Great Salt Lake Collaborative
Carter Williams
KSL Reporter
Carter Williams is an award-winning reporter who covers general news, outdoors, history and sports for KSL.com. He previously worked for the Deseret News. He is a Utah transplant by the way of Rochester, New York.

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SALT LAKE CITY — A local church is joining efforts to get water to the Great Salt Lake. The First Unitarian Church of Salt Lake City announced during its service on Sunday that it collected $35,000 fo...
Preston Cox, co-founder of Perennial Favorites in Layton, provides a tour of the business's nursery on Aug. 20. The company now specializes in growing more water-wise plants for consumers across the region. Preston Cox, co-founder of Perennial Favorites in Layton, provides a tour of the business's nursery on Aug. 20. The company now specializes in growing more water-wise plants for consumers across the region. (Carter Williams, KSL.com)
Preston Cox, co-founder of Perennial Favorites in Layton, provides a tour of the business's nursery on Aug. 20. The company now specializes in growing more water-wise plants for consumers across the region. Preston Cox, co-founder of Perennial Favorites in Layton, provides a tour of the business's nursery on Aug. 20. The company now specializes in growing more water-wise plants for consumers across the region. (Carter Williams, KSL.com)

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LAYTON — A lot has changed since Preston Cox and his wife, Melissa, founded Perennial Favorites in the early '90s, growing about 4,000 plants and 25 varieties from a wholesale nursery in the backyard...
Utah Lake as seen from the Utah Lake pump house in Saratoga Springs on Monday. About 10,000 acre-feet of water from the lake will be sent to the Great Salt Lake via the Jordan River over the next month. Utah Lake as seen from the Utah Lake pump house in Saratoga Springs on Monday. About 10,000 acre-feet of water from the lake will be sent to the Great Salt Lake via the Jordan River over the next month. (Brice Tucker, Deseret News)
Utah Lake as seen from the Utah Lake pump house in Saratoga Springs on Monday. About 10,000 acre-feet of water from the lake will be sent to the Great Salt Lake via the Jordan River over the next month. Utah Lake as seen from the Utah Lake pump house in Saratoga Springs on Monday. About 10,000 acre-feet of water from the lake will be sent to the Great Salt Lake via the Jordan River over the next month. (Brice Tucker, Deseret News)

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SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Great Salt Lake has lost about 2 feet over the past few months, but it's about to get another boost from its southern neighbor. The Jordan Valley Water Conservancy announced Mon...
Compass Minerals CEO Edward Dowling, front left, and Utah Forestry, Fire and State Lands Director Jamie Barnes, front right, as well as Utah leaders applaud after a water conservation deal is finalized on Tuesday. The deal includes over 200,000 acre-feet directed to the Great Salt Lake every year, according to the state. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)
Compass Minerals CEO Edward Dowling, front left, and Utah Forestry, Fire and State Lands Director Jamie Barnes, front right, as well as Utah leaders applaud after a water conservation deal is finalized on Tuesday. The deal includes over 200,000 acre-feet directed to the Great Salt Lake every year, according to the state. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)

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FARMINGTON — The Great Salt Lake is slated to receive a major boost from one of the key industries that rely on it for business. Utah land managers announced Tuesday that they have finalized a volunta...
A male red-winged blackbird flies near the Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area on May 8. About $6.5 million in new funds are being made available for projects that protect or improve the Great Salt Lake's wetlands. A male red-winged blackbird flies near the Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area on May 8. About $6.5 million in new funds are being made available for projects that protect or improve the Great Salt Lake's wetlands. (Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)
A male red-winged blackbird flies near the Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area on May 8. About $6.5 million in new funds are being made available for projects that protect or improve the Great Salt Lake's wetlands. A male red-winged blackbird flies near the Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area on May 8. About $6.5 million in new funds are being made available for projects that protect or improve the Great Salt Lake's wetlands. (Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)

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SALT LAKE CITY — Projects to enhance or protect over 13,000 acres of Great Salt Lake wetlands are ongoing. While that work continues, members of the Great Salt Lake Watershed Enhancement Trust and Uta...
Competitors carry kayaks to the water before an open swim competition at Great Salt Lake State Park in Magna on June 11, 2022. A study published Thursday links the lake's dry lakebed to higher levels of greenhouse gases. (Laura Seitz, Deseret News)

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SALT LAKE CITY — While researchers continue to investigate the effects that dust from the Great Salt Lake might have on communities, a new study highlights another concern tied to low lake levels: gre...
A bird flies over the Great Salt Lake State Park in Magna on June 15. The gap between the Great Salt Lake's two arms is shrinking, but lake managers aren't seeing any salinity challenges like they did in 2022. (Marielle Scott, Deseret News)

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SALT LAKE CITY — The difference between the Great Salt Lake's northern and southern arms continues to shrink, but the state office tasked with tracking the lake's recovery isn't concerned that the muc...
Dust blows across the dry lakebed of the Great Salt Lake near Salt Lake City on Aug. 12, 2022. The Great Salt Lake Commission's Office released eight priorities to handle the lake's "urgent" dust situation on Monday. (Spenser Heaps, Deseret News)

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SALT LAKE CITY — The Great Salt Lake's demise over the past two decades has opened up new concerns over dust from its drying lakebed in recent years. However, the state office tasked with handling Gre...
The Great Salt Lake State Park in Magna on June 15. The Salt Lake City Arts Council revealed 12 temporary art projects that will spotlight the lake and its importance. (Marielle Scott, Deseret News)

