Utah leaders are facing the challenge of increasing water levels in the Great Salt Lake before the 2034 Winter Olympics, according to a September 22 report. The effort seeks to address the shrinking lake, which supports millions of migrating birds but has left vast stretches of exposed lakebed.
The shrinking lake has created more than 800 square miles of exposed lakebed that blows during strong winds, according to Kevin Perry, an atmospheric sciences professor at the University of Utah. University of Utah researchers identified arsenic and other potentially harmful contaminants in lakebed samples. These winds can carry dust toward communities home to more than 2 million people. Perry stated that current water diversions are 30% higher than what is sustainable for the lake.
Restoration efforts in Utah include agricultural irrigation improvements, water meters to track consumption, the removal of invasive plants, and voluntary water leasing. In September 2025, state leaders signed the Great Salt Lake 2034 Charter, which announced $200 million in private commitments. The goal is to raise the lake roughly 7 feet to a healthier level by the time the Winter Games arrive.
The decline of the lake is driven by water diversions, drought, and warming. While Perry expects the broader recovery effort to cost billions of dollars and require substantial reductions in water use, he noted that the Olympics provide a useful target date to avoid global coverage of the lake as an ecological disaster.
Despite the scale of the challenge, Perry expressed hope that it is possible to save the lake and that Utah's response may offer lessons for other Western communities facing water shortages.
