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Deputy commissioner outlines 30-year strategy and funding to restore Great Salt Lake
Summary
Tim Davis, deputy commissioner, described work to implement the Great Salt Lake strategic plan, including a 30-year framework to identify baseline flow needs, adaptive berm management, water leasing strategies, investments in groundwater and dust science, and staffing; he said roughly $61 million has been appropriated to support these efforts.
Tim Davis, deputy commissioner in the Commissioner's Office, briefed the tech team on the office's implementation work for the Great Salt Lake strategic plan.
Davis said the office has focused on education and outreach since the plan's release and is developing a more detailed 30-year framework to identify the baseline increase in flows or reductions in depletions needed annually to reach a sustainable lake range. The plan will prioritize actions that are realistic in the near term and will be updated with data pulled from basin-integrated planning and partner studies.
Key near-term priorities Davis listed include: adaptive management of the berm and causeway openings; measuring wet-year opportunities and learning from Pacificorp and water districts on what delivered to the lake; improving groundwater and flow measurement, including adding gauges closer to the lake; pursuing seasonal and permanent water leases via a trust; and investing in science on dust, groundwater inflows and species of concern.
"We've had $61,000,000 appropriated to the either the commissioner's office or the, through Forest Fire State Lands to the trust," Davis said, noting the office will need to build staffing and a long-term budget to deploy those funds and secure additional support. He said the 30-year framework will be circulated for public comment and that the office plans to present a draft to the Great Salt Lake Advisory Council for feedback.
