Over the past several decades, underground aquifers along the Wasatch Front have been steadily shrinking. More groundwater is being pumped out than nature can replenish, and the consequences don’t stay underground.
As these underground reserves decline, they can cause reduced streamflow, land subsidence, and even drinking water contamination from saltwater intrusion. Lower groundwater levels also reduce runoff inefficiency, meaning that instead of snowmelt making its way into rivers and Great Salt Lake, depleted aquifers will refill first. The result is less surface water making its way to Great Salt Lake.
At the same time, these aquifers are essential to the region’s water supply, and we cannot simply bypass them. They provide a significant share of our drinking and irrigation water. If aquifers adjacent to Great Salt Lake get too low, saline lake water can seep into fresh groundwater and contaminate water that communities rely on for drinking.
The solution? As always, conservation is the best answer.
Reducing water use—both indoors and outdoors—allows aquifers time to recharge. This can include removing non-functional turfgrass (or even replacing lawns entirely), watering less during the heat of the day, or finding other ways to be more efficient with your water use.
Using less water allows groundwater aquifers to recharge, improve surface runoff, and helps more water get to Great Salt Lake. Full aquifers will also increase the amount of water entering the lake through natural springs which are scattered across the lakebed. An important caveat here is that while removing water-intensive landscaping is beneficial, paving over lawns is not the solution, as it increases impervious surfaces that decrease groundwater recharge.
While there is still much to be discovered about groundwater in the Great Salt Lake watershed, new estimates suggest that around 10% of the lake’s inflow comes from groundwater sources. Protecting and replenishing aquifers is an important piece of the broader strategy to restore Great Salt Lake.
Additionally, researchers at the University of Utah recently discovered freshwater springs all over the exposed lakebed. These springs, fed by groundwater systems, could provide a temporary solution to mitigating dust as they could be tapped to disperse water on the dry playa, replenishing the salty crust that prevents dust from blowing off.
Although agricultural water use accounts for the majority of water consumption in the watershed, municipal water conservation still plays a critical role. Reducing overall water use helps aquifers recharge—and helps more water reach Great Salt Lake.
Nathan Thompson is the operations director at Grow the Flow. He is currently pursuing a Master’s in Sociology at Utah State University, where his research focuses on bridging the gap between environmental challenges and the communities they affect.