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SALT LAKE CITY — Scholars, politicians and environmental groups have all written and spoken about Great Salt Lake's importance, but Utah's capital city is now a step closer to using art to draw attent...
A rendering of the new Antelope Island visitor and learning center. Ground broke on the project Tuesday. (Utah Division of State Parks)

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SYRACUSE — Antelope Island remains one of Utah's most-visited state parks, and state officials are hoping to turn its popularity into a learning opportunity while adding more to the visitor experience...
Water crashes onto rocks at the Great Salt Lake State Park in Magna on June 15. The lake has lost half a foot of water in the past few weeks and could lose another 2 feet in the coming months, experts say. (Marielle Scott, Deseret News)

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SALT LAKE CITY — The Great Salt Lake typically rises in the winter and spring as more water flows into the lake from snowpack runoff and fewer upstream diversions; it then drops in the summer and earl...

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SALT LAKE CITY — It appears that the Great Salt Lake's levels have peaked for the year and, if that's the case, the lake's southern arm still reached its highest level in five years but will end up lo...
The Colorado River is pictured near Moab in Grand County on April 28. A Colorado River water reduction plan that Utah and six other states agreed to is now being implemented while the states hash out a long-term agreement. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)

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SALT LAKE CITY — Federal officials last week finalized a near-term plan that the seven Colorado River Basin states, including Utah, agreed to last year , which is expected to save at least 3 million a...
Dust lingers after off-highway vehicles drove by in West Shores, Calif., on Dec. 15, 2023. (Photo: Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)
Dust lingers after off-highway vehicles drove by in West Shores, Calif., on Dec. 15, 2023. (Photo: Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)

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SALT LAKE CITY — The Great Salt Lake's southern arm reached 4,195 feet elevation at times over the stormy weekend as it nears reaching that figure daily for the first time in five years. While that's...
An undated photo of a pelican pod huddling around Gunnison Island. The island was once home to about 20,000 pelicans, but populations dwindled as the Great Salt Lake levels dropped. (Photo: Utah Division of Wildlife Resources)
An undated photo of a pelican pod huddling around Gunnison Island. The island was once home to about 20,000 pelicans, but populations dwindled as the Great Salt Lake levels dropped. (Photo: Utah Division of Wildlife Resources)

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GRANTSVILLE — Some of Utah's pelicans have found a new home at the Great Salt Lake, after many of the state's pods completely abandoned a long-standing nesting site on another part of the lake last ye...
Journalists and water experts raft down the Moab Daily section of the Colorado River with Holiday River Expeditions during a kickoff event for the Colorado River Collaborative in Grand County on Thursday, April 25, 2024.
Journalists and water experts raft down the Moab Daily section of the Colorado River with Holiday River Expeditions during a kickoff event for the Colorado River Collaborative in Grand County on Thursday, April 25, 2024.

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MOAB — The sun begins to break from an overcast sky as Jennifer Jones describes how popular this section of the Colorado River has become in recent years, while standing near the banks of the snowmelt...
The Great Salt Lake is pictured on Feb. 17. The Great Salt Lake's southern arm is already higher now than it has been in four years, but a new report states it could reach a level it hasn't touched since 2017. The Great Salt Lake is pictured on Feb. 17. The Great Salt Lake's southern arm is already higher now than it has been in four years, but a new report states it could reach a level it hasn't touched since 2017. (Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
The Great Salt Lake is pictured on Feb. 17. The Great Salt Lake's southern arm is already higher now than it has been in four years, but a new report states it could reach a level it hasn't touched since 2017. The Great Salt Lake is pictured on Feb. 17. The Great Salt Lake's southern arm is already higher now than it has been in four years, but a new report states it could reach a level it hasn't touched since 2017. (Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)

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SALT LAKE CITY — The Great Salt Lake was already expected to receive a strong boost from this year's snowpack , but projected inflows are now expected to be a bit larger after a productive round of Ma...
Wilson’s phalaropes at Mono Lake, California. Photo credit: Ron Ozuna. Courtesy Center for Biological Diversity.
Wilson’s phalaropes at Mono Lake, California. Photo credit: Ron Ozuna. Courtesy Center for Biological Diversity.

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SALT LAKE CITY — A conservation group, acting on behalf of a coalition of scientists and other conservation groups, has filed a legal petition seeking to provide new protections for a shorebird specie...
A man looks out over the shoreline at Great Salt Lake State Park in Salt Lake County on Feb. 7. The lake's southern arm is already back to its 2023 peak and could reach 4,195 feet elevation this year for the first time since 2019, experts say. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News).
A man looks out over the shoreline at Great Salt Lake State Park in Salt Lake County on Feb. 7. The lake's southern arm is already back to its 2023 peak and could reach 4,195 feet elevation this year for the first time since 2019, experts say. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News).

