Yesterday was a good day for Great Salt Lake.
Utah’s political, philanthropic, business, and non-profit leaders gathered at Farmington Bay to announce new partnerships and a timeline to save the lake. A nongovernmental coalition led by Josh Romney pledged $100M for water rights, and Ducks Unlimited committed another $100M for wetland restoration and conservation.
In response, Governor Cox, Speaker Schultz, President Adams, and Congressman Moore committed to restoring Great Salt Lake to a healthy level by the 2034 Olympics.
What does this mean for the lake?
This new timeline is called GSL 2034, and in my opinion, this is exactly the kind of goal we need to pull off a world-first saline lake rescue. For the first time, we are asking “What is needed to save the lake” instead of “What can be done in the current political environment?”
Importantly, the commitment isn’t an inflow goal of how many acre-feet per year we need to deliver. While the exact amount of water needed between now and 2034 will depend in part on the weather, by using the lake’s level as the measuring stick, we focus on the product of our combined efforts. It is also much easier to measure progress toward a known elevation (4,198’) rather than a cumulative water inflow.
We are committing to raise the lake eight feet in eight years, and we can all follow the progress in real time here.
How far does $200M get us?
As discussed yesterday, $200M is not enough to save the lake. Independent economic analysis suggests that the full lake rescue will cost $2-$5B over the next decade. However, this public-private partnership represents two huge milestones.
First, there is now a powerful and independent counterpart to the state agencies and elected officials leading the rescue. When deals need to be negotiated, we will be at the table to make sure that the lake’s health is prioritized. Second, this represents an unprecedented moment of unity and partnership. For the first time in my memory, we have unanimity across the branches of state government and diverse interests in our community. In just a few months, we have seen a coalition blossom into its power from the fertile ground prepared by many of you over many years.
We have seen the benefits of these shifts already. With one public proclamation, we went from a 30-year goal to eventually let the lake recover to an 8-year action plan. I have never felt more hope for the lake and our community than I do today.
How did we get here?
This didn’t happen by accident. Many of you have been working to reverse Great Salt Lake’s decline for decades. Your efforts to educate and mobilize your friends and frenemies got us here.
In this major step forward, I see the combined consequences of thousands of Facebook posts, community events, letters to the editor, emails to our legislators, calls with our city leaders, trips to the capitol, conversations at the grocery store, photos of the lake, questions at church, changes to our homes, and other acts of faith and action. This is what it looks like to save an inland sea. This is what it looks like to mobilize love at a hemispheric scale.
Your inspired sacrifices and offerings of love made this happen. Together, we are raising awareness across the watershed, bringing unlikely allies to the table, and helping build the momentum that we need to grow $200M into $5B.
What comes next?
Despite this monumental news, the lake remains on the edge and will likely still reach a new record low next year. We need coordinated and systemic changes to our water system. Right now the bottleneck isn’t money, it is policy.
To translate money into water for Great Salt Lake, we need to improve water markets, incentivize conservation, and build a water system that works for farmers, cities, and industry. We have an unprecedented opportunity for robust policy reform starting this legislative session, and your voice matters more now than ever. Will you help us grow a diverse and unified coalition of support for this world-first saline lake rescue?
Will you invite five of your friends to join Grow the Flow and write your legislators and Governor Cox to thank them for committing to a 2034 lake rescue? Our leaders have taken a major step forward, and our recognition and gratitude can reinforce their resolve.
Will you also envision what success looks like? It surely looks different for each of us, but I imagine there are some common strokes. When the world gathers in Utah for the 2034 Olympics, our air will be clearer, our snow will be deeper, and our community will be stronger. We will have pioneered a path to saline lake stewardship that protected our home and lit the way for our friends around the world.
Water to the Lake!
Ben Abbott
