SALT LAKE CITY — It's been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad summer for the Great Salt Lake, but it's slated to get another boost from Utah Lake toward the end of the water year.
Great Salt Lake Watershed Enhancement Trust officials announced Wednesday that 10,000 acre-feet of water from Utah Lake to Great Salt Lake, as part of an agreement with Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands.
The additional water will flow into the Farmington and Gilbert bays via the Jordan River. It has the potential to help out more than just the Great Salt Lake because of the path it's taking, said Marcelle Shoop, director of the trust.
"Timing the delivery of water and routes to Great Salt Lake can enhance ecological and community benefits, and coordinating this water release to facilitate research in the lower Jordan River can also identify solutions to improve water quality," she said, in a statement. "(The trust is) eager to see the benefits to the riparian and wetland ecosystems, the birds that are currently here on their fall migration path and other opportunities for communities along the Jordan River and the lake."
The announcement comes as the lake tumbled again this summer, which isn't uncommon. It typically adds water between the late fall and spring during the winter snowpack collection and spring snowmelt periods, before losing it during the summer and late fall months to evaporation and water consumption.
However, this year's summer was hotter and drier than normal, causing a larger drop than usual for the second-straight year. Its southern arm is down to 4,191.2 feet elevation, having lost about 2½ feet since it peaked earlier this year. Its northern arm is down to 4,191 feet as the lake has nearly leveled out for the first time since a berm at the causeway separating the two arms was raised to combat rising salinity levels in 2022.
The Great Salt Lake slipped back into what the state calls its "serious adverse effects" range of lake health, affecting brine shrimp viability, mineral production and recreation, and leaving communities prone to more dust storms.
The berm will be raised again if the lake drops below an elevation of 4,190 feet, but Utah lawmakers are considering legislation that could increase this requirement to 4,192 feet. It comes as salinity levels at Gilbert Bay and Saltair have risen in recent months, but both remain much lower than what was reported three years ago.
Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints directed 10,000 acre-feet of water to the lake last year, mostly through water saved by residents through conservation efforts. This year's releases follow a similar pattern.
"We are grateful to be able to contribute to another release of water to Great Salt Lake," said Alan Packard, general manager of the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District. "Our community is taking positive steps to achieve levels of water conservation that are critical for a sustainable future. Releases like this depend on everyone making a consistent commitment to use our limited water resources wisely."
Church officials recently announced that they were on track to complete the installation of about 3,000 smart irrigation systems on meetinghouse properties across the West by the end of this year. The Great Salt Lake is an example of the region's natural environment that needs to be taken care of, said Bishop W. Christopher Waddell, First Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric.
