Officials preview Great Salt Lake Basin integrated plan, seek council input on performance measures
November 13, 2025 | Great Salt Lake Advisory Council, Utah Division of Environmental Quality, Utah Government Divisions, Utah Legislative Branch, Utah
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Laura Vernon, the basin planner at the Division of Water Resources, said the project is funded through a Bureau of Reclamation WaterSMART basin study grant and state legislative funding and is scheduled to conclude in 2027. "We're hoping to wrap up the plan in 2027," she said, and asked council members to help define the values and performance measures that will guide scenario development and management alternatives (examples include reservoir management, conservation measures, in‑stream priorities and dedicated water accounting).
Why it matters: the integrated plan will synthesize modeling, the distribution management accounting framework, measurement data and stakeholder input to evaluate alternatives such as demand reductions, coordinated reservoir operations, and upstream dedicated water accounting. Vernon said the council will be asked in January to help refine what "success" looks like for the lake and to weigh tradeoffs across users and ecological outcomes.
Next steps: outreach and modeling work is underway (modeling team hired; Envision Utah supporting communications). Vernon said the council should expect targeted engagement starting in January, possible surveys to gather preferences, and iterative workshops to evaluate management alternatives through trade‑off analysis.
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