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SALT LAKE CITY — The Great Salt Lake's water levels are already as high as they were last year, and those who oversee its future now expect that at least half of the lake will reach a key metric in th...
Microbialites found during a University of Utah sampling trip at the Great Salt Lake on July 22, 2021. Nematodes, otherwise known as roundworms, were discovered at the lake, according to a new study. Microbialites found during a University of Utah sampling trip at the Great Salt Lake on July 22, 2021. Nematodes, otherwise known as roundworms, were discovered at the lake, according to a new study. (Julie Jung)
Microbialites found during a University of Utah sampling trip at the Great Salt Lake on July 22, 2021. Nematodes, otherwise known as roundworms, were discovered at the lake, according to a new study. Microbialites found during a University of Utah sampling trip at the Great Salt Lake on July 22, 2021. Nematodes, otherwise known as roundworms, were discovered at the lake, according to a new study. (Julie Jung)

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SALT LAKE CITY — Michael Werner was one of the many Utah residents who fled to the state's sprawling parks and public lands in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic led to shutdowns of gathering places all...
A performer dressed as an American avocet dances an the Capitol in a show of representation for birds that are dependent on the Great Salt Lake in Salt Lake City on Feb. 21. Performance art is one option for the "Wake the Great Salt Lake" contest. (Photo: Laura Seitz, Deseret News)
A performer dressed as an American avocet dances an the Capitol in a show of representation for birds that are dependent on the Great Salt Lake in Salt Lake City on Feb. 21. Performance art is one option for the "Wake the Great Salt Lake" contest. (Photo: Laura Seitz, Deseret News)

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SALT LAKE CITY — Artist submissions are now open for a massive temporary public art project that seeks to bring attention to the recent issues of the Great Salt Lake, as project coordinators offer mor...
The Great Salt Lake is pictured at Great Salt Lake Park in Salt Lake County on Feb. 7. The Utah Legislature considered several bills affecting the lake this year. Some passed and some failed. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)
The Great Salt Lake is pictured at Great Salt Lake Park in Salt Lake County on Feb. 7. The Utah Legislature considered several bills affecting the lake this year. Some passed and some failed. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)

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SALT LAKE CITY — The Great Salt Lake remains a key focus in Utah even if its water levels are in a much better position than when they hit an all-time low in 2022. A few bills specifically addressed t...
Brine shrimp are held in the palm of a person on Dec. 15, 2020. Brine shrimp cyst collection jumped considerably over the past year after improvements to the Great Salt Lake ecosystem, state wildlife officials said Thursday. (Utah Division of Wildlife Resources).
Brine shrimp are held in the palm of a person on Dec. 15, 2020. Brine shrimp cyst collection jumped considerably over the past year after improvements to the Great Salt Lake ecosystem, state wildlife officials said Thursday. (Utah Division of Wildlife Resources).

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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah land managers made emergency adjustments to a berm at the Great Salt Lake Causeway in 2022 and again in 2023 , as the lake's record-low levels at the time started causing new cha...
Great Salt Lake State Park in Salt Lake County Feb. 7. Utah may soon have a plan to get more water to the lake during prolific water years, through a bill that advanced through a Senate committee Tuesday. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News).
Great Salt Lake State Park in Salt Lake County Feb. 7. Utah may soon have a plan to get more water to the lake during prolific water years, through a bill that advanced through a Senate committee Tuesday. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News).

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SALT LAKE CITY — The Great Salt Lake received a significant boost from last year's record snowpack and an above-normal water year overall after it had fallen to a record low the year before, threateni...
Utah Lake and Sandy Beach in Spanish Fork are pictured on Aug. 22, 2022. Controlled releases are set to begin at Utah Lake as it reaches maximum capacity, which is expected to benefit the Great Salt Lake. Utah Lake and Sandy Beach in Spanish Fork are pictured on Aug. 22, 2022. Controlled releases are set to begin at Utah Lake as it reaches maximum capacity, which is expected to benefit the Great Salt Lake. (Ben B. Braun, Deseret News)
Utah Lake and Sandy Beach in Spanish Fork are pictured on Aug. 22, 2022. Controlled releases are set to begin at Utah Lake as it reaches maximum capacity, which is expected to benefit the Great Salt Lake. Utah Lake and Sandy Beach in Spanish Fork are pictured on Aug. 22, 2022. Controlled releases are set to begin at Utah Lake as it reaches maximum capacity, which is expected to benefit the Great Salt Lake. (Ben B. Braun, Deseret News)

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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah water managers are set to begin releasing some water from Utah Lake as it reaches maximum capacity for the first time in over a decade, to avoid flooding but also provide the Gre...
An excavator moves stones by the Great Salt Lake Causeway to raise the berm by 4 feet in July 2022. (Photo: Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands)
An excavator moves stones by the Great Salt Lake Causeway to raise the berm by 4 feet in July 2022. (Photo: Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands)

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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah leaders have, in recent years, put millions of dollars into water leasing and agricultural water optimization programs to put more water into the struggling Great Salt Lake and a...

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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah lawmakers are now eying a study to see if adjustments to a second lake could help get water into the struggling Great Salt Lake. The Utah Senate approved a motion by Sen. Curtis...
The Weber River and Warren Canal wind through Weber County farmland on July 26, 2023. The Office of the Great Salt Lake Commissioner is looking at creating a split-season leasing program as a possible way to get more water to the Great Salt Lake. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
The Weber River and Warren Canal wind through Weber County farmland on July 26, 2023. The Office of the Great Salt Lake Commissioner is looking at creating a split-season leasing program as a possible way to get more water to the Great Salt Lake. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

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SALT LAKE CITY — Jim Bowcutt acknowledges that fallowing had always been considered the second F-letter word among farmers. Fallowing is a practice where farmers let their crops grow idly, thus avoidi...

