$53M boost for Great Salt Lake amid critical water levels, toxic dust fears

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — With efforts underway to protect the Great Salt Lake, a $53 Million in grant funding was recently made available for projects that support those efforts.

In a press release Wednesday, the Office of the Great Salt Lake Commissioner said that the funds are being provided in coordination with the Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

Officials said the funds will be used for ecosystem and habitat restoration projects and voluntary system conservation projects that reduce consumptive water losses.

According to Grow the flow, an organization that tracks water levels of the lake, the decline is already reducing precipitation, polluting our air, and threatening our water supply.

As of July 23, the water levels at the lake are at 36.5%, which is between critical and collapse.

It is currently six feet below its minimum healthy level, which is at 4,198 feet above sea level. The Utah Department of Natural Resources has also created a dashboard with links to various sources of data on the Great Salt Lake.

Shrinking lakebed

Earlier this week, Grow the Flow reported a dust event that swept across Davis and Weber counties on Monday, July 21 driven by 25-35 mph winds blowing northward across the exposed lakebed at Farmington Bay. The dust was visibly carried into Layton, Syracuse, and Ogden. 

Because of its proximity to major population centers and its location downwind from prevailing southern winds, dust from Farmington Bay poses an especially urgent public health risk.

In April, a similar dust storm was affecting residents in Magna, Tooele County, and Salt Lake City’s west side. Research from the Utah Division of Air Quality has found sediments like arsenic, lead and other toxic metals in the lakebed, but historical data from over a decade of monitoring shows no increase in airborne arsenic or other heavy metals as lake levels have decreased.

But, according to experts, communities in the direct path of these wind-driven events—like Layton, Syracuse, Clearfield, and Ogden—may be breathing more dust than anywhere else along the Wasatch Front. 

Of the $53 Million funds, some of it will also be used to reduce the diversion and consumption of water in the Great Salt Lake to minimize exposure of its lakebed.

“This coordinated funding effort presents unprecedented opportunities to support projects that will enhance Great Salt Lake’s habitats, reduce water consumption, and deliver water to the lake and wetlands benefiting the overall health of Great Salt Lake,” said Marcelle Shoop, Executive Director of the Great Salt Lake Watershed Enhancement Trust.

Grow the Flow is hosting a townhall for the community, specifically for those residents living in impacted areas, on July 31 at 6 p.m. in Salt Lake City.