Editor’s note: This article is published through the Great Salt Lake Collaborative, a solutions journalism initiative that partners news, education and media organizations to help inform people about the plight of the Great Salt Lake.
SALT LAKE CITY — Great Salt Lake levels appear to have peaked this year, and if that’s the case, the south arm of the lake still hit its highest level in five years, but it will end up below some projections and expectations for this year. -normal snow cover.
The Great Salt Lake Commissioner’s Office believes the lake may have reached its peak spring runoff before it (and other bodies of water across the state) begin to recede during the summer. Its southern arm is currently at an elevation of approximately 4,195 feet after briefly reaching a daily average of 4,195.2 feet.
The predicted peak is about 3 feet below the lake’s minimum healthy level and about half a foot below what Great Salt Lake Deputy Commissioner Tim Davis had expected for this year.
“I would love to continue to see it emerge,” he said in a briefing with reporters Wednesday. “This is a good example of why we need to keep working to get more water into the lake every year… We all need to conserve water, dedicate it to the lake and get it there.”
The Great Salt Lake made big strides last year after falling to a record low of 4,188.5 feet in elevation in 2022. Its southern arm rose to a high of 4,194.1 feet last year due to record snowpack of Utah and because the state strategically raised the berm between its northern arm to help improve the salinity levels of the southern arm’s ecosystem.
This graph shows the elevation of the northern and southern arms of the Great Salt Lake between 2007 and this year. The south arm of the lake appears to have peaked at about 4,195.2 feet this year, the highest in five years. (Photo: Utah Division of Water Resources)
The lake made more profits thanks to this year’s snowpack. While not as much as in 2023, the Great Salt Lake Basin’s average snowpack peaked at 23.2 inches of snow water equivalent, 3.6 inches above the mean average. It also helped that most reservoirs within the basin remained almost full after last year’s peak, so the lake benefited from controlled releases that aimed to reduce flood risks this year.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service projected the lake would reach at least 4,195 feet in elevation this year, but wetter conditions in March put the lake on track to possibly reach 4,196 feet in elevation. However, Jordan Clayton, a hydrologist and director of the Utah Snow Survey, cautioned that the projections did not take into account water diversions or factors that could affect the efficiency of spring snowmelt, or that water was flowing back into the north arm over the berm. , decelerating due to the elevation of the south arm.
With only about 5% of the peak yet to melt, higher temperatures forecast and the irrigation season already underway, the south arm of the lake likely peaked 1 foot above last year’s peak. Its north arm, at 4,191.9 feet high on Wednesday, is more than 2½ feet higher than where it was exactly a year ago.
Although it’s not as high as Davis expected, he said it’s still welcome progress.
Officials with the Great Salt Lake Commissioner’s Office list an elevation of 4,195 feet as an intermediate goal to return the lake to healthy levels for its ecosystem. Great Salt Lake Commissioner Brian Steed said last month that it’s a “significant” level because it’s the beginning of the “transition zone” where adverse effects are not as severe as they were two years ago.
Now that at least half of the lake is there, Davis said the bureau and other state entities are now turning their attention to keeping most of this year’s gains going.
“We hope the lake level will hold for as long as possible before it starts to drop,” he said.
The lake typically loses about 2 feet during the summer months and the first half of fall. With hotter and drier than normal conditions forecast for this summer, the lake could lose more than that.
In addition to trying to secure water rights directed to the lake, the commissioner’s office provided some updates on efforts to improve water flow into the lake:
- The Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands is working on an update to its Great Salt Lake management plan. The design process also began for a possible new elevated road between the two arms of the lake.
- The Utah Division of Water Resources is working to measure all secondary sources of water in the basin. It is also working to implement its new Great Salt Lake Integrated Basin Plan.
- The Utah Division of Water Rights is working on a “gap analysis” with Utah State University to obtain better water data throughout the basin.
- The Utah Division of Water Quality is working on a new “salinity limit” for discharges to the Great Salt Lake.
- The Utah Division of Air Quality is monitoring dust around the lake.
State water managers said last month they will also continue to boost water conservation and agricultural water optimization efforts to help the state become more efficient in its water use.
“Those last two years of good water have given us time to take steps to ensure the lake reaches a healthy level and we keep it there,” Davis said. “We can’t rely on Mother Nature to provide us with a big blanket of snow every year.”
[fifu]
Keynote USA
For the Latest Local News, Follow Keynote USA Local on Twitter.