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SALT LAKE CITY — Rep. Walt Brooks, R-St. George, says he was approached not too long ago by constituents with examples of peculiar legal cases emerging in other states and countries in recent years. H...
Water moves through a culvert April 25, 2023. With reservoir levels high, more water may be redirected to the Great Salt Lake this spring to avoid flooding concerns. Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News
Water moves through a culvert April 25, 2023. With reservoir levels high, more water may be redirected to the Great Salt Lake this spring to avoid flooding concerns. Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News

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SALT LAKE CITY — The Great Salt Lake remains about 5½ to 8 feet below its minimum healthy level, depending on what side of it you're viewing; however, the person tasked with overseeing efforts to refi...

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SALT LAKE CITY — A bill that limits the use of "nonfunctional turf" for new government construction within the Great Salt Lake Basin passed through a Utah House natural resources committee Thursday, b...

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SALT LAKE CITY — Tim Davis believes Utah must do everything it possibly can to help the Great Salt Lake avoid a repeat of 2022. The lake plummeted to an all-time low amid ongoing extreme drought condi...
This graph show how long it would take for the Great Salt Lake to reach 4,198 feet elevation with conservation goals in the next five, 10 and 30 years versus no conservation in regular or drought years. (Photo: Great Salt Lake Strike Team)
This graph show how long it would take for the Great Salt Lake to reach 4,198 feet elevation with conservation goals in the next five, 10 and 30 years versus no conservation in regular or drought years. (Photo: Great Salt Lake Strike Team)

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SALT LAKE CITY — Joel Ferry reflected on a meaningful piece of advice his father gave him on the farm as he thought about the future of the struggling Great Salt Lake. "My dad would always tell me, 'M...

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SALT LAKE CITY — Three Utah agencies are seeking to drop a lawsuit filed against them earlier this year over their management of the Great Salt Lake , arguing that the lawsuit "lacks subject matter ju...

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SALT LAKE CITY — Brian Steed remembers feeling unsure about the type of support Utah would provide the Great Salt Lake as it started flirting with record-low levels three years ago. He was still servi...

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SALT LAKE CITY — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has redesigned the landscape outside six of its Utah meetinghouses and is working to complete a seventh as it seeks to move forward wit...

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PROVO — Utah water officials say a "suite of alternatives" will be needed to get water back to the struggling Great Salt Lake over the next few years. A pipeline channeling water from the Pacific Ocea...

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SALT LAKE CITY — The Great Salt Lake is in a much better spot than it was this time a year ago, as it reached its current all-time low. Its southern arm is back to just over 4,192 feet elevation after...

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SALT LAKE CITY — The Great Salt Lake Watershed Enhancement Trust announced Tuesday that it is sending a little more than $8.5 million in grant funds over the next two years to help fund projects that...
Deeda Seed, a senior campaigner for the Center for Biological Diversity, speaks at a rally held inside the state Capitol on Monday that called on the Utah Inland Port Authority to do more for Utah's wetlands. (Photo: Carter Williams, KSL.com)
Deeda Seed, a senior campaigner for the Center for Biological Diversity, speaks at a rally held inside the state Capitol on Monday that called on the Utah Inland Port Authority to do more for Utah's wetlands. (Photo: Carter Williams, KSL.com)

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SALT LAKE CITY — Members of the Utah Inland Port Authority's board of directors voted Monday to adopt a new policy that the agency says will help mitigate impacts to the state's vital wetlands as the...

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SALT LAKE CITY — Art has the strength to ignite change and provide "optimism," Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall contends. Its power is why the city entered a nationwide competition seeking money t...

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SALT LAKE CITY — A group of researchers and other prominent figures are seeking the help of thousands to solve the Great Salt Lake's woes once and for all, as the lake's water levels remain well below...

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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah water experts agree that Utahns must continue to make changes to how they consume water for communities to avoid consequences tied to the drying Great Salt Lake, which reached an...
Salt Lake City's 2023 mayoral candidates, from left to right: community activist Michael Valentine, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall and former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson. (Photo: Kristin Murphy and Laura Seitz, Deseret News)
Salt Lake City's 2023 mayoral candidates, from left to right: community activist Michael Valentine, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall and former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson. (Photo: Kristin Murphy and Laura Seitz, Deseret News)

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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's capital city will always be connected to the Great Salt Lake through its name. And as the lake continues to struggle as a result of factors like drought and overconsumption, it...

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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Gov. Spencer Cox says he isn't surprised by a new report showing that mitigating dust from the Great Salt Lake would likely cost at least $1.5 billion in capital costs, but it hi...
Water flows through a breach in the Great Salt Lake railroad causeway on May 3. The lake's northern arm remains within 1 foot of its record low set last year. Water flows through a breach in the Great Salt Lake railroad causeway on May 3. The lake's northern arm remains within 1 foot of its record low set last year. (Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
Water flows through a breach in the Great Salt Lake railroad causeway on May 3. The lake's northern arm remains within 1 foot of its record low set last year. Water flows through a breach in the Great Salt Lake railroad causeway on May 3. The lake's northern arm remains within 1 foot of its record low set last year. (Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)

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CORINNE, Box Elder County — While the Great Salt Lake's blue southern arm remains much higher than it was this time last year, as it neared its new all-time record low set in early November, the same...

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SALT LAKE CITY — A pair of Utah divisions are close to unveiling new proposed rules that will regulate how new mineral extractors will return all the Great Salt Lake water they use in operations, impl...

