The Great Salt Lake Is Dying, But These Scientists Have A Solution

A disturbing study has been published last month Environmental Issues It claims that about two-thirds of the Great Salt Lake’s shrinking is due to human use of river water that would otherwise fill the lake.

Utah’s Great Salt Lake is a remnant of a once large lake that occupied the same area during the Ice Age. The lake level has changed since then measurements It was begun in 1847, but it is 75 miles (120 kilometers) long and 35 miles (56 km) wide, and has a maximum depth of 33 feet (10 meters). The water level in the Great Salt Lake is a record low which is in 2021 usurped next year.

According to a recent report, about 62% of the river water that would otherwise fill the lake was instead used for “anthropogenic consumption.” The research team found that agricultural use accounts for 71% of human-driven depletions; moreover, about 80% of agricultural water is used for crops to feed less than one million cattle.

“The study highlights the alarming role of water consumption to feed livestock in the rapid depletion of the lake,” William Ripple, an Oregon State University ecologist and co-author of the paper, said in a statement. release.

Lake is no stranger to change; A Utah State University report showed that the water level of the lake has been decreasing since the middle of the 19th century. As the United States Geological Survey Utah Water Science Center According to reports, the bisection of the lake by a railroad crossing in 1959 significantly changed the salinity levels in the newly created halves of the lake, and since the water body has no outlet rivers or streams, water levels fluctuate dramatically due to evaporation or significant rainfall.

“An unusually large snowmelt in the 1980s and 1990s served to temporarily mask a long-term decline in lake levels, and the lake actually reached its highest level in more than a century in 1987,” Ripple said. “But since then, it’s been decreasing by an average of about 4 inches per year.”

The researchers proposed a goal of reducing anthropogenic river water consumption in the area by 35% to begin replenishing the lake, as well as a detailed breakdown of specific reductions in livestock feed production.

“We find that the strongest solutions would result in a 61% reduction in alfalfa production, as well as a 26-55% reduction in forage production,” he said, “resulting in a $97 million annual reduction in agricultural income, or 0.00% of the state’s GDP.” 04%,” the team added. Utah residents could be compensated for the loss of income. It’s an easier plan to sell people on paper than in reality, however this is the path to recovery for the Great Salt Lake.

The lake directly supports 9,000 jobs and $2.5 billion in economic output, primarily from mining, recreation and brine shrimp fishing, the team added. Open salt lake beds (along with the receding water level of the Great Salt Lake) are also associated with dust that can pose health risks due to effects on the human respiratory system.

For now, average levels and volumes of the Great Salt Lake continue to decline. But the team’s research revealed a particular pain point and suggested ways to ease the strain on the large — but shrinking — body of water.