KUER
So far, Utah’s water banking is showing the path beyond ‘use it or lose it’
November 10th 2023 by David Condos / KUER
In a dry state like Utah, there’s not always enough water to go around. But when there is extra water, how exactly do you spread it around? Over the past three years, the state’s water banking progr...
Great Salt Lake wetlands are the latest battleground with the Utah Inland Port
November 10th 2023 by Sean Higgins / KUER
Opponents of the Utah Inland Port say the shipping and logistics hub is the single greatest threat to the Great Salt Lake’s wetlands. Stop the Polluting Port, Great Salt Lake Audubon, Utah Physician...
Last winter was good to Great Salt Lake, but Utah Rivers Council says more can be done
November 1st 2023 by Saige Miller KUER / KUER
As Great Salt Lake experiences what is traditionally its lowest point of the year, things aren’t looking too bad. “It's been a good October,” said Ben Stireman, a deputy director in the Utah Divisio...
Salt Lake City west-siders dealing with bad air are disconnected from their politicians
August 17th 2023 by Saige Miller and Alixel Cabrera / KUER
Editor’s note: This story is part of Reaching for Air — a collaboration of The Salt Lake Tribune, KUER and the Brown Institute for Media Innovation, which explores air quality along the Salt Lake Vall...
What oily, sticky tar seeps can teach us about saving Great Salt Lake
April 20th 2023 by Ciara Hulet and Emily Pohlsander / KUER
Near Spiral Jetty on the northeast shore of Great Salt Lake, there is a phenomenon known as tar seeps. Sticky, black oil bubbles up to the dry lake bed and entraps unsuspecting birds and small mammals...
What vital signs will show us that the Great Salt Lake is improving?
April 5th 2023 by Saige Miller KUER / KUER
Utah’s record-setting winter has been exciting for both skiers and lawmakers working to revive the ailing Great Salt Lake. Gov. Spencer Cox told reporters in mid-March that lake levels were up 2 feet...
Danger Cave still evokes life as it was at a Great Salt Lake of 8,000 years ago
February 6th 2023 by Elaine Clark / KUER
Many Salt Lakers driving the 120 miles to Wendover are after the kind of rest and relaxation they can’t find in the beehive state: gambling, cheap liquor or maybe even some recreational marijuana. B...
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‘Mother Earth cries’ but hope remains for the Great Salt Lake, says poet
December 29th 2022 by Ciara Hulet / KUER
Poetry is magic. That’s what poet Elizabeth Cruz says — she firmly believes her writing can help save the drying Great Salt Lake. “Mother Earth cries. Mother Earth suffers. Sometimes it is because o...
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Utah author pens a tale of parental anxiety that parallels a drying Great Salt Lake
December 28th 2022 by Pamela McCall / KUER
“The Edge of Something” is author and playwright Elaine Jarvik’s emotional short story. The backdrop is the dwindling Great Salt Lake. Her work appears in the Great Salt Lake Anthology. In Jarvik’s...
Utah’s population boom could further strain its limited water
December 18th 2022 by Saige Miller KUER / KUER
A report published by the Utah State University Institute of Land, Water and Air shows that Utah’s rapid population growth could further strain the state’s limited natural resources. A group of rese...
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Will time run out on Romney’s bill to fund research to save the Great Salt Lake?
December 6th 2022 by Saige Miller KUER / KUER
Utah’s Great Salt Lake is at a record low and has already begun its ecological collapse. But it’s not the only salty lake in despair. On the final day of November, the Saline Lake Ecosystems in the...
Utah youth hold “die-in” to mourn the decline of Great Salt Lake
September 4th 2022 by Saige Miller KUER / KUER
Over 100 people walked silently in a single file on the dry Great Salt Lake bed Saturday. They wanted to send a message to elected Utah leaders that a healthy Great Salt Lake is vital to the environ...
Utah can’t save or stretch its precious water if it can’t super accurately measure it
August 22nd 2022 by Saige Miller KUER / KUER
As the Western megadrought stretches on, conservation, rate hikes or tearing out turf may not be enough. There’s still a thirsty population, anagricultural industry and the shrinkingGreat Salt Lake to...
