Today, the Great Salt Lake is in crisis. Upstream water diversions have resulted in record low lake levels.
Raising the Great Salt Lake to 4,200 feet above sea level will sustain $1.3 billion in economic activity and restore the largest wetland ecosystem in the American West.
The Utah Rivers Council has the policies to achieve this goal—and we need your help to implement them.
The Great Salt Lake is the largest wetland ecosystem in the American West.
American White Pelicans will rear their young on the shores of the Great Salt Lake.
The Great Salt Lake will once again be a safe haven for millions of migratory birds.
The waters of Great Salt Lake will cover harmful lakebed dust that is polluting the air we breathe.
Lake-effect snow will blanket the Wasatch Mountains, supporting Utah’s winter recreation industry.
The Utah Rivers Council has crafted concrete policies to address this crisis, documented in The 4,200 Project Guidebook. We need your help to hold Utah’s elected officials accountable for implementing these measures to dedicate water to the Great Salt Lake.
Establish 4,200 feet as the official goal for the water level of the Great Salt Lake to create objectives to lift the water levels.
Water Volume Capacity:
High
Estimated Impact:
Ensures Utah does not settle for an unhealthy lake level.
Amend Utah’s existing instream flow law to allow anybody to permanently dedicate water to the Great Salt Lake.
Water Volume Capacity:
High
Estimated Impact:
Allows willing buyers and sellers to engage in free market transactions to permanently put water in the Great Salt Lake.
Use water freed up from paved agricultural lands to raise Great Salt Lake levels.
Water Volume Capacity:
Medium
Estimated Impact:
Provides municipal water suppliers a source of water to meet future growth without having to further divert water upstream of the Great Salt Lake.
Dedicate water saved on farms through public investment to the Great Salt Lake, permanently and with real protection.
Water Volume Capacity:
High
Estimated Impact:
Would direct a portion of water saved through the optimization program to the Great Salt Lake.
Charge secondary water users for their use based on volume instead of flat fees and stop wasting water through dirt canals. Survey Utah’s vast secondary water systems to identify canal purchasing opportunities for the Great Salt Lake.
Water Volume Capacity:
Medium
Estimated Impact:
Potential to direct 50,000 – 100,000 acre-feet of water per year to the Great Salt Lake.
Repeal the Bear River Development Act and permanently close the door to any future water diversion proposals of Great Salt Lake tributary water.
Water Volume Capacity:
Medium
Estimated Impact:
Prevents additional loss of inflow to the Great Salt Lake.
Phase out property tax collections by water suppliers on housing, businesses, and automobiles, which are being used to lower municipal water rates and encourage excessive outdoor water use.
Water Volume Capacity:
High
Estimated Impact:
Reduces municipal water use by up to 20% and ensures high-volume users are charged for the true cost of their water use.
Use the framework created by the Great Salt Lake Drought Contingency bill to tie fees and policy actions to Lake levels.
Water Volume Capacity:
Low
Estimated Impact:
Prevents Great Salt Lake water level “crashes” by tying action directly to water levels.
Redirect the $60+ million in annual sales taxes going to divert the Bear River—the Lake’s largest surface water source—to activities that acquire water for the Lake.
Water Volume Capacity:
Medium
Estimated Impact:
Secures $300+ million over five years for Great Salt Lake-saving activities.
Raise Utah’s municipal water conservation goal to reduce water use to 2 percent per year or more, and require large water suppliers to reduce water use to 175 gallons per person per day.
Water Volume Capacity:
Medium
Estimated Impact:
Reduces municipal water use by 2% per year or to 175 gallons per person per day.
Systematically remove ornamental grass that serves little or no public purpose and replace it with water-wise landscaping.
Water Volume Capacity:
Low
Estimated Impact:
Reduce water use on the estimated 300,000 acres of grass-covered land in Utah.
Mandate that large water suppliers adopt basic water loss control measures to reduce water wasted from leaks and breaks in delivery systems.
Water Volume Capacity:
Low
Estimated Impact:
Potential to direct 30,000+ acre-feet of water per year to the Great Salt Lake.
Saving the Great Salt Lake is simple when you get down to it: we just have to put more water in. But that will only happen with the support of people like you. Join us, and help the Utah Rivers Council implement the policies to achieve 4,200.
Written by the Utah Rivers Council team relating to the restoration of the Great Salt Lake.
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A new Report Card examining nearly 20 legislative actions during the 2024 Utah Legislative Session led to a D- grade for Utah legislators’ failures to protect the Great Salt Lake. Not only did Utah legislators fail to address critical water needs at the Lake, several key bills they passed will actually harm the Lake, most notably SB 211.
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Over the past year, Utah Rivers Council staff have been working tirelessly to provide a package of solutions to the Great Salt Lake crisis through extensive research, creative synthesis, and thoughtful strategy. We are excited to finally unveil our comprehensive campaign to raise the Great Salt Lake to the healthy level of 4,200 feet above sea level.
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