The largest salt lake in the Western Hemisphere, the Great Salt Lake in the US state of Utah, may end up vanishing unless urgent measures are taken to remedy this situation, a team of researchers has said.
The findings come from a report compiled by researchers affiliated with institutions such as Brigham Young University, the University of Alberta, the Utah State University and others, which was shared on the Brigham Young University’s website. It claims that excessive water use resulted in the Great Salt Lake facing “unprecedented danger” as it has already lost 73 percent of its water and 60 percent of its surface area.
“Our unsustainable water use is desiccating habitat, exposing toxic dust, and driving salinity to levels incompatible with the lake’s food webs,” the report’s summary states. “The lake’s drop has accelerated since 2020, with an average deficit of 1.2 million acre-feet per year. If this loss rate continues, the lake as we know it is on track to disappear in five years.”
In order to reverse the lake’s decline, “an additional million acre-feet [of water] per year” is required, as this boost would “increase average streamflow to ~2.5 million acre-feet per year, beginning a gradual refilling,” the report suggests.
The researchers advocate water conservation, claiming that it is “the only way to provide adequate water in time to save the Great Salt Lake” at this point.
They also warn that the consequences of losing the lake would be disastrous, stating that “examples from around the world show that saline lake loss triggers a long-term cycle of environmental, health, and economic suffering.”