Bill that would raise Great Salt Lake berm moves forward out of committee

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — A Utah legislative committee voted to move a bill forward that would allow officials to raise the Great Salt Lake berm, which critics say will permanently dry up the northern arm of the lake.

The bill would allow more flexibility in raising and lowering the berm as necessary. Raising the berm would allow water to move from the north arm to the south, and sponsors of the bill responded to critics, saying that allowing the northern arm to dry up is not the intention.

The proposed bill is anticipated to be heard during an upcoming special session of the legislature, and the approval from the committee is the first step towards that.

During the committee meeting, Representative Jill Koford (R-10) argued that raising and lowering the berm as needed is the most effective tool they have available, and that raising the berm likely saved the lake from total ecological collapse recently.

The purpose of the bill, Koford said, is to allow the Division of Forestry, Fires, and State Lands to have the flexibility they need to manage the berm properly.

It does three major things, she said: it requires the berm to be raised if the south arm drops to 4,190 feet or lower, it requires the division to have a plan and a timeline for lowering the berm within 18 months, and it requires the division to consult with the Great Salt Lake manager before any changes are made to the berm.

Koford stressed that this bill will not cut off the north arm of the lake, and instead it gives the division flexibility in managing water and salinity levels. Ben Stireman, Deputy Director of the Division of Forestry, Fire, and State Lands also said that there is no intention to leave the berm at a higher level, and that the law would not allow for that.

One major critic of the bill is the Utah Rivers Council, which is one of multiple organizations currently suing the Utah state legislature over its management of the Great Salt Lake.

The water advocate for Utah Rivers Council, Alta Fairborn, spoke at the committee meeting to raise their criticisms of the bill. She said that the line that required the division to comply in lowering the berm was struck from the bill.

Fairborn also pointed out that this bill does not set a target water level goal, does not allow for permanent instream flows, does not pursue ambitious water conservation goals, does not phase out property taxes that incentivize water waste, and does not eliminate secondary water flooding of ornamental grass, all of which would be additional helpful steps for restoring water levels.

House Majority Leader Casey Snider motioned to move the draft legislation forward and said that the legislature does care about the lake, and that is exactly why they are working on legislation like this.

In response to the Rivers Council, Snider said that critics like the Rivers Council aren’t being helpful, and instead they were just being critical.

Another major concern from members of the public who spoke during the committee meeting is that the bill does nothing to protect Utahns from dust from the lake, which has been linked to health problems.

What is in the proposed bill?

You can read the full text of the proposed bill to raise the berm of the Great Salt Lake here.

The bill being proposed will amend existing laws around the state’s management of the Great Salt Lake, in recognition of the state’s duty to “manage public trust assets” and balance public interest benefits and policies. The state must manage the fluctuating water levels of the lake, promote “a healthy physical and ecological condition” of the lake, manage the water quality of the lake, and ensure public access to the lake for recreation, hunting, and fishing.

The idea from critics that this bill would permanently dry up any part of the lake directly contradicts the purpose of the bill and the state’s management of the lake.

The bill will require the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire, and State Lands to create a management plan for the lake in consultation with the Great Salt Lake commissioner. The division will be able to hire people, buy equipment and supplies, and initiate scientific studies of the lake.

With regards to the berm, this bill will allow the division to raise the adaptive management berm to 4,192 feet when needed, and if the Great Salt Lake reaches less than 4,190 feet, the division will be required to raise the berm, after consulting with the Great Salt Lake commissioner first.

Before they raise the berm, they need to have a plan to lower the berm again no later than 18 months later, “with an objective of equalizing the elevations of Gilbert Bay and Gunnison Bay to be within two feet of each other.”

The division will also be able to manage infrastructure related to protecting the Great Salt Lake and adjacent wetlands, unless those activities interfere with water and irrigation. The bill cannot be used to “override, supersede, or modify” any water right in the state.

Opposition from Utah Rivers Council

The largest and loudest critic of the proposed bill, the Utah Rivers Council, wrote in a press release, “This new bill demonstrates Utah’s failure to safeguard the lake. More than anything else, this bill dispels the illusion that Utah has a plan to restore the Great Salt Lake to a healthy water level.”

The Utah Rivers Council said that the proposed bill would raise the control berm in the causeway crossing the Great Salt Lake when the southern side of the lake is at 4,190 feet above sea level, which would then divide the lake. The water control structure would then close, stopping water from entering the north arm.

After the north arm is cut off, the bill removes a provision requiring water levels in the north to be restored within 18 months, the council says, and that will lead to permanently drying the north arm.

The Utah Rivers Council also contends that over the past few years, there have been several proposed bills and amendments that would protect water flows of the Great Salt Lake, but the Utah Legislature “refused” to pass them out of committee.

In September 2023, the Utah Rivers Council announced that they were joining Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, American Bird Conservatory, Center for Biological Diversity, and the Sierra Club to sue the Utah legislature over the state’s management of the lake.

They allege that the state has not been taking action to raise the Great Salt Lake, and that it has instead been moving backwards, passing bills that accelerate the decline of the Great Salt Lake and failing to come up with any plan to deliver necessary water to the lake.