[{"_1":2,"_88":-5,"_89":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",5985961,"mediaKeyId","5765915-1b4207f6baf7dfe14f6e835a84b852ab","parentId",5765915,"title","Great Salt Lake deputy commissioner details drought, $53 million grant RFP and proposed causeway legislation","audioSeconds",279,"startMs",901000,"endMs",1180000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5765915-1b4207f6baf7dfe14f6e835a84b852ab&start=901&end=1180","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5765915-1b4207f6baf7dfe14f6e835a84b852ab/thumbnail_901000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/5985961/Utah/Great-Salt-Lake-deputy-commissioner-details-drought-53-million-grant-RFP-and-proposed-causeway-legislation","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/5985961-010f8dd89cd85423a7e87ac8dc8267bd/orig.mp4?Expires=1773674644&Signature=fWK1KMvyJr42bssTb9tQXIwUGTKAqp~sS6S-cHP9DPzkjxgLoBqTAqZOmXlBdBAyC6zdCZWVsL6p8vLRu9EjtCkpTuYwHZnQhR8yqjgyYpjp5wkEtuvWKRlyiBYrXksQb7YTzlziSW0YlkEXRmotmNqXh7dyP7XOlqZhssvAw0351fR6lB17kzxPVI1EeMUFCewdJErYpeInm0D5pgcsBAiNEtYPD1B9ws88bGFgtMJ3pIVe7SvbsOgQX36wJsavWP69LoE~j33ZBi-MbIcTQn2cwXugb7nXdR4IoryxdlqUwdDjNYcmSLwv3mX3NJBPl3MsSWehMw60f-lBtF-E6A__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Great Salt Lake Advisory Council","date","2025-09-12T22:09:07Z","article","Hannah Frias, deputy commissioner for the Great Salt Lake Commissioner's Office, told the Great Salt Lake Advisory Council on Sept. 10 that drought is intensifying across Utah while recent rains provided some local relief. \"This is the current elevation of the lake as of yesterday: 4191.3 in the south arm,\" Frias said, providing the meeting an operational baseline for subsequent presentations. She added that recent statewide rains — \"Up at my home in Tremonton, we got 1.2 inches\" — were helpful but insufficient to change the longer-term drought outlook.

Frias summarized several administrative and programmatic items the commissioner's office is advancing. She said the office is pursuing agricultural water-leasing efforts and intends to convene lessons-learned sessions with producers and the Colorado River Authority to inform state leasing approaches. \"We're wanting to do some lessons learned and learn from those folks about...what we can do to better engage agriculture,\" she said.

Grant and application details: Frias gave a funding announcement: \"We have a $53,000,000 grant available, in partnership with the Great Salt Lake Watershed Enhancement Trust. That grant is currently open. We are accepting RFPs, and we will be accepting those until October 24.\" She urged applicants to contact the commissioner's office at greatsaltlake@utah.gov for questions and said staff and the Trust are available to provide application guidance.

Causeway berm legislation: Frias also flagged a pending special-session proposal on management of the causeway berm, which would give the Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands more flexibility in berm management across different lake elevations. She asked council members to direct technical questions to Ben Starman (Deputy Director, Forestry, Fire and State Lands).

Drought and planning context: Frias said drought maps show increasing coverage of extreme drought in recent weeks. She described coordinated work across agencies — Forestry, Fire and State Lands, the Trust, the Division of Water Resources and others — and emphasized that both funding windows and wetter years create opportunities to scale treatments and restoration.

Administrative items and next steps: the council was reminded that the $53 million RFP remains open through Oct. 24 and was invited to discuss agricultural-leasing proposals and other program details with the commissioner's staff. Frias and staff offered to assist potential applicants and encouraged communication to the shared inbox to expedite responses.

Ending: The commissioner's office did not request a formal council vote on these program updates; the presentation served as an operational briefing and notice of funding and regulatory discussions.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Great Salt Lake Advisory Council 9/10/2025","oneSentenceSummary","Deputy Commissioner Hannah Frias updated the advisory council on lake elevation, worsening drought conditions, agricultural water-leasing outreach, a $53 million grant RFP open through Oct. 24, and forthcoming legislation on causeway berm management to give Forestry, Fire and State Lands more flexibility.","taxTitle","Great Salt Lake Advisory Council, Utah Division of Environmental Quality, Utah Government Divisions, Utah Legislative Branch, Utah","taxId",23094,"location","Utah","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},5985965,"Managers report large-scale Phragmites gains at Great Salt Lake but stress need for water, funding and upstream control",5587,1494000,7081000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5765915-1b4207f6baf7dfe14f6e835a84b852ab&start=1494&end=7081","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5765915-1b4207f6baf7dfe14f6e835a84b852ab/thumbnail_1494000.jpg","/articles/5985965/Utah/Managers-report-large-scale-Phragmites-gains-at-Great-Salt-Lake-but-stress-need-for-water-funding-and-upstream-control","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/5985965-64662e6d6c86eedff1404e8b3047f694/orig.mp4?Expires=1773674644&Signature=mkh7D3EA2fPgUPm8MPFLQryO0U43y03qpqYJyjjSt56PODIUk-Mcn9nLGQCWIQawWwALMrcw4MMXeq6l9o3wbawhTmgb~M0FuoRzGMh8qeycx~iNRIGQ5jvPNHgDwxBmjInsn6JkCjhR5Q4E0grvKTpPD4QhGGdZsIwIG5wWfYg4ZGNt0KC6roU2-YOIp-GdY6rEPFPt2hFSwdqWMdYo27HLR4HfAiak~E0baNJQl6xPGEg61457OCKuzzyRX22n~ux5OHu1tfTXV2UQIFczyCgdqrVzMVKjzxdYAX0ycQPwVl8ByoIbw7cYLBc45mB3ghYplnSM1XS78~6NWlxFjA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Land managers and researchers told the Great Salt Lake Advisory Council on Sept. 10 that coordinated treatments and restoration have reduced Phragmites cover in many treated wetlands but that long-term success depends on water availability, sustained funding and more upstream control. Keith Hambrecht, deputy with the Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands, said, \"In 2024, Forestry Fire and State Lands was able to do its largest treatment to date. We treated over 11,000 acres.\"

