Utah Division of Water Rights outlines Great Salt Lake distribution plan, ties curtailments to June 15 lake elevation

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Division of Water Rights staff on July 31 presented a draft Great Salt Lake Distribution Management Plan that would curb or allow mineral-extraction diversions based on a priority schedule triggered by the South Arm mean daily elevation measured on June 15 and applied the following calendar year.

The plan, introduced at a public meeting by Teresa, State Engineer, Utah Division of Water Rights, and presented in detail by Blake Bingham, Deputy State Engineer, defines “Great Salt Lake water rights” (mineral-extraction rights within the lake), describes “dedicated water” (water changed for beneficial use on sovereign lands under Utah Code 73-3-30), and publishes a distribution accounting tool that the division says will track dedicated water deliveries, evaporation losses and available diversion volumes.

Why it matters: the plan formalizes how the state will apportion limited lake-connected water to mineral-extraction rights and to water dedicated to the lake, and it establishes reporting and measurement expectations intended to improve transparency about how much water enters and remains in the lake.

Blake Bingham described the two main controls in the plan as the underlying water-right priority date and a tiered set of lake-elevation thresholds. "When we talk about apportioning water rights in the Great Salt Lake, we're really looking at two critical factors: the priority date of the underlying water right and a certain tiered elevation of the lake," Bingham said. Under the proposed schedule the division will measure the South Arm mean daily elevation as recorded by the U.S. Geological Survey…