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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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Looking ahead
State, activists fret over how lake will be used in future
By Jason Swensen
Deseret News staff writer
Lynn de Freitas admits her East Coast sensibilities are galled when she looks out across the Great Salt Lake.
Activist Lynn de Freitas looks out over Great Salt Lake from an old trolley building near Saltair.
Jeffery D. Allred, Deseret News |
A New Jersey native, de Freitas said she was raised in an urban environment that was once pristine wilderness — natural beauty forever gone in the name of development and commerce.
"Now I wonder about the fate of this great lake," said de Freitas, who now calls Utah home and serves as president of Friends of Great Salt Lake.
The silver-haired de Freitas often enjoys excursions to the lake shores. Writes poetry heralding its wonder. Worries about its future. Protests its encroachment.
"I'm a product of the '60s," she said. Activism, for de Freitas, comes easy.
Her voice is one of many questioning what the Great Salt Lake will be in 20 years? Fifty years?
What will future generations find in two centuries?
For those who know and love it, the lake's future is clouded by many similar questions.
Will volatile lake levels continue to foil encroaching development?
Can brine shrimp thrive amid dramatic stratifications in water salinity, or saltiness?
And what about recreation?
Will the Great Salt Lake continue to be a global destination for travelers hoping to bob in its salt-laden waters? Can state-owned sovereign land encircling the water continue to be off-limits to off-highway vehicle enthusiasts?
And what is the future for Utahns now earning a living harvesting shrimp eggs or extracting minerals from the lake's soupy brine?
Deciding the future
Questions about the lake's future are easy to come by, as obvious as the imposing profile of Antelope Island. Answers are more elusive, like the diamonds of light that dance across the lake's waters in the afternoon of a clear day.
To find those answers, the Utah Department of Natural Resources is forming a comprehensive management plan for the Great Salt Lake.
A draft plan unveiled earlier this year outlines alternatives for management decisions ranging from West Desert Pump usage to shoreline hunting.
The Great Salt Lake Planning Team, organized from the seven divisions that make up the Department of Natural Resources, developed the alternatives. Then their ideas were discussed in several public hearings in recent months to enlist opinions from the numerous entities and individuals concerned about the lake's future.
The working alternatives on each management issue include:
- Maintaining the status quo.
- An environmentally friendly or "green" alternative.
- An option weighted toward commercial endeavors.
- An "enlibra" approach — the team's suggested alternative — which would be an attempt to balance all interests.
As expected, the alternatives prompted vigorous debate and, often, opposition.
Lynn de Freitas enjoys visiting lake. She worries Utah is not doing enough to save lake and its ecosystem.
Jeffery D. Allred, Deseret News |
De Freitas' conservation group Friends of Great Salt Lake took issue with the process used to develop the alternatives — saying the team failed to develop a comprehensive management philosophy in drafting alternatives.
"The public needs to know how the state views (GSL) in the long term," de Freitas said. "How does the state see the Great Salt Lake ecosystem in 200 years? Is the state a champion for the optimal biological productivity of the lake or merely interested in its economic potential?"
The lake, she adds, is sorely in need of a champion.
"And no, Gov. Mike Leavitt is not that champion," de Freitas said.
Others, like the mineral extracting company IMC Kalium Ogden Corp., griped that not enough hard science was used in developing the alternatives.
After the public comment period, the team agreed it was not ready to move on decisions, delaying its selection of a management plan to autumn from the original target date of this summer.
Acknowledging concerns raised during the public review, the team agreed the study "needs more intensive economic analysis and scientific review," spokesman Jim Springer said.
The question of salt
The future salinity of the lake has long been a, well, savory issue for lake watchers.
And, yes, the salinity discussion is vigorous in the state's planning draft.
Since the 1959 completion of the Southern Pacific Transportation Co. (SPTC) causeway, there has been restricted water circulation between the north and south arms of the lake. As a result, the north arm has become saltier than the south, which receives fresh water from tributaries like the Jordan, Ogden and Weber rivers.
Tiny brine shrimp thrive in salinity levels of about 13 percent. But salinity in the north arm has climbed to about 25 percent, far too salty to support shrimp. Meanwhile, the south arm has dropped below the optimum salinity marks for the tiny critters.
If the salinity gap is not filled, brine shrimping "will be an industry that will cease to exist," said Jim Strong, general manager of Prime Artemia Inc., a Midvale-based shrimping company.
The threat to the brine shrimp population is felt beyond the multimillion-dollar harvesting industry.
Brine shrimp is a staple for water birds. Conservationists worry diminished brine shrimp populations would exact a dramatic cost on the lake's diverse waterfowl community.
Currently, the only water exchange permitted between the north and south arm is through a pair of 15-foot-wide by 20-foot-deep causeway culverts and a 300-foot-breach built in 1984 to control flooding.
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The state planning team would like to see increased exchanges to lower salinity differences between the two arms. Start first by ensuring the culverts and breach are clean — then step back and watch what happens before making more dramatic decisions like digging additional breaches, Springer said.
IMC Kalium said it supports better maintenance of existing culverts but shrinks at suggestions to further breach the causeway.
But its extraction competition in the south arm, Magnesium Corp. of America, would like increased breaching.
"We would like to see a larger opening to encourage greater mixing," said company spokesman Tom Tripp.
Friends of Great Salt Lake counters the state should manage salinity "regardless of the degree of impact on industry and commercial development." Seek first, they say, to provide a livable home for the lake's biology.
GSL managers are, of course, sensitive about policy decisions involving lake industries. Although the lake economy does not generate even 1/50th of the state's $50 billion gross domestic product, the Great Salt Lake is recognized globally as a geographical and ecological treasure.
"Nobody really know the lake's value, it's priceless," said Thayne Robson of the Bureau of Economic and Business Research.
It is estimated that about 1,300 Utahs make or supplement their living with lake industry jobs.
Ensuring survival
And what about future recreation?
The lake's chemistry probably precludes the lake from ever becoming a fishing hole or water skiing destination. But the planning team hopes more people can take advantage of the area's unique recreational and educational opportunities.
Start by improving accessibility for bikers, hikers and families recreating in places like Stansbury Island.
"And wouldn't it be nice to be able to drive around the entire lake?" Springer said.
Then there is the controversial call for greater access along beaches and floodplain areas for four-wheelers and other off-road vehicles. The planning team's preferred choice is to allow limited use on some areas.
But conservation groups feel off-road vehicles don't belong on Great Salt Lake lands.
"This kind of recreation is indiscriminate and damaging to the ecosystem and requires strict law enforcement," de Freitas said.
Springer said he is pleased with the way team members are enlisting additional voices before selecting any management alternatives for the lake.
And remember, state lawmakers will ultimately be responsible for loosening funds for things like expanded pumping or improving public recreation facilities.
Still, the decisions made in the coming months will likely impact the Great Salt Lake's briny depths and shorelines for generations.
"This is a precious ecosystem," de Freitas said on a morning of solitude on the lake's southwest bank. "What are we going to do to make sure it survives?"
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