The Great Salt Lake is currently in a state of crisis as upstream water diversions and climate change-driven aridification lead to declining lake levels. In 2022, the lake reached its lowest point in recorded history, which reduced its surface area by nearly 40% and eliminated significant amounts of wetland habitat.
As the largest remaining wetland ecosystem in the American West, the lake supports approximately 500,000 acres of wetlands and serves as a home to 12 million birds from over 330 species. The decline has left marinas grounded on the dry lakebed and exposed millions of nearby residents to dust storms containing toxic arsenic compounds linked to severe pulmonary illnesses.
A primary concern involves the proposed Bear River Development, which would send nearly 40% of the Bear River's surface water through canals to provide water for lawns on the Wasatch Front. It is believed this diversion would lower the Great Salt Lake elevation by several more feet.
Data shows that urban Utahns rank first in the United States for the highest municipal water use per person, driven largely by low municipal water rates and a large secondary water system used to irrigate suburban lawns. The volume of secondary water applied to Utah lawns has been estimated to exceed the total annual water use of the 2.5 million residents of Las Vegas.
According to the Utah Rivers Council, powerful statehouse lobbyists have spent decades opposing water conservation legislation from both Democrats and Republicans. This opposition is viewed as a way to protect the justification for spending $3 billion on the proposed Bear River Development project.
Scientists and researchers state that the minimum elevation required for the lake to function properly is 4,198 feet. As of November 2025, the lake was 7 feet below this healthy level.
Restoring the lake to this elevation would require adding approximately 8 million acre-feet of water, a volume equivalent to more than four years of all human water use within the watershed. A successful solution would require a combination of permanent funding, water conservation incentives, and robust transfer policies implemented over at least ten years, alongside the abandonment of new water diversions.
