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BEGINNINGS
The far horizon
A lively recreational jewel
A flood of trivia
Great tales surrounding the lake
TODAY
Ecosystem under threat
Lake has impact on weather
Small island is a refuge for birds
Islands in the salt
Lake defines geology of northern Utah
Great Salt Lake timeline
THE FUTURE
Looking ahead
Lake pumps still waiting for flood
Myriad firms thrive off lake
Dike it, dye it, blow a hole in it
Is plan for lake great?
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Myriad firms have thrived off Great Salt Lake
By Jason Swensen
Deseret News staff writer
When Wilford Woodruff declared the Great Salt Lake "the eighth wonder of the world" in 1847, a crowd of entrepreneurs must have been within earshot.
Scores of individuals have taken their shot at making a buck from the lake's salty brines. A few have thrived. Most failed.
Brine shrimpers work on the lake as sun rises — a common sight for crews as they prepare for harvest.
Carmen Troesser, Deseret News |
Still, Utah's unique inland sea continues to attract profit-minded folks looking to mine the lake's mineral-laden deep, or develop its shores for bathers, boaters, bikers or brunchers.
While much of today's Great Salt Lake industry revolves around mineral extraction and the annual brine shrimp harvest, the lake's first enterprises were all about fun.
Heber C. Kimball built a ranch house near Black Rock in 1860 that was used for years as a bathhouse. The LDS apostle probably didn't plan to start a trend — but his bathhouse was the first of at least 16 resorts that came and, well, usually went.
Lake Park, for instance, was a haven for Wasatch Front fun-seekers before the turn of the century, offering swimming, boating, roller skating and sailing regattas. But the temperamental lake receded in one of its periodic fluctuations, leaving the resort in a bed of "sticky blue mud." It closed in 1896, and railroader Simon Bamberger moved its pavilion to his new resort, Lagoon.
Later, Saltair began its seemingly snake-bitten yet tenacious efforts to draw visitors to the salty beaches. Today, the lake and its three state parks, Great Salt Lake Saltair Beach, Antelope Island and Willard Bay attract thousands annually.
While recreation-based Great Salt Lake businesses have been as erratic as the lake level, the mineral industry has been a mainstay in Utah's economy for years.
"Miners" began extracting common salt from the lake in the mid-1800s. Other minerals like magnesium metal, chlorine gas, sodium and potassium sulfate and magnesium chloride have been extracted since the early 1960s, said J. Wallace Gwynn of the Utah Geological Survey.
Today, six mineral extraction companies operate near the lake, using solar evaporation to concentrate the lake waters to glean minerals.
It is thought the Great Salt Lake contains 4.9 billion tons of salt — including deposits in the lake bed and the salty solution in the water. Much salt also remains in the West Pond that was used as a reservoir during the pump years in the 1980s.
Sodium chloride, or common salt, is harvested from commercial evaporation ponds, then collected and processed for use in water softeners or formed into salt-lick blocks for cattle.
And you can thank the lake for ice-free streets on snowy, winter mornings. Most of the salt is used locally on Utah roadways.
Table salt is not produced at the lake. It simply costs too much in processing to guarantee purity.
Salt byproducts like potassium sulfate and magnesium-chloride brine are used for commercial fertilizers and as dust suppressants, Gwynn said.
In 1997, in excess of 31 billion gallons of water was pumped from the Great Salt Lake by mineral harvesting companies.
Although the salt and its byproducts seem to be in rich, accessible supply, the lake's extraction business is volatile.
Local companies face intense competition from both national and international enterprise.
Utah's oft-wacky weather conditions also impact local companies. When lake levels are low, intake canals to pumps must be dredged and the pumps need to be repositioned into deeper water.
High lake levels dilute brines, according to the Utah Department of Natural Resources.
Total mineral extractions from the Great Salt Lake in 1997 were valued at about $230 million.
Remember, the lake and its minerals belong to Utah. The state "garnisheed" a little more than $1 million in royalties from the extracting companies.
The brine shrimp industry was once used to harvest eggs for use as fish food. Now many of the eggs are being used to fatten jumbo shrimp and other edible sea life being raised in aquacultures.
The Great Salt Lake provides about 90 percent of the world's supply of brine shrimp cysts, according to the Utah Department of Natural Resources.
Brine shrimp cysts are harvested from the lake each year between Oct. 1 and Jan. 31. In 1998, 32 companies were permitted to harvest brine shrimp in the Great Salt Lake, providing about 1,000 year-round jobs.
Like the extraction business, the state takes a slice of brine shrimp revenues, along with money gained through brine shrimp "fishing licenses," or certificates of registration.
During the 1997-98 harvesting season, the state issued 79 licenses at $10,000 a piece.
Since 1997, the state also began collecting royalties. Brine shrimp harvesters paid about $60,000 in royalties for the 1997-98 season.
The brine shrimp industry also endures risk. Stratifications in lake salinity between the lake's north and south arms can impact the health of the harvest.
The rising differences in saltiness between the two arms could jeopardize the entire brine shrimp industry, said longtime harvester Jim Strong.
Unless more water can be exchanged between the north and south arm, brine shrimping "will be an industry that will cease to exist," Strong said.
Simply clearing out the existing breach and culverts separating the two arms, he added, won't suffice.
"What good is that?" he asked. "You are working on a lake 80 miles long and 30 miles wide."
Enterprising folks are also using mineral from the lake's brines to market vitamin supplements and bath salts.
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