Utah agriculture wants more support and research to reach future water-saving goals
August 8th 2022 by Saige Miller KUER / KUER
The Utah Legislature, the federal government and community members are all weighing in on how best to address the ongoing drought, but all eyes are on Utah’s agricultural industry to reduce its water...
Critics say the Great Salt Lake Recovery Act pushes more study when action is what’s needed
July 21st 2022 by Sean Higgins / KUER
State leaders are optimistic federal legislation that could provide millions in funding to help the shrinking Great Salt Lake will have traction in Washington, but some water advocates in Utah are sti...
Wasatch Front data centers are thirsty for water, and in a drought that’s a bad look
July 15th 2022 by Pamela McCall / KUER
The usual drought talk about clouds asks when and where it will rain. Not this time. We’re still talking about the cloud, but now we’re focused on the computers that power it — and the water used to c...
Romney, Stewart and Owens pitch Congress on a Great Salt Lake rescue bill
July 14th 2022 by Saige Miller KUER / KUER
The ailing Great Salt Lake has caught the attention of Washington. Sen. Mitt Romney announced Thursday that he and fellow Republican Reps. Chris Stewart and Burgess Owens introduced a bill to preserve...
Are you watering your lawn wrong? USU’s Water Checkers will help you figure it out
June 30th 2022 by Nadia Pflaum / KUER
At Nick Clayton’s house in Cottonwood Heights, it looks like a squadron of tiny aliens has landed. Little blue, plastic cups on tripod legs dot the lawn, placed by Charlotte and Caroline Jacketta. T...
Toxic dust warnings might be our future as the Great Salt Lake shrivels up
June 20th 2022 by Ivana Martinez / KUER
The Great Salt Lake is shrinking at an alarming rate, and it’s about to reach a new record low following an extreme drought. That’s raising concern about potential health impacts as dust storms roll...
RadioWest: It's Not Too Late (Yet) For A New Water Policy
June 10th 2022 by Doug Fabrizio / KUER
Water policy shapes how we live in the West, and for years, we’ve carried on, changing very little in our water consumption, even in the face of megadroughts, increasing population density and shrinki...
The State And Fate Of The Great Salt Lake, Part I
May 2nd 2022 by Doug Fabrizio / KUER
There’s no sugarcoating it: The Great Salt Lake is dying. In fact, the obituary has already been written, and according to the people studying the problem, we may only have a matter of months before t...
A century of human activity is coming back as toxic dust as the Great Salt Lake shrinks
April 27th 2022 by Pamela McCall / KUER
The scenario reads more like apocalyptic science fiction than reality. The Great Salt Lake recedes and an ecological disaster, fanned by the wind, hits the Wasatch Front. But it’s not fiction. A team...
Interview: Why a dry Chilean lagoon matters to the future of the Great Salt Lake
April 22nd 2022 by Caroline Ballard / KUER
KUER's Caroline Ballard interviews Will Munger from Utah State University and Amy Joi O'Donoghue of the Deseret News about the connections between Great Salt Lake and a dry lagoon in Chile. {sourc...
A poet is keeping vigil at the Great Salt Lake during Utah’s legislative session
February 15th 2022 by Emily Means / KUER
The salty, eggy stink of the Great Salt Lake smacks you right in the face on the drive to Antelope Island. Along the nearly seven-mile-long causeway to the island, there are hundreds, maybe thousand...
The State and Fate of the Great Salt Lake, Part III
February 3rd 2022 by Doug Fabrizio / KUER
Everybody seems to agree the Great Salt Lake is in dire straits. So, what can be done to help it? A lot of ideas have been proposed for getting more water to Great Salt Lake. This Friday at 11 a.m.,...
The State And Fate Of The Great Salt Lake, Part II
October 8th 2021 by Doug Fabrizio / KUER
According to scientists who study it, the Great Salt Lake — the largest saltwater lake in the western hemisphere — is drying up.The lake has already reached the lowest water level in history, and its...
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