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SALT LAKE CITY — Deeda Seed and Jonny Vasic are leading a few dozen people through the hallways of the Utah Capitol, to deliver a pair of purple file folders to two Utah Inland Port Authority board di...
The Antelope Island marina at the Great Salt Lake on June 5. The lake appears to have maxed out at about 4,194 feet elevation after this year's record snowpack. The Antelope Island marina at the Great Salt Lake on June 5. The lake appears to have maxed out at about 4,194 feet elevation after this year's record snowpack. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)
The Antelope Island marina at the Great Salt Lake on June 5. The lake appears to have maxed out at about 4,194 feet elevation after this year's record snowpack. The Antelope Island marina at the Great Salt Lake on June 5. The lake appears to have maxed out at about 4,194 feet elevation after this year's record snowpack. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)

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SALT LAKE CITY — The Great Salt Lake's water levels fell to an all-time record low for the second-consecutive time a year ago this week . One year later, the lake is starting to decline again — but it...
Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall speaks outside of the Day-Riverside Branch Library in Salt Lake City on Monday, introducing a new water-conservation program. Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall speaks outside of the Day-Riverside Branch Library in Salt Lake City on Monday, introducing a new water-conservation program. (Carter Williams, KSL.com)
Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall speaks outside of the Day-Riverside Branch Library in Salt Lake City on Monday, introducing a new water-conservation program. Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall speaks outside of the Day-Riverside Branch Library in Salt Lake City on Monday, introducing a new water-conservation program. (Carter Williams, KSL.com)

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SALT LAKE CITY — Water supply in Utah's capital city is in a good place after a robust snowpack runoff that's all but over. As the irrigation season moves forward, Salt Lake City is turning to a new t...
Dusty snow is visible at an Alta Atwater snow pit on May 17. (Photo: Otto Lang via University of Utah)
Dusty snow is visible at an Alta Atwater snow pit on May 17. (Photo: Otto Lang via University of Utah)

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SALT LAKE CITY — McKenzie Skiles and other Utah researchers had already shed light on the relationship between dust and mountain snowmelt before a series of storms in early 2022 began to pelt the Wasa...
Nonbiting midges are pictured at Antelope Island on Monday. Shorebird survey volunteers noticed fewer bugs in the Great Salt Lake ecosystem during their August 2022 survey. (Photo: Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)
Nonbiting midges are pictured at Antelope Island on Monday. Shorebird survey volunteers noticed fewer bugs in the Great Salt Lake ecosystem during their August 2022 survey. (Photo: Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)

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SALT LAKE CITY — Janice Gardner vividly remembers what it was like to venture out into the Great Salt Lake's vast wetlands as she and multiple groups of volunteers began counting shorebirds as part of...
The sun sets on the Spiral Jetty on the Great Salt Lake on March 16. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox nominated Brian Steed to serve as Utah's first-ever Great Salt Lake commissioner last week. The sun sets on the Spiral Jetty on the Great Salt Lake on March 16. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox nominated Brian Steed to serve as Utah's first-ever Great Salt Lake commissioner last week. (Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
The sun sets on the Spiral Jetty on the Great Salt Lake on March 16. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox nominated Brian Steed to serve as Utah's first-ever Great Salt Lake commissioner last week. The sun sets on the Spiral Jetty on the Great Salt Lake on March 16. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox nominated Brian Steed to serve as Utah's first-ever Great Salt Lake commissioner last week. (Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)

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SALT LAKE CITY — Brian Steed is still piecing together what his next job will entail, but he already has at least one goal in mind before becoming the state's first-ever Great Salt Lake commissioner....
The water level is rising in the Great Salt Lake due to snowmelt as photographed on May 3. The lake has now risen almost 5 feet over the past several months. (Photo: Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
The water level is rising in the Great Salt Lake due to snowmelt as photographed on May 3. The lake has now risen almost 5 feet over the past several months. (Photo: Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)

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SALT LAKE CITY — The future of the Great Salt Lake, and Utah's water security as a whole, is an issue that will require help from everyone living in the state. That's the message Utah House Speaker Br...
Brian Steed, former executive director at the Utah Department of Natural Resources, in 2021. Gov. Spencer Cox picked Steed to be the first-ever Great Salt Lake commissioner on Monday.Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
Brian Steed, former executive director at the Utah Department of Natural Resources, in 2021. Gov. Spencer Cox picked Steed to be the first-ever Great Salt Lake commissioner on Monday.Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Gov. Spencer Cox is backing the state's former natural resources director to oversee functions related to the Great Salt Lake, pending final approval from the Utah Legislature. T...
The railroad causeway is breached on the Great Salt Lake on Wednesday. (Photo: Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
The railroad causeway is breached on the Great Salt Lake on Wednesday. (Photo: Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)

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SALT LAKE CITY — Kevin Perry isn't completely surprised by this year's record snowpack. Utah's snowpack, a measure of the water contained within the snow that falls in the mountains, reached 30 inches...
The Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District's Conservation Garden Park in West Jordan shows off examples of water-wise landscaping on Monday. (Photo: Spenser Heaps, Deseret News)
The Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District's Conservation Garden Park in West Jordan shows off examples of water-wise landscaping on Monday. (Photo: Spenser Heaps, Deseret News)

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WEST JORDAN — This year's record snowpack has drastically reduced a drought that really began to impact Utah by the end of spring three years ago. The U.S. Drought Monitor currently lists about 20% of...
Water begins to flow at Point of the Mountain in Draper as the Central Utah Water Conservancy District redirects it to the Great Salt Lake. (Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News)
Water begins to flow at Point of the Mountain in Draper as the Central Utah Water Conservancy District redirects it to the Great Salt Lake. (Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News)

