A legislative commission in Utah has given the dark-green light to study several scheme to assist with the worryingly low-down level of body of water in the Great Salt Lake — including potentially building a pipeline to bear water over demesne from the Pacific Ocean . The sketch to determine “ the feasibility and price of piping water from the ocean to help fill the Great Salt Lake ” was O.K. as part of amaster list of other initiativesduring asessionof the country ’s Legislative Water Development Commission held Tuesday .
“ There ’s a passel of piss in the ocean , and we have very fiddling in the Great Salt Lake , ” Sen. David Hinkins ( R ) , the direction ’s co - death chair , saidduring the meeting . That is … rightful !
The potential word of mouth would have a reasonably arduous journeying . The Great Salt Lake is , as thecrow flies , some 600 miles away from the Pacific Coast . Any possible pipeline would almost certainly have to pass over the Sierra Nevada great deal , as well as pass through both California and Nevada before getting to the lake . Lawmakers in the session recognize that the design ’s cost could be in the billions .
Salt mounds in the Great Salt Lake, 19 January 2025.Photo: Rick Bowmer (AP)
“ It ’s just an idea , ” Hinkins told Fox 13 . “ Other body politic are doing it to fill their lakes because of the drouth situations . We ought to fuck if there ’s a feasibility or even if we ’ll get correct of ways for that kind of material , but get an theme of how much it ’ll cost . ” ( A programme to fill up the rapidly shrinking Dead Sea with a canal to the Red Sea , some 800 mil [ 1,290 km ] away , wasabandonedin 2021 after class of delays and outside tensions ; that project would have cost anywhere between $ 2 billion and $ 10 billion . )
Last summer , theGreat Salt Lake hit its lowest levelin recorded history . It’sexpectedto reach yet another low this yr , after a wintertime of disappointing snowpack and continued drought condition , as well as human overexploitation of resources upstream . As of Wednesday , more than 99 % of the statewas in a restrained or grave drouth , accord to the U.S. Drought Monitor . Last calendar month , Utah Governor Spencer Cox publish astate of emergencythanks to the “ volatile ” nature of the drought .
That ’s tough word , not only for the soft and important ecosystem around the lake but also for Utah ’s thriftiness : Industries around the lake , like half-pint land and mineral extraction , rake in some $ 1.3 billion each yr , while lake tourism is alsoone of the land ’s top industry . A larger area of ironical lakebed could also be bad news show for atmosphere calibre when dust is stir up .
The Lake ’s plummeting levels seem to have sound serious consternation bells in the Legislature . “ We ’re dead serious about this , ” Commission co - chair Rep. Joel Ferry ( R)toldFox 13 reporter Ben Winslow when require if the commission was serious about analyze a pipeline . “ I intend , Ben , dire times call for dire measures and all options are on the table . ”
Two experts I called — neither of whom had heard of the idea of a lake - to - ocean word of mouth until I reached out — seemed to agree that the situation was frightening enough to guarantee at least exploring the possibility .
“ I ’m not the least bit surprised to hear about a marriage proposal like that , ” say Jim Steenburgh , a professor of atmospheric science at the University of Utah . Steenburgh underscore that he ’s not a hydrologist , so ca n’t comment on the efficacy or possible mechanics of the plan , but he did paint a pretty horrendous pic for the lake ’s future .
“ We ’re just getting started ” with seeing the wallop of climate variety and drouth on the lake , Steenburgh said . “ We have to have a solution where more water goes to the Great Salt Lake , either through lifelike stream flow or , you know , now we ’re find out about this pipeline proposal . That marriage proposal is in all likelihood go away to be extremely expensive and not very practical , but who recognize ? It ’s often said that body of water flows uphill to money , so I do n’t exactly know where this will go . But we ’re in the very other stages in figuring out how we can save , or at least mitigate , the descent of the Great Salt Lake . ”
Simon Wang , a professor of climate dynamic at Utah State University , had similar view .
“ nominate a study is not the same as starting a undertaking , so I think it ’s deserving a discussion , ” Wang aver . Wang bespeak out that the Pacific Ocean is really much less salty than the Salt Lake — the lake ’s salinity change , but parts of it areup to 10 times saltier — which could shake off a twist into any proposed plans . But the vast systemic issues at play , the West’sgeneral overuse of water resources , plus global clime modification , mean that local solutions are only part of the answer .
“ The [ Utah ] government can always put through H2O conservation cadence , but that wo n’t be enough , ” he said . “ The donation from a local body of water use is n’t the whole picture — the greatest picture comes from out - of - state . ”
The same goes for the drouth conditions , exacerbated by climate change , Wang said .
“ Utah alone , the government alone , wo n’t be enough — it has to take coordinated measure , ” he sound out . “ If we require to mitigate this drouth , it has to extend to the global climate . Our climate variability here connect to everywhere in the world . Only when we fix that globose issue can we get rid of this problem . ”
Utah
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