Great Salt Lake commission reports: lake still low, causeway management and grants used to shore up salinity and habitat

Great Salt Lake Commissioner Brian Steed told the Natural Resources Interim Committee that the lake remains in drought, that salinity and dust remain primary concerns, and that the commission is pursuing grant funding, voluntary water transactions and on-the-ground habitat work to reduce risks to the lake’s ecosystem and nearby communities.

The commission has a one-year-plus implementation window under a statewide Great Salt Lake strategic plan and is using a combination of state and federal resources to keep salinity within a healthier band in the south arm, expand monitoring and pursue water deliveries. Lawmakers pressed the commission for more detail on actions and timelines.

Steed said the south arm surface elevation was approximately 4,191.6 feet and the north arm about 4,191 feet at the time of the meeting. He told the committee the commission, the Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands and others have managed the causeway berm to influence salinity and avoid the very high salinity levels that persistently damage brine shrimp and brine fly productivity. “We have been able to manage the causeway berm, to keep salinity levels … in a much healthier position,” Steed said.

The commission also reported federal support: the Bureau of Reclamation awarded a $50,000,000 grant, which the commission is now distributing in three buckets: voluntary water transactions, system conservation and ecosystem/habitat restoration. Steed said the commission is accepting applications for projects that would permanently or temporarily send more water into the lake or restore wetlands and habitat.

Steed and staff described ongoing work to quantify existing beneficial uses: “There’s now quantified 288,000 acre-feet that have been approved for beneficial use within Great Salt Lake,” he said, and the commission is working with water districts and municipalities (including Central Utah Water Conservancy District, Weber Basin and Jordan Valley) to dedicate or deliver additional water to the lake when feasible.

The commission also emphasized monitoring and science. It has contracts with Utah State University, the Utah Geological Survey and the Division of Water Resources to improve snowpack, runoff and groundwater information. The commission is coordinating with the Department of Environmental Quality on an expanded dust-monitoring network funded in part by the commission and reported work to reduce invasive, high-consumptive vegetation such as phragmites.

Lawmakers asked about public trust litigation that alleges harms to the lake; Steed said the state is in discovery. Committee members also raised the long-term costs of dust mitigation, noting a 2023 Office of the Legislative Auditor General estimate that capital mitigation could be about $1.5 billion with roughly $15 million in annual maintenance for some interventions — comparisons were made to Owens Lake, where mitigation and maintenance have cost billions of dollars. Steed said those comparisons inform planning but that not all playa behaves the same.

The commission described other local actions: a pipeline agreement with Ogden to deliver water over a 10-year period, pilot Phragmites-removal projects, and developing a leasing program with the Great Salt Lake Watershed Enhancement Trust. The commission also said it is tracking species and habitat concerns tied to low levels, noting an outstanding listing petition to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for Wilson’s phalarope.

Steed urged continued legislative attention. “We are now a little over a year and a half into that plan,” he said. “We need continued coordination and investment across agencies and levels of government to reduce risk to the lake and to public health.”

Next steps listed by the commission included distributing the Bureau of Reclamation grant, expanding monitoring and continuing to pursue voluntary water transactions and municipal conservation measures that can be dedicated to the lake.