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Captured by satellite: Great Salt Lake's dust threatens air quality in Utah cities
conditions. One of the most concerning aspects of the lake's decline is the exposed lake bed and the potential for "toxic dust" (arsenic is among the naturally-occurring minerals in the lake bed). Research is under way currently to determine how much...
March 18, 2025
Youth activists push lawmakers to do more for Great Salt Lake
threat to the state and its people. There's reduced snowpack (95% of Utah's drinking water comes from snowpack), toxic dust storms from the receding lake bed and threats to public health and wildlife. Since the decline, lawmakers have passed dozens of...
February 12, 2025
Ex-Ogden City Council member lands role advocating for Great Salt Lake
Millions of migratory birds representing 338 species from every country in the Americas make their way to the Great Salt Lake each year to rest and rejuvenate. But what if that body of water — the largest saline lake in the Western Hemisphere — goes...
February 4, 2025
Farmers fear water grab: Week 2 recap of the Utah Legislature
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...
January 31, 2025
Utah’s collegiate runners face a tough challenge: Bad air quality
Track and cross-country athletes talk about moving their training indoors on smoggy days, to avoid “track hack.” Nearly every day during the fall semester, collegiate runners tightened their laces for morning runs in the shadow of the mountains that...
January 27, 2025
Hundreds rally for more action to save the Great Salt Lake
a healthy ecological level. Environmentalists and scientists have warned that a shrinking Great Salt Lake could lead to toxic dust storms, reduced snow and harms to wildlife and public health. "We know how vital it is to our health, to our way of life...
January 27, 2025
New report says Great Salt Lake still at risk, needs long-term support
Bear River Bay and Farmington Bay (which includes cities from Ogden down past Salt Lake City) at risk for potentially "toxic dust," which includes arsenic in the lake bed. The shrinking Great Salt Lake presents an economic (more than $2 billion a year,...
January 14, 2025
Utah argues US Magnesium is ‘unable or unwilling’ to protect the Great Salt Lake as judge appoints outsider to run the company
US Magnesium says it stopped building a retaining wall meant to keep toxic waste out of the Great Salt Lake because it’s no longer mining magnesium and therefore, according to the company, is not creating waste to mitigate. State and federal agencies...
December 20, 2024
Video: New stream gauges to help track if conserved water really makes it to Great Salt Lake
couple of years thanks to record-breaking winters. The impacts of a drying lake can be catastrophic for northern Utah — toxic dust storms, reduced snowpack and water supply and harms to public health and wildlife. The lake's declines have been...
November 26, 2024
Video: Great Salt Lake drops back down to 2021 levels
News reported that more of the state had begun to slip into drought. The impacts of a drying Great Salt Lake are severe. Toxic dust storms (arsenic is among the chemicals in the dust bed), reduced snowpack in the mountains that provides northern Utah's...
November 22, 2024
Your input is needed on a new plan to manage the Great Salt Lake
SALT LAKE CITY — Meg Cartwright is worried about the Great Salt Lake. "I really care about it a lot and I know what will happen if we don’t take care of it," she told FOX 13 News. Cartwright joined a handful of others for a public hearing in Salt Lake...
October 23, 2024
Here's what U. researchers are learning about dangers associated with Great Salt Lake dust
SALT LAKE CITY — It's no secret that the Great Salt Lake has been shrinking, dwindling to less than half its historical size, at one point, leaving about 800 square miles of barren lakebed. As more of its beach becomes exposed, concerns ramp up around...
September 19, 2024
A major water donation for the Great Salt Lake
on water conservation designed to protect the lake. A declining lake presents an ecological catastrophe for Utah with toxic dust, reduced snowpack and significant impacts to public health, wildlife and the economy. Compass Minerals is voluntarily...
September 3, 2024
Great Salt Lake is a major source of greenhouse gases, study says
SALT LAKE CITY — The Great Salt Lake is a big contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new study. The Royal Ontario Museum in Canada published research that found emissions from the drying lake bed led to 4.1 million tons of carbon...
July 27, 2024
Utah received money to study the harmful effects of Great Salt Lake dust. It just hasn’t spent it.
The Utah Legislature provided funding for increased dust monitoring in 2023. As the Great Salt Lake shrinks, dust from its lakebeds impacts the air that millions on the Wasatch Front breathe. That dust contains fine particulate matter that can cause...
July 26, 2024
A major indie-pop band is asking its Utah fans to care about the Great Salt Lake
incredible biodiversity and thousands of local jobs. But as climate change worsens, the lake is shrinking, leading to toxic dust storms and some of the worst air pollution in the country. We’re proud to partner with HEAL Utah and the Youth Coalition for...
July 15, 2024
A new study shows what areas are impacted more by Great Salt Lake dust
health, wildlife and Utah's economy in the form of reduced snowpack (where 95% of Utah's drinking water comes from), toxic dust (arsenic is among the minerals in the lake bed) and other harms. Mallia's scenarios look at the Salt Lake Valley if the lake...
July 4, 2024
Utah explores changes to GSL Causeway berm
diversions, drought and a changing climate. A shrinking lake presents an ecological threat to Utah with reduced snowpack, toxic dust and impacts to public health, wildlife and the economy. In response to the crisis, the berm was utilized to help balance...
June 5, 2024
Great Salt Lake likely peaks for the year and will start dropping again
and the economy in the form of reduced snowpack (roughly 95% of Utah's water supply comes from snow), potentially toxic dust and other impacts. To help fill the lake, local water districts have been releasing more water. That is still happening as...
May 31, 2024
Great Salt Lake’s drying lakebed isn’t ‘toxic’ or the biggest source of dust, experts say
Salt Lake still has water. “At Owens Lake, we haven’t had water for more than 100 years,” he said. “All we’ve had is toxic dust.” Owens Lake went dry about 13 years after water diversions from Owens River to Los Angeles. The use of diverted water is the...
May 30, 2024
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