What happens if Salt Lake dries up?

Less water going in means higher concentrations of salt and minerals, which threatens the crucial ecological role saline lakes play across the West, as well as the health of the people who live nearby.



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A recent report found that the lake could essentially disappear within five years. As a key stopover for migrating birds, the lake's loss could undermine whole ecosystems.

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Water experts say it's going to take more than one big year to fill the Great Salt Lake. SALT LAKE CITY — Ever since The Great Salt Lake hit its lowest water level on record in November 2022, concerns over things like arsenic in the exposed lake bed have only grown.

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A recent report found that the lake could essentially disappear within five years. As a key stopover for migrating birds, the lake's loss could undermine whole ecosystems. These salty lakes occur in so-called endorheic basins—places where there is no outlet for the water to flow out to sea.

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Lake Levels Due to its shallowness (an average of 14 feet deep and a maximum of 35 feet deep), the water level can fall dramatically during dry years and rise during wet years. When snowpack melts in the spring, the lake usually rises about 2 feet. However, record snowpack in 2023 triggered a rise of 5.5 feet!

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Compass Minerals announced in 2021 it was seeking to extract lithium from the Great Salt Lake under a pilot program. The company, which has a plant in Ogden, said it was utilizing new methods of extracting the precious resource within the ambient brine of the Great Salt Lake.

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Can we go Swimming in the Great Salt Lake? Yes! Swiming is allowed from any accessible point. However, it isn't done much.

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Because of the abundant algae and halophiles, as well as the high salinity, the lake does not support fish — but it teems with brine shrimp and brine flies, which provide essential nutrition for migrating birds.

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3 ways we're working to preserve Great Salt Lake
  1. Improving watershed management. Management of water is critical to safeguarding Great Salt Lake. ...
  2. Enhancing water conservation. Utah is committed to using our existing water supply as wisely as possible and ensuring the success of our state. ...
  3. Optimizing agricultural tools.


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Most recent data within water-surface elevations show a downward trend. With climate change and Utah's ever growing human population, we expect this negative trend to continue. In fact, it is estimated that the lake is 11 feet lower due to human diversions.

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The shallow bottom of Great Salt Lake supports a microbial carpet that harness the sun's energy through the process of photosynthesis. This carpet is made up of a community of microbes, including several types of cyanobacteria (also known as blue-green algae), algae and other organisms.

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SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — The Utah Division of Water Resources is sharing good news about the impacts all the rain is having on the Great Salt Lake, whose water levels reached a historic low last year.

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A recent report found that the lake could essentially disappear within five years. As a key stopover for migrating birds, the lake's loss could undermine whole ecosystems.

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Even when the water temperature is in the 20's (°F), the lake does not freeze, due to the high salt content of the water; but icebergs have been ob- served floating on the lake's surface, formed from freshwater that flows into the lake from tributaries and freezes on the surface before it mixes with the brine.

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