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DRAPER — Gene Shawcroft pulled a walkie-talkie up to his mouth and called for his employees to open a spill gate located near the Point of the Mountain. "We'll get it going as fast as we can," one of...
A great blue heron at Farmington Bay on Feb. 19, 2022. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints agreed to donate 5,700 water shares to send more water to Farmington Bay area of the Great Salt Lake. (Carter Williams, KSL.com)
A great blue heron at Farmington Bay on Feb. 19, 2022. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints agreed to donate 5,700 water shares to send more water to Farmington Bay area of the Great Salt Lake. (Carter Williams, KSL.com)

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SALT LAKE CITY — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has agreed to donate 5,700 water shares that will send more than 20,000 acre-feet of water to the struggling Great Salt Lake every year...
Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake on Tuesday, Feb. 7. A proposed bill would set up a new commissioner who would oversee the efforts to get water into the lake. (Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake on Tuesday, Feb. 7. A proposed bill would set up a new commissioner who would oversee the efforts to get water into the lake. (Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)

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SALT LAKE CITY — A commissioner could soon oversee the Great Salt Lake's water levels and Utah's efforts to get water back into the lake. HB491 , sponsored by Rep. Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, was introduc...
Snow-covered pine trees are pictured in the Wasatch-Cache National Forest in Millcreek on Jan. 12. The Great Salt Lake Strike Team issued a report Wednesday that finds the benefit of thinning forests is "unclear" but also "likely to be minimal." (Laura Seitz, Deseret News)
Snow-covered pine trees are pictured in the Wasatch-Cache National Forest in Millcreek on Jan. 12. The Great Salt Lake Strike Team issued a report Wednesday that finds the benefit of thinning forests is "unclear" but also "likely to be minimal." (Laura Seitz, Deseret News)

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SALT LAKE CITY — A new report compiled by dozens of Utah researchers suggests that thinning overgrown forests within the Great Salt Lake basin won't significantly impact the lake's water levels as muc...
Interstate 80 near the Great Salt Lake on Tuesday. The Great Salt Lake Strike Team released its first policy report Wednesday, outlining six policy insights and recommendations for Utah lawmakers to consider. (Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)

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SALT LAKE CITY — A team of Utah agencies and research institutions outlined six "major" recommendations for the state to consider when it comes to handling the drying Great Salt Lake. But failing to a...
Crews use an excavator move to move stones near the Great Salt Lake Causeway to raise the berm by 4 feet in July 2022. Gov. Spencer Cox ordered Friday that the berm be raised another 5 feet to help with growing salinity concerns. (Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands)

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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed a new executive order Friday , calling on the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands to raise the Great Salt Lake causeway berm by 5 feet, in an...
Watershed Enhancement Trust, which aims to get water back to the lake. (Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)

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SALT LAKE CITY — Farmers, private landowners, mineral extraction specialists, hunters, anglers and water managers are among a group of people joining a trust to work on improving water flows to the Gr...
Rep. Joel Briscoe, D-Salt Lake City, speaks at a press conference about the Great Salt Lake at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Wednesday. (Laura Seitz, Deseret News)

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SALT LAKE CITY — Rep. Joel Briscoe, D-Salt Lake City, admits he has a sentimental reason behind his desire to save the Great Salt Lake. He has fond memories of traveling across the causeway toward the...
The Great Salt Lake wetlands near Corinne, Box Elder County, on July 13. Congress passed a bill Monday that helps fund studies of saline lakes in Great Basin states, like the Great Salt Lake, over the next five years. It's up to President Joe Biden to sign it. (Ben B. Braun, Deseret News)
The Great Salt Lake wetlands near Corinne, Box Elder County, on July 13. Congress passed a bill Monday that helps fund studies of saline lakes in Great Basin states, like the Great Salt Lake, over the next five years. It's up to President Joe Biden to sign it. (Ben B. Braun, Deseret News)

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SALT LAKE CITY — A bill that sets up funding for studies of Great Basin saline lakes, such as the Great Salt Lake, cleared its last congressional hurdle Monday night and is now headed to President Joe...
A Blackhawk helicopter flies over the Great Salt Lake as Utah lawmakers take an aerial tour with the Utah Army National Guard on Feb. 15. The U.S. Congress is close to finalizing legislation that would provide $25 million over five years toward studying the Great Salt Lake and other regional saline lakes. (Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News)

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SALT LAKE CITY — There are plenty of reasons why Utah politicians are worried about the future of the Great Salt Lake, says Utah Rep. Blake Moore. "Everything related to the Great Salt Lake is crucial...
Record-low water levels are seen in the Great Salt Lake from Antelope Island on July 22. The Utah Geological Survey published a second edition of its "Commonly Asked Questions About Utah's Great Salt Lake And Ancient Lake Bonneville" this month, its first update of the booklet since it was first published in 1996. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)

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SALT LAKE CITY — The Great Salt Lake attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year even if it's a shell of its old self. For instance, more than 115,000 people have already visited the Great S...
Birds fly over and nest along the Great Salt Lake wetlands near Corinne, Box Elder County, on Wednesday, July 13. Ducks Unlimited announced a new fundraising initiative that will fund projects that benefit the wetlands. (Ben B. Braun, Deseret News)

