The state of Utah is not doing enough to save its imperiled Great Salt
Lake and stop an impending ecological collapse, according to a lawsuit
filed Wednesday by national and western environmental groups.

The suit filed in Utah state court seeks an injunction that would force
state leaders to come up with a comprehensive plan to prevent the lake
from drying.

State lawmakers have recently put hundreds of millions of dollars toward
conservation and other water saving rules, but the groups say it amounted
to "baby steps."

A spokesperson for Utah Governor Spencer Cox declined to comment on the
pending litigation.

"The snowpack that we had this last year that everybody initially thought
was going to be the salvation of the lake, it's turned out that's nowhere
near enough to save the lake long term," says Brian Moench, president of
Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, one of five groups which are
plaintiffs.

The lawsuit follows a recent report by scientists at Brigham Young
University and other institutions warning that the Great Salt Lake could
dry up within five years. Scientists put most of the blame on upstream
water diversions for alfalfa farming and a recent population boom. Drought
and climate change are also believed to be a factor in the lake's decline,
albeit much smaller.

"If the lake is allowed to disappear, not only are the public health
consequences dire, but the economic consequences are equally dire," Moench
says. "We're afraid that a lot of the population will be forced to leave."

Dust storms coming off the drying lakebed pose health risks due to the
toxicity of its sediments. Scientists say the lake has historically helped
boost Utah's winter snowpack, and reservoirs fed by it, due to lake effect
storms.

https://www.npr.org/2023/09/06/1197879423/green-groups-sue-say-farmers-
are-drying-up-great-salt-lake?ft=nprml&f=1003