The Death of The Great Salt Lake

The Great Salt Lake in Utah is drying up. Just like Lake Mead and so many other bodies of water in the Southwest, it’s dying thanks to climate change. I’m not making this up, we’re seeing the death of the Great Salt Lake happen in real time, a prime nesting and migratory stopover for so many birds.

Scientists are warning that the Great Salt Lake could disappear in 5 years if we don’t do anything to curb consumption.

The lake’s levels have been at record lows for two years in a row. If the water continues to drop at the same rate that it has since 2020, “the lake as we know it is on track to disappear in five years,” the report states.

The BYU report (link above) is damn right scary, so much water is being diverted that the lake levels have dropped to unprecedented low levels.

Scientists are warning that the environmental and economic consequences can’t be reversed unless 1 million acre-feet of water is allowed to flow back into the lake.

Will it get done? I certainly hope so.

A Great Salt Lake night

I visited the Great Salt Lake only once, and it was only on the periphery of Route 80. My friend and I were driving cross-country from the NY/NJ area, and we were exhausted driving through Salt Lake City. I don’t remember what time it was, but it was late, very late.

The interstate wound around the southern edge as a nearly full moon rose high into the night sky. I remember seeing the flat land glow white in the pale light of the moon. There were tufts of grass lining the edge of the highway, and in my sleep-deprived state, they looked like a line of gophers saluting me as I sped by at 80 miles per hour.

I was going to crash our car if I didn’t get some sleep.