Utah launches new pledge after receiving $200M in pledged Great Salt Lake donation

Editor’s note: This article is published through the Great Salt Lake Collaborative, a solutions journalism initiative that partners news, education and media organizations to help inform people about the plight of the Great Salt Lake.

FARMINGTON — The Great Salt Lake is once again in peril as its levels slide closer to its all-time low set three years ago, but a new joint public-private mission seeks to save the lake ahead of the 2034 Winter Olympics and beyond.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox announced the formation of GSL 2034, a new public-private charter that calls on all Utahns — residents, farmers, business leaders, researchers and elected leaders — to “stand shoulder-to-shoulder” in a commitment to take steps to help the lake.

It also comes with a $200 million donation pledge, half of which has already been committed by the organization Ducks Unlimited over the next decade, while local business leaders plan to raise the other half through a new philanthropic campaign. The money raised will go toward multiple solutions that protect the lake.

“We will not let the Great Salt Lake fail,” Cox said, standing at a podium overlooking a drying Farmington Bay Wednesday afternoon, while surrounded by state and congressional leaders, as well as prominent figures in Utah’s business community. “It’s part of the soul of Utah. It’s who we are. It’s what we’re known for across the world and across time.”

Raising new funds

Wednesday’s announcement followed a meeting between state and federal officials, as well as several prominent business leaders. Josh Romney, of The Romney Group, convened local business leaders after conversations with Ben Abbott, a BYU ecologist and executive director of the Great Salt Lake advocacy group Grow the Flow.

Dozens of the state’s top business leaders agreed to listen to what Abbott had to say about the lake and its future. That snowballed into a new philanthropic coalition called “Great Salt Lake Rising.” It’s a pledge to raise $100 million toward Great Salt Lake conservation measures, which Romney said he expects can be raised within the next year.

“We’ve got a lot of really firm commitments,” he told KSL.com after the meeting. “I don’t see it as being a huge challenge. When people recognize what a significant issue this is … they want to get involved.”

How the money is used is still to be determined, however, and it’s unclear yet how it will translate into getting water to the lake. Utah organizations received $53 million for projects earlier this year, most of which came from a Bureau of Reclamation grant.

The state is seeking projects that lease water rights to send water to the lake, as well as projects that help reduce water consumption, sending “saved” water to the lake, said Brian Steed, Utah’s Great Salt Lake commissioner.

That could be the case with the next $200 million as it becomes available, but on a wider scale. It may also be used to tackle other large issues, like the removal of nonnative species that also factor into the lake’s woes.

All of the new projects build on conservation efforts over the last few years, which include removing thousands of acres of “invasive, water-sucking plants,” implementing hundreds of agricultural water optimization projects, installing thousands of new secondary water meters, and other measures that have directed water to the lake or save water, state officials said.

Over 288,000 acre-feet of water has also been directed to the lake in efforts that didn’t exist in 2022.

“It’s been a huge team effort from — a lot of time — political foes,” said Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz. “We’ve come together as a state … to focus on what’s best for the state of Utah, and focus on what’s best for the Great Salt Lake.”

A lofty goal

Cox said he’d like to get the lake back to 4,198 feet elevation in time for the 2034 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, but that’s a tall order.

The lake’s southern arm has fallen to 4,191.1 feet elevation, a tick above its northern arm. Both arms are approximately 2½ feet below the lake’s record low set in 2022, and 7 feet below that target, which is considered its minimum healthy level.

Its decline dropped the lake back into the “serious adverse effects” range outlined in the state’s management plan. Researchers say potential impacts on mineral production, recreation and air quality emerge after the Great Salt Lake slips below 4,192 feet elevation, as water becomes more scarce and its exposed lakebed pushes dust toward communities during wind events.

It’s unlikely the lake will reach that target within the next decade, unless something drastically changes, Steed said. However, he believes the lake could experience significant improvements over the next decade.

“I’m absolutely optimistic that we can get it to a healthier range,” he said. “Honestly, if we can get it back above 4,195 in time for the Olympics, there’s nothing to sneeze at there. … Getting to 4,198, I think a lot of things would have to line up for that.”

He and others say they’re planning for well beyond 2034, as well. Solving the Great Salt Lake’s woes will “take us a while” because there are no short-term fixes, Cox said.

That’s going to require more funding, which will have to come from several different sources, including more from the state and federal governments. Romney said he expects to set up more fundraising campaigns, as well.

“$100 million doesn’t even begin to solve the issues of the lake. I mean, this is a multi-billion dollar problem,” he said. “We’re going to have to keep going. $100 million is just the start, unfortunately.”