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SOUTH JORDAN — The shrinking of the Great Salt Lake isn't only a Utah problem in Adam Putnam's eyes. It's an issue that may have serious implications across the U.S. and Western Hemisphere. While stat...
A sail boat is launched at the Great Salt Lake sometime in the 1870s. The Great Salt Lake and Utah's water history were the primary focus of the 70th annual Utah State Historical Society Conference held in Provo. (Utah State History )

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PROVO — John Wesley Powell offered a poignant message for Western U.S. communities when he was the featured speaker in a room full of developers and government leaders at a major irrigation conference...
A photo of an old boat harbor by the Great Salt Lake shoreline taken sometime between 1940 and 1960. The lake reached an all-time low in 1963, which remained a record until 2021. The new record was set this year.(Utah Division of State History)

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SALT LAKE CITY — Craig Miller was recently rifling through some old Utah water documents destined to be destroyed when he came across a peculiar set of drawings of the Great Salt Lake sketched nearly...
Crews use an excavator to move stones at the Great Salt Lake Causeway to raise the berm by 4 feet in July. The higher berm is expected to help the health of the lake, experts say. (Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands)

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OGDEN — Utah land managers said Thursday they've recently raised a berm underneath the railroad causeway that stretches across the Great Salt Lake in an effort to thwart rising salinity levels that th...
Dust blows across the dry lakebed of the Great Salt Lake near Salt Lake City on Aug.12. Experts say only about 9% of the lakebed produces dust that can be picked up by wind. (Spenser Heaps, Deseret News)

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SALT LAKE CITY — Kevin Perry believes there are many "trigger points" that indicate when there is something wrong with the Great Salt Lake. For instance, anyone who has come to the lake for recreation...
Karin Kettenring, a professor of wetland ecology at Utah State University's College of Natural Resources leads a field tour about phragmites on Ties. Sept. 8. Experts have worked for over a decade to remove phragmites and replace it with a native species. (Photo credit: Utah State University)

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FARMINGTON — The threat of the Great Salt Lake flooding is far from anyone's minds these days, especially after back-to-back years of record-setting low water levels . But it was a different story in...
Horizonte student Oakland Voright and her teacher Nat Shiozawa discuss their observations around the Cascades area of the Rose Park Jordan River Watershed Project Cornell Wetland Area in Salt Lake City on Thursday. The feature helps dissolve oxygen into the water and also has a hydrodynamic separator that mechanically removes debris and sediment out of the water. Horizonte student Oakland Voright and her teacher Nat Shiozawa discuss their observations around the Cascades area of the Rose Park Jordan River Watershed Project Cornell Wetland Area in Salt Lake City on Thursday. The feature helps dissolve oxygen into the water and also has a hydrodynamic separator that mechanically removes debris and sediment out of the water. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)
Horizonte student Oakland Voright and her teacher Nat Shiozawa discuss their observations around the Cascades area of the Rose Park Jordan River Watershed Project Cornell Wetland Area in Salt Lake City on Thursday. The feature helps dissolve oxygen into the water and also has a hydrodynamic separator that mechanically removes debris and sediment out of the water. Horizonte student Oakland Voright and her teacher Nat Shiozawa discuss their observations around the Cascades area of the Rose Park Jordan River Watershed Project Cornell Wetland Area in Salt Lake City on Thursday. The feature helps dissolve oxygen into the water and also has a hydrodynamic separator that mechanically removes debris and sediment out of the water. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)

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SALT LAKE CITY — West Jordan Mayor Dirk Burton reflects back to his childhood as he stands a few dozen feet from the banks of the Jordan River. There's one memory from decades ago that pops into his m...
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox stands by an old milking shed on his family’s farmland as he talks about growing up on the land near his home in Fairview, Sanpete County, on Dec. 9, 2020. Most of Utah's water goes to the farmers and ranchers. Here's how the industry is cutting back. (Steve Griffin, Deseret News)
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox stands by an old milking shed on his family’s farmland as he talks about growing up on the land near his home in Fairview, Sanpete County, on Dec. 9, 2020. Most of Utah's water goes to the farmers and ranchers. Here's how the industry is cutting back. (Steve Griffin, Deseret News)

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SALT LAKE CITY — Given Utah's ongoing drought and the two-decade-long "megadrought," Utah Gov. Spencer Cox believes that Utahns must view water differently than ever before, cutting back on water wast...
Utah Sen. Mitt Romney speaks about the Great Salt Lake with members of the media Wednesday afternoon. (Photo: KSL)
Utah Sen. Mitt Romney speaks about the Great Salt Lake with members of the media Wednesday afternoon. (Photo: KSL)

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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Sen. Mitt Romney and Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, introduced a bill in the U.S Senate last year that aimed to study saline lakes. The bill struggled to garner attention because,...
A painting from the Celebration of the Hand: Save Our Great Salt Lake on 300 South in Salt Lake City Tuesday afternoon. It is one of over a dozen that highlight the issues with the drying Great Salt Lake, which reached a record low this week. (Photo: Carter Williams, KSL.com)
A painting from the Celebration of the Hand: Save Our Great Salt Lake on 300 South in Salt Lake City Tuesday afternoon. It is one of over a dozen that highlight the issues with the drying Great Salt Lake, which reached a record low this week. (Photo: Carter Williams, KSL.com)

