Your input is needed on a new plan to manage the Great Salt Lake

 This article is published through the Great Salt Lake Collaborative, a solutions journalism initiative supported by the Janet Quinney Lawson Institute for Land, Water, and Air at Utah State University. See all of our stories about how Utahns are impacted by the Colorado River at greatsaltlakenews.org/coloradoriver.

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SALT LAKE CITY — Meg Cartwright is worried about the Great Salt Lake. “I really care about it a lot and I know what will happen if we don’t take care of it,” she said.

Cartwright joined a handful of others for a public hearing in Salt Lake City on Tuesday for a new management plan for the lake. The Utah Division of Forestry, Fire & State Lands is revising its plan that covers everything from ecology to mineral extraction.

“What’s allowable, what’s not allowable, and things we need to do more consideration on what’s potentially allowable,” said Ben Stireman, the deputy director of the agency. “It’s kind of like a city zoning document. But we’re also hoping this plan will give us opportunities to collaborate more, be proactive and reactive to lake conditions so when we start to see lake elevations drop or salinities rise, what can we be doing to manage that?”

The Utah Division of Forestry, Fire & State Lands oversees the lake like it does all sovereign lands in the state. However, the management plan has not been updated since 2013. The Great Salt Lake itself plunged into crisis in 2022 when it dropped to a historic low as a result of water diversions, drought, and impacts from climate change. It presents a significant threat to Utah’s environment and economy — the lake itself generates a snowpack that provides water and fuels a lucrative ski industry; a dried lakebed contains toxic minerals and dust that blows into populated areas harming public health; and there are significant impacts to wildlife that use the lake.

The shrinking Great Salt Lake alarmed state political leaders who rushed to pass bills and spend over $1 billion on water conservation measures designed to save the lake. Many of those efforts are still being rolled out but showing signs of success.

The new management plan is reacting to a lot, Stireman said, including changing science and increased awareness about the lake and its ecosystem. But while the old plan covered “what’s allowable and what’s not allowable,” the new plan seeks to do more on water elevation, monitoring of salinity levels, and how to keep the lake healthy. Public feedback is important to help show what Utahns want to be done with the Great Salt Lake.

“We’re hoping this plan will be more usable by our partners, even the general public. It’s going to be interactive, it’s going to have its website where people can go and it will have lake conditions,” said Stireman.

Cartwright said that while she is supportive of many of the efforts to save the Great Salt Lake, she wants her elected leaders to do more.

“I want legislation passed that has teeth. Not just saying, ‘We’d like you to do this, or we wish you’d give up your water rights,'” she said.

There are two more public meetings planned:

• October 24 at the Box Elder County Fairgrounds in Tremonton from 5-7 pm
• October 28 at the Desert Peak Complex in Grantsville from 5-7 pm

The Utah Division of Forestry, Fire & State Lands is also taking feedback through an online survey. That can be accessed here.