Saving the Great Salt Lake? Certainly no irrigation this time of year.
This is from the US bureau of reclamation web site and it shows a 2 feet drop in last 2 days(black line). Red line is last years levels.
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That is where I found it I am just watching it see when it starts to fill.
For some reason they only update Willard monthly so the levels are not accurate.
If you look the inflow CFS it has not been updated since 12/31/22 at that time there was 217 CFS flowing into Willard.
I noticed the canal was drained again at 12th street so guess water is not dumping into Willard for now
Just heads up
Update!! The canal at 12th st is again full and water is flowing into Willard yeaaaaaaaa
Praying it will!!!
I wouldn’t bet on it. The news is nothing but “Save the GSL!” these days and the loudest voices would rather have brine shrimp than walleye and wipers.
With the size of the GSL being so greatly deminished, it sure is amazing we are still getting record amounts of snow. I heard on the news last night that Alta just broke the old record of 400 plus inches. If there was any truth to rumors of doom and glum, I don’t see how that would be possible, plus all of these so called heavy metals that supposily will kill us, I wonder how it hasn’t happened in all this time with the Salt flats being the result of lake Boniville drying up and those dirt and dust clouds haven’t killed anyone. As a matter of fact the number of people living here has increased, sure doesn’t sound like many people are worry about it. IMO this is more to get people up and arms about a none exiting problem, any of are feeble attemts to fix this problem will do little to help untill we get more than one back to back big snow Winters like this one. It’s just a way for the state to raise our taxes and get us to look the other way from bigger issues our state faces.
I make no argument about the benefits of the GSL either pro or con. I’m just saying that if the loud voices have their way, Willard will suffer.
Just for fun here is the required flows below the Plain city diversion where the Willard canal gets its water, it looks like they are splitting it about 50/50 right now.
Ogden at its lowest monitoring station 25.6 CFS
Weber at its lowest monitoring station 126 CFS
Weber below the diversion 76.8 CFS
](I hate it when people pick current events (such as this year’s record snow so far) and they try to use it as proof that the underlying problem is non-existent. The situation the GSL is in did not come about in 1, 2 or 5 years. It’s a compounding of many years where the trend is less water getting to the lake due to drought conditions. Couple that with less water getting to the lake because of human diversions, and there you have it. To look at one year as proof that there isn’t a problem is foolish. We currently have environmental conditions bringing more moisture to the state. And when that pattern shifts as it surely will???
The Bonneville Flats are not the GSL proper. The Flats don’t receive all the pollutants the GSL receives or has received. GSL is a terminal lake and receives pollutants generated in its watershed via its tributaries. That over several hundred years has built up toxic chemical and heavy metals in the lakebed sediments. If that sediment dries out and the wind blows, those toxic chemicals become airborne and go where the wind blows them.
I hate it when people pick current events (such as this year’s record snow so far) and they try to use it as proof that the underlying problem is non-existent. The situation the GSL is in did not come about in 1, 2 or 5 years. It’s a compounding of many years where the trend is less water getting to the lake due to drought conditions. Couple that with less water getting to the lake because of human diversions, and there you have it. To look at one year as proof that there isn’t a problem is foolish. We currently have environmental conditions bringing more moisture to the state. And when that pattern shifts as it surely will???
The Bonneville Flats are not the GSL proper. The Flats don’t receive all the pollutants the GSL receives or has received. GSL is a terminal lake and receives pollutants generated in its watershed via its tributaries. That over several hundred years has built up toxic chemical and heavy metals in the lakebed sediments. If that sediment dries out and the wind blows, those toxic chemicals become airborne and go where the wind blows them.
FYI: I did not assert that this years record snowfall was “Proof that the underlying problem is non-existent” I simply called BS on your claim that without the lake, snowfall to the cottonwoods would decrease by half. “No lake, no lake effect, drinking water snowfall decreased by half into the cottonwood canyons.” The number is nowhere near half and is estimated to be around 5%.
And I did not state that there would “50 percent les” snow in the Cottonwoods. There would be less no doubt, but I did not give that number. Let’s say it’s only 5% as you state. Utah’s claim to fame is the light, dry fluffy stuff and that is directly tied to the lake. With the lake gone or seriously reduced, there will also be a downgrading of the “Greatest snow on earth” and that will further negatively impact the resorts as just another piece in the of the negative ways an impaired GSL impacts Utah.
I solved the mystery of why the State wants more water in the GSL:
At current levels, Antelope Island is not an island it currently is just a peninsula.
Well, Antelope Island holds the States most expensive Deer.
As a peninsula, the States Deer can now escape and not drive auction tags up to unbelievable amounts.
No water=no island=possibly escaping Deer=low auction amount.
Nobody pays $300,000 to shoot a forky….yet.
I solved it!