selenium — and what happens when it blows into major metropolitan areas.
Agriculture vs. Residential Water Use: Breaking down the math of water consumption. Why changing how we water our lawns and partnering financially with the agricultural community are both critical keys to the lake's survival.
Politics and Funding: A look at the growing political will to save the lake, including the direct involvement of President Donald Trump, whose 2027 fiscal budget proposal includes a historic $1 billion funding request for restoration efforts.
The 2034 Olympic Goal: Can the lake be set on a path to full recovery before the world arrives in Utah for the Winter Games?
"If we can't fix it here, it can't be fixed anywhere. What we are about to do is create a model for the world on how to rescue saline lakes." — Josh Romney
Why This Matters:
This isn't just a Utah issue; it's an American issue. From vital mineral supplies to global seafood chains, the collapse of the Great Salt Lake would trigger an economic and ecological disaster felt nationwide. Tune in to find out how a unique public-private partnership is turning a monumental threat into a historic opportunity for innovation and environmental stewardship.
The Great Salt Lake is 15 ft lower than it would be naturally. See the interactive plot here:
The RED zone is scary low. The record lowest water level is likely to repeat in the next year or two. https://growtheflowutah.org/laketracker/
This means the level of Great Salt Lake is super low.
This collapsed lake level is mostly due to the over-use of river water that would otherwise flow into the lake. This is good news. We could fix it because THERE IS ENOUGH water if we live within our means.
Every sample of dust from the Great Salt Lake dust has cancer-causing metals. Often many kinds of toxins.
Ben Abbott said about scientist Kevin Perry
Every single sample that he's collected on the bed of the Great Salt Lake had arsenic 9:26 concentrations that were ten-fold higher than the [safe] industrial exposure limit by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Then you add on top of it arsenic, mercury, selenium, uranium, 9:50 organic contaminants, pesticides, all of these things that have accumulated in the lake sometimes over thousands of 9:57 years. We do not want that in our backyards. Are people already breathing that? People are already breathing10:03 that pollution.
Climate change and hot summers are a part of the problem, but that is NOT the main reason the lake is collapsing.
Too much diversion and irrigation is the main reason that the Great Salt Lake is super low. 80% of the problem is irrigation using river water.
120 saline lakes have declined worldwide.
None have been saved.
Romney said: Utahns tends to use the wrong plants in our yards-Kentucky Bluegrass is not native to our region. Then we tend to over-water it.
We cannot save the Great Salt Lake with agriculture alone or with residential conservation alone.
Low-water landscape do not need to be uninviting and rocky.
There is a lot of information and incentives too.
Convert or optimize your landscape
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| This bare sand and silt used to be under the lake. Winds whip it up and into our lungs and onto our food. Salt Lake marina 2023. |
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| The Great Salt Lake is currently in the lightest condition. That means that the Willard Bay and Farmington Bay parts of the lake in the east are bare, wind-swept lake bed. Those two bays are close to 2.5 million people in our state and they are already breathing in cancer-causing dust from this collapsed lake. The lake is on track to reach its lowest level ever. |
What can you do to help restore the lake?
0. Learn about the problem by watching this interview and reading more information:
1. Contact your lawmakers and let them know this is a number one priority for you.
Advice on successful letters is here:
Governor Cox: https://governor.utah.gov/contact/
Utah Senator
Utah House Member
Your city council and mayor:
Your Cache County council and executive
Talking points to consider from the interview:
- The health impacts and economic declines that are already occurring from the collapsing Great Salt Lake must be stopped.
- I am not ok with my food being laced with cancer-causing metals and dust.
- The value of my home will decline if the state and federal government do not bring the lake back to a healthy level.
- The over-use of river water is responsible for 80% of the collapsing of the Great Salt Lake. The legislature must make drastic improvements and require conservation by urban and ag users of river water.
- Please make the changes to water law to compensate farmers for conserving our public river water.
- Please make far more money avilable for leasing water rights to the Great Salt Lake.
2. Use less irrigation water in your residential landscape. Many programs exist to help conserve water in the urban landscape.
Avoid excess turf: https://utahrivers.org/drought-tolerant-landscaping
3. Encourage your city or county to join the Utahsaveswater.com program. There may be other conservation programs as well.
In Cache Valley, the largest city, Logan is NOT participating in a residential water conservation program available statewide.
Contact your local city council and Mayor if you wish to help protect our community from this grave danger.
Cities that are encouraging outdoor water conservation in the Utahwatersavers.com program:
North Logan
Smithfield
Richmond
Wellsville
Nibley
Planting a tree can bring a $50 rebate.
4. Oppose the Logan River Watershed Project's implementation.
Find out why in many posts and links here:
and 45 minute long interview:
a) Reach out to your local elected officials in Logan, North Logan, and Hyde Park and ask them to prioritize your families health and the state's economy over private water rights.
5. Have your irrigation checked. From Mormon Women for Ethical Government:
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| Great Salt Lake is a very shallow and wide lake. It is essentially a giant evaporation pond that must be refilled constantly by freshwater flowing in from the Bear River, and its tributaries. Irrigation is overusing the river water by a LOT. |
Find out more by following links about the Great Salt Lake in this information portal: