Great Salt Lake

Gov. Spencer Cox addressed flooding, water and the bills from the recent legislative session during his March monthly news conference.

About 50 young people gathered for a climate strike at the Utah Capitol on March 3 to voice frustrations with the lack of climate legislation this past session and call for change.

Even as Utah religious leaders of all stripes are urging lawmakers to take immediate action to save the Great Salt Lake, one faith might be able to make the biggest impact.

Lawmakers front-loaded some of the most controversial legislation at the beginning of the session.

Utah leaders are under pressure to end water diversions and enforce tougher restrictions in order save the drying Great Salt Lake.

Compared to 2022’s “year of water” and the urgency felt to save the drying Great Salt Lake, Utah lawmakers spent time this year on water law refinements.

The proposed policies from Sen. Nate Blouin and Rep. Joel Briscoe are backed by water conservation advocacy groups.

As lawmakers get back to work, the legislature will again try to balance needs, wants and big ideas with two powerful forces: the budget and a desire for tax cuts.

Poet Elizabeth Cruz urges Utah to get involved and turn things around for the Great Salt Lake. “We’re only experts to destroy, to assassinate,” she sadly observes.

La poeta Elizabeth Cruz insta a Utah a que se involucre para cambiar el futuro del Gran Lago Salado. “Somos solo expertos para destruir, para asesinar”, observa tristemente.

The demise of the Great Salt Lake and its potential impact on an 11-year-old girl is laid bare in an emotional short story written by playwright Elaine Jarvik.

The legislation allocates $25 million for the United States Geological Survey to monitor the Great Salt Lake, California’s Mono Lake, Oregon’s Lake Albert and other saline lakes.