The council heard technical presentations showing treatment practices, mapping efforts and new measurements of plant water use. Chad Cranny, wetland manager for the Division of Wildlife Resources, described the treatment protocol used across impounded wetlands on state sovereign lands: late-season systemic herbicide application followed about 30 days later by burning, mowing or trampling, repeated for three consecutive years until Phragmites cover drops toward a management target. \"We have to repeat this for many years until we get down to 10% cover or less to reach our habitat management goals,\" Cranny said.

Why it matters: dense Phragmites replaces native wetland vegetation, reduces shorebird and waterfowl use and can change hydrology by impeding flow. Managers said effective control can open surface water, encourage native plants such as bulrush and saltgrass, and return habitat functions — but those gains are vulnerable without follow-up management and sufficient water.

Treatment results and constraints: presenters showed before-and-after photos and acreage data from Farmington Bay, Ogden Bay and other management units. Managers reported that in targeted treatment units the remaining Phragmites cover in areas they drove ground equipment through is often 15% or less, down from estimates of 70–90% cover in early years. At Utah Lake, where managers treat the entire shoreline each season, the reported reduction in Phragmites cover was 77% as of 2024 and presenters expected that number to exceed 80% for the current year. For Great Salt Lake, which covers a much larger 180,000-acre project area, managers said they cannot treat the entire shoreline annually and therefore do not yet have a lakewide percent-reduction metric.

Methods, research and costs: researchers and agency staff described the three-year, end-of-season herbicide cycle as the most effective approach. Researchers working with Karen Kettenring's laboratory at Utah State University provided experimental evidence that fall treatments produce substantially lower Phragmites cover than midseason treatments and that herbicide type showed no consistent difference in effectiveness. Paul Lincoln Brandt of the Utah Geological Survey said an eddy-covariance flux tower set in a treated Phragmites patch measured roughly \"33 to 35 inches per year of water use\" by the plants prior to recent treatments.

Rachel Wood, a wetland microbial ecologist at Brigham Young University, reported early results from glyphosate monitoring at a subset of sites: \"Glyphosate is present. We found it present in all of our samples that we've measured, but it seems to be existing at very low levels.\" She told the council the highest concentrations measured were about 25 parts per billion in water samples and about 600 (units as measured in the lab) in soil; she compared those water results to the EPA reference value discussed at the meeting (700 ppb) and said measured values were below that level. Wood cautioned that sampling design needs to account for a delayed peak in soil concentrations as treated plant material decomposes.

Mapping and monitoring: Gabe Skobodny from Forestry, Fire and State Lands and Pete Goodwin of the Utah Geological Survey described a tiered mapping approach that uses drone imagery and field-based training data for fine-scale management units and satellite-based methods for basin-scale trend analysis. \"Our most current mapping dataset is from 2014,\" Goodwin said, noting that old datasets do not reflect extensive treatments or recent expansions. Council presenters described ongoing work to create up-to-date training data and to scale models to the full Great Salt Lake project area so managers can quantify treatment success and guide future work.

Restoration and revegetation: Karen Kettenring and other restoration researchers emphasized that removing Phragmites is only the first step. \"Wetland revegetation ... I see this as the essential next step in recovering Great Salt Lake wetlands,\" Kettenring said. Research teams reported active seeding and planting trials and stress-tested protocols for seed collections, dormancy breaking and scaled-up seeding rates. Managers said typical restoration plans require higher seeding rates than earlier regional practice (often 3–5 times prior rates), and that seed supply and costs are limiting factors.

Upstream seed sources and follow-up maintenance: managers stressed that Phragmites seed and vegetative fragments move downstream, and that treating only downstream shorelines will be less durable unless upstream infestations are also controlled. Cost estimates discussed at the meeting put a minimal three-year treatment at about $500 per acre under large-contract economies of scale; private landowners or logistically difficult sites should expect higher per-acre costs.

Outstanding questions and next steps: speakers highlighted remaining research needs — improved annual lakewide mapping, longer-term glyphosate persistence monitoring, direct evapotranspiration comparisons before and after treatment, and expanded revegetation trials across water-availability gradients. Presenters asked for continued one-time and ongoing funding, coordinated upstream control, and better mapping to target limited resources when wet periods allow more effective treatment.

The council did not take a formal vote on Phragmites programs during this meeting; presenters and staff encouraged continued coordination among state agencies, academic partners and non-profit trusts to sustain the multiyear work.

Ending note: managers described measurable local successes in treated units and an urgent need for water and steady resources to preserve and expand those gains across the broader Great Salt Lake shoreline.","State and federal land managers told the Great Salt Lake Advisory Council that multi-year herbicide, mechanical and grazing treatments have reduced Phragmites in many treated units, mapping and direct evapotranspiration measurements are underway to quantify progress, and sustaining gains will require water, ongoing funding and upstream treatment.","actionData","errors"]

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Great Salt Lake deputy commissioner details drought, $53 million grant RFP and proposed causeway legislation

Managers report large-scale Phragmites gains at Great Salt Lake but stress need for water, funding and upstream control