Year long analysis studies movement of Great Salt Lake Basin

SALT LAKE CITY — A year-long multi-entity analysis on the Great Salt Lake Basin has just wrapped up. It looked into the water movement and levels of the lake. 

Blake Bingham, Deputy State Engineer at the Utah Division of Water Rights joined KSL at Night to discuss the project’s details. 

 

The why of the analysis 

Recently, the Great Salt Lake has been a topic of “tremendous” concern, Bingham said. 

“A lot of the recent events with the levels of the lake and some of the issues with dust coming off the lake … Have prompted a lot of attention,” he said. “The Great Salt Lake is an incredibly important part of our ecosystem and our economy. Being able to understand the lake is kind of the first step in being able to address some of the concerns we’re seeing with the lake.”

The what of the analysis

Part of that understanding is learning more about the balance of the Great Salt Lake Basin. That includes where the water is coming from, how it’s getting to the lake and where it’s being used, Bingham said. 

The study analyzed gaps in measurement in the Great Salt Lake Basin, so that the Utah legislature can ultimately use funds wisely in a “targeted fashion.”

Bingham and his team studied the data gaps in two major elements: 

1. Measurement on streams and rivers,
2. Measurements on diversions, or where water users like farmers and municipalities utilize the water.

“The first step is understanding the measurement piece and getting accurate balance … understanding the in flows and out flows,” Bingham said. “All these disparate pieces of the lake function differently but they’re interconnected.”

Read more: Utah received money to study the harmful effects of Great Salt Lake dust. It just hasn’t spent it.