The daily consumption of water by farms and households is the main factor causing the shrinkage of the Great Salt Lake. People have been diverting water for housing, agricultural, industrial and municipal use in the Wasatch Valley for more than a century. Our growing population pushes the need for more water usage. The prosperity of the Wasatch Front fuels growing water use as well. As a point of fact, the population of the Salt Lake City metro area grew from 700,000 in 1982 to 1.2 million in 2022.

The lake receives the unused water from three different rivers. Our water usage keeps increasing every year. Even today, we don’t leave enough water to go into the Great Salt Lake and lead to its shrinking.

The lake is a crisis that demands action. My first thoughts about what we can do to save our Great Salt Lake are these.

First, we need to make savings in water usage. We can change our irrigation system for the lawn from sprinkler to drip irrigation at the roots. We may change the lawn to a rocky garden with a few plants. According to the Environmental Protection Agency and the Utah Division of Water Resources, approximately 60% of residential water use is for lawns and outdoor landscapes. Most residential water is used for outdoor appearances. Reducing water usage allows more water to go into the river. As more water goes to the river, more water will flow into the Great Salt Lake. If we make wholesale changes to our behavior and allow large amounts of water to flow into the lake, that water will decrease the lake’s salinity. Deceasing the salinity helps different kinds of organisms to grow and reproduce in and around the Great Salt Lake, such as brine flies and brine shrimp. Brine flies are a key source of food for migrating birds. As brine flies and brine shrimp populations decease due to the shrinkage of the Great Salt Lake, the lake’s support for migrating birds will be degraded.

Second, the Great Salt Lake faces further challenges due to climate change. Warming affects our weather, with more precipitation falling in the form of rain instead of snow. Snow is always better for the Great Salt Lake because the snow can store the water on the mountain, to be released slowly. Water then keeps flowing in the river and from there into the Great Salt Lake.

Third, education is one of the most important steps for saving the Great Salt Lake. Government should set up a program to teach people about the consequences if the Great Salt Lake keeps shrinking. People need to know that toxic chemicals, including arsenic, lead and mercury, are trapped in the lake bed. As more of the lake bed becomes exposed and dries, those chemicals are carried into the air by the wind. Toxic dust storms could lower life expectancies and increase chances of getting cancer in the most populous parts of Utah.

Saving the Great Salt Lake is a complex and long-term project that requires collective actions from the government, private organizations, communities and individuals. It is important to recognize the interconnectedness of water resources, climate and ecosystems in addressing this issue.

Yan-ho Ng is a student at Utah Valley University in Orem.