Experts: Great Salt Lake drying out could result in $2 billion loss per year
(KUTV) — Local officials are trying to save the Great Salt Lake before it--potentially--dries out.
The Great Salt Lake Advisory Council is working to advise policymakers on ways to protect and develop the lake.
If it continues to dry, Utah could see an economic loss of about $2 billion a year and nearly 7,000 people would become unemployed. The council says as the lake shrinks, it puts the brine shrimp, mineral extraction and recreation businesses in peril.
Experts say the water levels in the lake will continue to drop at alarming rates unless more is done to prevent it. Over the past decade, the lake has dropped 11 feet. Scientists say the biggest problem is upstream diversions that are leading to less water replenishing the lake each year.
The Great Salt Lake Advisory Council released a new report with 12 strategies on how to replenish the water in the lake before it's too late.
"Doing what we can now to keep water in the lake will make sure that we save money down the road... that we're not spending too much in emergency efforts to keep water in," Laura Vernon with the Utah Department of Natural Resources said.
All of the opportunities at both the community and legislative level will help impact change, council members say.
