More than 100 community members gathered at Grow the Flow’s Dust Forum on July 31, united by concerns about toxic dust from Great Salt Lake’s exposed lakebed blowing into their neighborhoods. This dust—laced with lead, cadmium, and arsenic—can worsen respiratory illnesses, harm cardiovascular systems, and cause lasting health impacts—especially to children and vulnerable populations.
“Anybody with lungs is vulnerable. Anybody with a heart or a brain or reproductive organs is vulnerable,” said Dr. Ben Abbott, a Brigham Young University ecologist and executive director of Grow the Flow. “We’re all in this together.”
Abbott noted that shrinking saline lakes around the world offer a preview of what could happen in Utah if Great Salt Lake continues to decline: widespread desertification, reduced snowpack, collapsing ecosystems, and dust storms carrying toxic particles into surrounding communities. These plumes can travel far beyond the lake’s shores, reaching as far as Logan, Park City, and Provo within hours.
Dr. Kevin Perry, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Utah, told audience members that measurements of arsenic on the exposed lakebed are more than ten times higher than the Environmental Protection Agency’s recommendation for routine exposure. These high concentrations are widespread across the lakebed, meaning dust from nearly any exposed area can carry the toxin into surrounding communities, he said.
Despite clear risks—and well-documented examples from other shrinking lakes—the state has provided minimal funding for monitoring, Perry said.
Dust is not only a respiratory hazard. When deposited on snowpack, its darker color causes snow to melt earlier, which can cut into farmers’ growing seasons and reduce drinking water supplies. Perry said that in 2022, dust contributed to snow melting an average of 17 days earlier than it would have otherwise.
“So should we move away from Utah because of the dust? No. It’s a wonderful place to live,” Perry said. “There are things you can do to protect yourself, but more importantly, by saving the lake and putting water back into the lake, we can reduce the dust.”
During the forum’s Q&A session, residents pressed the experts on potential solutions. Abbott and Perry cautioned that while engineering projects are often proposed, they don’t solve the core problem: more water is leaving the watershed than nature can replace.
Agriculture accounts for over 70% of these depletions, with the vast majority used to grow cattle-feed crops like alfalfa and grass hay. Municipal and industrial users make up most of the remaining diversions. Abbott noted that Utah lawns are typically watered at twice the necessary amount, and simply installing smart irrigation controllers could cut urban water use in half without removing any landscaping.
“This is a local problem,” Perry said. “It’s not being driven by climate change or drought—it’s being driven by values. And we can change the way we value water.”
Abbott warned the lake is already more than 15 feet below its natural level and “within just a couple of hot, dry summers of ecological collapse.” He urged Utahns to contact their elected officials and push for policies that get more water to the lake.
“We have an incorrect belief that somebody else is going to do this,” Abbott said. “They are not.”