Emergency measures needed to rescue Great Salt Lake from ongoing collapse
As a recent transplant from California to Utah, watching the discussions of this situation play out locally has been interesting.If water were well managed here, the area is potentially blessed over the long term compared to most of the West because there are large amounts of precipitation that fall on the nearby Wasatch and Uinta mountains. These mountains and their snow melt combined with the Great Sale Lake form a somewhat contained water cycle. It's a different situation than most southwestern metro areas (Vegas, Phoenix, LA) that rely on distant sources like the Colorado river, and the problems northern Utah faces are more amenable to local solutions.The culture of water use in the urban areas really is surprising compared to say, Southern California or Arizona. There is plenty of water wasted, little restrictions on sprinkler use, etc. This is changing though and many of my neighbors are visibly switching to more sustainable landscaping, with local government incentives.However, urban water use is not the problem even if it's what people see every day. The cities do not really need to stop growing (as a NYT piece earlier this year seemed to suggest). The urban areas account for only 9% of diverted water (per the report).The problem seems to be agriculture and trying to grow water-intensive crops in the arid areas west the Wasatch range. 74% of the diverted water is going to agriculture, and cutting that usage by 50% would basically meet the cited amount needed to restore the lake.At this point, it seems to be just a political problem: can the state find the political willpower to force conservation on or buy-out the water rights of the agricultural sector?I'm hopeful. Although the agricultural sector seems to have plenty of political power historically, other local industries have been growing far faster in economic influence and maintaining the health of the cities will hopefully take priority.