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SALT LAKE CITY — Jacob Brooks' latest painting is quite simple, so simple that his 3-year-old son can understand the message Brooks is trying to convey. It's a California gull with a sego lily on its...
The Great Salt Lake as seen on Feb. 15. A new Utah program aims to protect and enhance water levels in the Great Salt Lake in an effort to avoid environmental disaster. (Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)
The Great Salt Lake as seen on Feb. 15. A new Utah program aims to protect and enhance water levels in the Great Salt Lake in an effort to avoid environmental disaster. (Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)

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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah legislators approved an unprecedented $40 million that will go solely toward enhancing the Great Salt Lake watershed during the state's legislative session earlier this year. The...
Water swirls down a storm drain at 600 South and State Street after heavy rain hit northern Utah on Aug. 1, 2021. Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities opened a new "Adopt a Storm Drain" program to help clean up residential drains last week. (Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)
Water swirls down a storm drain at 600 South and State Street after heavy rain hit northern Utah on Aug. 1, 2021. Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities opened a new "Adopt a Storm Drain" program to help clean up residential drains last week. (Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)

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SALT LAKE CITY — Chances are you've seen signs to adopt a highway at least once in your life. The first "Adopt a Highway" sign dates back to 1985. A Texas transportation engineer thought of having vol...
An aerial view of the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah's West Desert on July 22, 2015. The area was prehistorically a wetland before it and Lake Bonneville disappeared. (Rick Bowmer, Associated Press)
An aerial view of the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah's West Desert on July 22, 2015. The area was prehistorically a wetland before it and Lake Bonneville disappeared. (Rick Bowmer, Associated Press)

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SALT LAKE CITY — Daron Duke is captivated by an image he's projected on a screen he's shared with curious archaeologists and prehistoric aficionados. It's a pair of pictures in northwest Utah: Blue La...
An undated photo of dust picked up by the Great Salt Lake by a vehicle illegally driving on the dried lakebed. A new bill that goes into effect May 4 clarifies that all motor vehicles are banned from dried lakebeds and navigable rivers in the state. (Courtesy of Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands)
An undated photo of dust picked up by the Great Salt Lake by a vehicle illegally driving on the dried lakebed. A new bill that goes into effect May 4 clarifies that all motor vehicles are banned from dried lakebeds and navigable rivers in the state. (Courtesy of Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands)

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SALT LAKE CITY — Motorized vehicles are banned from traveling on exposed lakebeds and navigable rivers in Utah, but a problem emerged in recent years with the way it's written in state law. It wasn't...
Brandon Miller, with Ikon Landscaping, plants water-wise plants in a park strip in Herriman on Sept. 21, 2021, during the launch of “Flip Blitz,” a landscape diversification and water conservation program from the Utah Division of Water Resources. Removing turf-based park strips can save thousands of gallons of water annually, according to conservation experts. (Shafkat Anowar, Deseret News)
Brandon Miller, with Ikon Landscaping, plants water-wise plants in a park strip in Herriman on Sept. 21, 2021, during the launch of “Flip Blitz,” a landscape diversification and water conservation program from the Utah Division of Water Resources. Removing turf-based park strips can save thousands of gallons of water annually, according to conservation experts. (Shafkat Anowar, Deseret News)

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SALT LAKE CITY — Cynthia Bee said it sometimes pays off to be "the lone weirdo" in a neighborhood who ditches the turf-based park strip, the patch of grass that typically exists between a street and s...
A Blackhawk helicopter flies over the Great Salt Lake as Utah lawmakers take an aerial tour of the lake with the Utah Army National Guard on Feb. 15. Utah experts project the lake will fall another 2 feet below the record low set last year. (Scott G. Winterton)
A Blackhawk helicopter flies over the Great Salt Lake as Utah lawmakers take an aerial tour of the lake with the Utah Army National Guard on Feb. 15. Utah experts project the lake will fall another 2 feet below the record low set last year. (Scott G. Winterton)

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SALT LAKE CITY — Laura Vernon was preparing for a news interview last summer when her mother asked what the interview was about. Vernon, the Great Salt Lake coordinator for the Utah Division of Forest...
Tundra swans fly through the wetlands by the Great Salt Lake on Feb. 17. It's estimated that three-fourths of the continental tundra swans use the Great Salt Lake's wetlands annually. Those wetlands are the focus of a project that received federal grant money Wednesday. (Utah Division of Wildlife Resources)
Tundra swans fly through the wetlands by the Great Salt Lake on Feb. 17. It's estimated that three-fourths of the continental tundra swans use the Great Salt Lake's wetlands annually. Those wetlands are the focus of a project that received federal grant money Wednesday. (Utah Division of Wildlife Resources)

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OGDEN — The dike system at Ogden Bay Waterfowl Management Area is vital for controlling the water that keeps it an important management area for the millions of birds that flock there — or other areas...
Tourists visit the Great Salt Lake on Nov. 19, 2021. The lake officially hit its lowest levels ever in October 2021. (Laura Seitz, Deseret News)

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SALT LAKE CITY — In the days after arriving at what's now the Salt Lake Valley, Brigham Young and handful of other leaders from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ventured toward the Grea...

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Utah's capital city will always be connected to the Great Salt Lake through its name. And as the lake continues to struggle as a result of factors like drought and overconsumption, it will likely impa...
Water flows through the Colorado River Moab Daily in Grand County on April 25. The Upper and Lower basin states are split on a long-term plan to manage Lake Powell and Lake Mead, and meetings will pick up this month. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)

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MOAB — Utah and the six other Colorado River basin states met virtually toward the end of April to address their differing opinions on how Lake Powell and Lake Mead should be managed in the long term...
 

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