Great Salt Lake commissioner report details ‘busy and fruitful’ year

Black-necked stilts and American avocets search for food in the Great Salt Lake near Antelope Island on Tuesday, May 21, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)

It’s been an “incredibly fruitful and busy” year for Great Salt Lake Commissioner Brian Steed’s office, which was created in 2023 to help coordinate efforts to bring more water to the lake.

Earlier this month, the office issued a report detailing its inaugural year and what’s in store for the Great Salt Lake.

SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX

The report comes as lake levels continue to decline since peaking on May 7, according to state data. On the south arm, levels have dropped about one foot, currently sitting at an elevation of 4,194.2 feet. The north arm, which is typically lower and saltier due to the railroad causeway that restricts the flow of fresh water, is at about 4,192 feet.

Great Salt Lake ‘much healthier’ heading into the summer than in recent years

“We’ve learned two main lessons in this first year,” said Deputy Great Salt Lake Commissioner Tim Davis. “First, it is going to take everyone voluntarily conserving, dedicating and delivering water to the lake, in dry and wet years, to get the lake to the healthy, target range. Second, there is no quick fix. We need to be committed to this effort for the long haul.”

Current levels are still not in what’s considered the “healthy” range for the lake — between 4,198 to 4,205 feet — but they did buy the state some breathing room, according to the commissioner’s report. The last two years of above-average snowpack gave the state “time to make the necessary changes” while staving off a possible ecological collapse since the lake hit its historic low of 4,188.5 feet in November 2022.

“The lake reached its intermediate target elevation, where it has begun to transition out of adverse effects, but remains below the healthy target range,” the report notes. “Lake levels have now begun to fall again. Salinity levels have also stabilized and remain at or below the target levels for brine shrimp and brine flies in the South Arm.”

Great Salt Lake levels also got a boost from the state’s reservoirs, which as of Thursday remain at about 89% capacity, according to Division of Water Resources data (that’s excluding Lake Powell and Flaming Gorge Reservoir, which are both controlled by the federal government). The median for this time of the year is around 71%, and many reservoirs in northern Utah remain at above 90% full. Pineview is at 94%, Jordanelle is at 95%, and Deer Creek, Strawberry and Utah Lake are around 99%.

Dust from the Great Salt Lake has outsized impact on disadvantaged communities, study says

According to the report, between January and July water districts released about 700,000 acre-feet of water from reservoirs in the Great Salt Lake Basin, conveyed through the Weber and Jordan rivers to the Great Salt Lake.

“A portion of the recently released water that has made it to the lake is from conserved water by water users and districts. When the conserved water left in reservoirs is spilled, it is able to make it to the lake. Because we cannot rely on this happening every year, we need to learn how to take advantage of future wet water years to get as much water as we can to the lake,” the report reads.

One of the most notable steps taken by the commissioner’s office this year was the development of the Great Salt Lake Strategic Plan , which lays out four goals to be carried out over the short, medium and long term. The are as follows:

• Ensuring better coordination between the various water districts, municipalities, businesses, stakeholders and 19 governmental agencies — 12 at the state level and five federal — that are all involved with the Great Salt Lake.
• Getting more water to the lake through releases, like the 700,000 acre feet conveyed this year through the Jordan and Weber rivers, and by meeting with water rights holders in northern Utah to “discuss the importance of conserving, dedicating and delivering saved water to the lake through a variety of market-based tools.”
• Protecting water and air quality by setting a salinity limit on the Great Salt Lake and hosting a forum to discuss toxic dust mitigation.
• Making decisions based on the best available science. That includes commissioning and reviewing a number of studies and plans, including the Great Salt Lake Basin Integrated Plan, various policy summaries, groundwater studies, researching wildlife on the lake, analyzing the impact of mineral extraction and increased data collection from the Utah Geological Survey.

Having the plan in place is a milestone, said Steed, creating “a common long-term vision for the lake.”

“We have met with people throughout the Great Salt Lake Basin to hear their hopes, fears and solutions for the long-term health of the lake,” he said in a statement. “As a result, all Utahns can now work together, in the same direction for the lake.”

DONATE: SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST

The post Great Salt Lake commissioner report details ‘busy and fruitful’ year appeared first on Utah News Dispatch .