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Great Salt Lake advisory committee advances salinity methodology, defers formal approval pending USGS review
Summary
At an Oct. 7 meeting the Utah Great Salt Lake advisory committee reviewed new salinity metrics and a draft management plan, discussed recent legislation affecting berm operations, and heard that a feasibility report would be posted; final methodology approval will wait for USGS and bureau‑level clearance.
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Great Salt Lake advisory committee met Oct. 7 to review new methods for measuring and reporting salinity and to discuss a draft Salinity Management Plan that officials say will guide future operational decisions about the Causeway berm and other tools to manage salt mass.
Christine Ramsey, a private citizen and University of Utah student who presented the committee’s measurement updates, said recent samples collected Oct. 7 show shallow salinities around 126 grams per liter in parts of the South Arm and that the committee’s most recent salt‑mass estimate is roughly 868,000,000 tons. “We’re sitting at about 126 grams per liter,” Ramsey said, and added that the lake currently shows little stratification across depth at sampled sites.
The committee spent much of the meeting discussing a methodology document that would standardize three metrics: the upper‑brine‑layer volume‑weighted salinity, the full‑depth volume‑weighted salinity, and full‑depth dissolved salt mass. Ramsey and others said the…
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