Editor's note: This story is an excerpt from the Great Salt Lake Collaborative's weekly newsletter, Lake Effect from Jan. 31, 2025. To keep up-to-date on water news from around Utah with a focus on Great Salt Lake and the Colorado River, subscribe here for free.
Dear Readers,
Welcome to the end of Week 2 of the Utah Legislature. Here's a summary of what happened this week:
Bills moving through the Legislature
- SB92 Golf Course Amendments: Would allow Utah State University to analyze water use on golf courses to recommend water-saving strategies and eventually create a master plan for state-owned golf courses. The data would not be available to the public though the findings of the study would be.
- Status: It passed a Senate Committee and is awaiting a vote of the entire Senate before it moves to the House.
Funding requests
The Great Salt Lake Commissioner’s Office made a pitch this week for $16 million to match federal and private funds to lease enough water to raise the lake to 4,195 feet. Current elevation: 4,192.6 feet.Lawmakers voiced support for the efforts — but noted there is fear among farmers.
“As a legislator from off the Wasatch Front, there’s a lot of concern that you guys are going to steal their water,” said Republican Rep. Carl Albrecht, who represents southwestern counties. “So my suggestion would be when you get with county commissions south of Nephi — farm bureaus, water managers, those type of people — that you reassure 'em. Cause they all come to me and say, 'Oh, they’re going to take our water for the Great Salt Lake.' I know that’s not the case and I try to explain it. But coming from you smart people it would really help. Would you do that for me please?”
Great Salt Lake Commissioner Brian Steed said he would. “We can reassure them there is no mechanism to get the water from your neck of the woods to where we need it in Great Salt Lake.”
The Commissioner’s Office also sought $650,000 for more monitors to track dust from the Great Salt Lake and staff to analyze the data. As we’ve reported, the state can’t say how often dust comes off the lake, if it affects our health and which communities are being impacted.
Other notable political news:
- We learned Utahns are changing their vision of what a pleasing lawn looks like. In 2015, a survey found most Utahns preferred grass everywhere. But in a head-to-head comparison, a new survey found Utahns now prefer limited grass mixed with water-wise plants.“We now have an eye for what is more water efficient,” said Tage Flint, with Utah Water Ways.
What about you: Do you like low-water yards or wall-to-wall lawn? Send me an email and I'll share your thoughts in the next newsletter:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Here's some recent notes from our readers in response to the news:
"I was wrong, Donald Trump’s return to power did make a change. The Utah State Legislature no longer has to spend any money on saving the Great Salt Lake."
— Martin from Ogden
“Farmers and ranchers truly do heroic work in feeding and clothing our nation. But relying on other regions for food production because of fallowing or paying farmers not to farm, rather than improving the diversified system of growing food throughout our country that we have now, is not a smart strategy. Why trade one environmental challenge for another? Farmers are focused on being the best users of water that they can be. This can be seen in the large – and increasing – numbers of applicants for the State of Utah’s water optimization grants."
— Utah Farm Bureau, in response to reporting on a study about alfalfa and the lake.
Also In this issue:
- Hundreds rally to support Great Salt Lake
- Securing more water for Utah will be Herculean task
- Collegiate runners cope with bad air quality
- Could Utah see higher water rates?
- Will Trump's freeze on federal funds affect Utah?
— Heather May, Great Salt Lake Collaborative Director
You asked we answered
"How much of the decline of the lake is due to increased demand vs. decreased precipitation?"
According to Deputy Great Salt Lake Commissioner Tim Davis, a decline in precipitation has not been observed. In an email to the Great Salt Lake Collaborative, Davis explained that rising temperatures have led to less streamflow and more evaporation. Additionally, Davis said human water consumption has remained “fairly stable” over the past four decades. “Those levels of consumption are unsustainably high so we have seen a long-term downward trend in lake levels,” wrote Davis. The Great Salt Lake Strike Team recently released a report detailing precipitation, temperature, and human use trends. It can be viewed here.
-Mariah Maynes, reporter
Latest news
FOX 13
Tiered water rates, sprinkler head bans considered in Utah legislature
A bill introduced in the Utah State Legislature would move the state toward a more aggressive system of water billing.
House Bill 274, sponsored by Rep. Casey Snider (R-Paradise) would allow cities to set a "tiered" water rate system based on pushing conservation. For some, he told FOX 13 News in a recent interview, it could get very expensive.
What other conservation bills are in the works?
KSL.COM
Securing water from out of state will be a 'Herculean' effort, Utah's water agent says
Utah lawmakers created a new water agent and development council last year, aiming to secure future water needs as the state grows, including the possibility of negotiating for additional water outside of the state's boundaries.
Joel Ferry, director of the Utah Department of Natural Resources and the state's water agent, told lawmakers that efforts to "try to fulfill this mission" are underway but warns it will be easier said than done.
Could Utah secure additional water?
AMPLIFY UTAH
Utah's collegiate runners face a tough challenge: Bad air quality
Nearly every day during the fall semester, collegiate runners tightened their laces for morning runs in the shadow of the mountains that span the Wasatch Front. As the Salt Lake valley’s inversions bring thick smog, some college athletes said they have been forced to train indoors or breathe in toxic air that threatens their respiratory health.
FOX 13
Hundreds rally for more action to save the Great Salt Lake
Hundreds of people braved frigid temperatures on Jan. 25 to call on their elected lawmakers to do more to save the Great Salt Lake.
The Utah Highway Patrol estimated the crowd outside the Capitol at more than 500. People waved signs and wore brine shrimp and bird costumes. A series of giant pelican puppets moved around the Capitol steps.
KSL.COM
Feds directed $122.8M in drought spending across Utah. Will it be held up by freeze?
Utah wildlife officials say they're confident that federal funds the state received last week, which they believe are "crucial" for improving habitats for fish and wildlife in the state, will still be delivered despite a freeze in the law that created the funding source.
The recently allocated money to Utah and tribal entities in the state may also help improve water functions in the Colorado River Basin.
