Researchers claim that there is no way to fully repair the Great Salt Lake without reducing the cultivation of crops like alfalfa, despite the numerous actions lawmakers have taken recently to increase the lake’s water supply.
This is in accordance with a recent research that detailed the amount of water required to raise the Great Salt Lake to the ecologically sound elevation of 4,198 feet and was published on Tuesday in the journal Environmental Challenges.
According to Brian Richter, president of Sustainable Waters and a principal author of the report, there is no other way to obtain the amount of water required to save the lake except by significantly lowering the amount of water used for those cow feed crops.
Richter and his colleagues suggested cutting the Great Salt Lake Basin’s annual water use by 650,000 acre-feet in order to achieve that healthy level. The majority of the reservoirs in northern Utah, including Jordanelle, Deer Creek, Echo, Rockport, East Canyon, Pineview, Smith and Morehouse, Hyrum, Newton, Causey, and Lost Creek, could be filled with that amount of water and still have roughly 40,000 acre-feet left over.
An acre of land can be submerged in one foot of water using an acre-foot of water.
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Over the past ten years, the Great Salt Lake’s water levels have been dropping.
According to the report, the lake has been declining over the past ten years, despite directly supporting $2.5 billion in economic activity annually through mineral extraction, recreation, and brine shrimp harvesting. It fell to a record low of 4,188.5 feet in November 2022, but it rose marginally during the next two years. The north and south arms hovered at about 4,192 feet on Tuesday.
Great Salt Lake is predicted to reach an annual low as the water year draws to a close.
However, the study found that the lake has lost almost 309,000 acre-feet annually on average since 1989. Researchers discovered that 71% of the water that is diverted from the lake is used for agricultural purposes, with 80% of that water going toward the production of cow feed crops like alfalfa and other kinds of hay.
According to the study, the Great Salt Lake Basin generates roughly 2% of the alfalfa farmed in the United States and more than 50% of the alfalfa grown in Utah annually.
Furthermore, the report points out that the lake is still far from healthy even after the Utah Legislature passed a number of amendments to the state’s laws pertaining to water rights and basin conservation.
According to the study, several measures aimed at promoting water conservation have been passed by the Utah Legislature in recent years. Nevertheless, these actions were only able to raise Great Salt Lake inflows by fewer than 100,000 acre-feet in 2022, which is barely 15% of our desired goal.
Four options are highlighted by researchers:
altering the crop mix to use less water while promoting split-season irrigation and grass hay partial fallowing (fallowing is the practice of farmers leaving their fields grazed or unmowed to promote grass reseeding). Reduced cuts on alfalfa farms would save more than 477,000 acre-feet yearly, and farmers might reduce alfalfa for crops like winter wheat, which would save an estimated 91,500 acre-feet of water annually.
increasing grass-hay fallowing and concentrating only on split-season irrigation, which would produce outcomes comparable to the first choice.
20% less water would be used for mining, industry, and municipalities, saving roughly 108,000 acre-feet a year. A combination of the first two alternatives might save the remaining 542,000 acre-feet.
HB33, a 2022 Utah Legislature measure that permits the state to lease water rights in the Great Salt Lake Basin, would be included in the final choice. According to the study, farmers may be permitted to preserve and provide the leased water in any way they choose if the state leases enough water to meet the study’s goal.
We believe it is crucial to be straightforward and honest about what we believe should be done. However, we certainly don’t want this effort to demonize, accuse, or condemn farmers or ranchers for cultivating these products.
The president of Sustainable Waters, Brian Richter
These are not suggestions. We are attempting to investigate ideas, scenarios, and possibilities. Richter added that a combination of these factors will ultimately be the optimal course of action. Involving everyone in a water conservation program is also highly crucial. Both a municipal component and an industrial component are required. Farmers shouldn’t bear the burden of all of this.
Richter notes that if the state decides to focus on fallowing or split-season irrigation with farmers and ranchers, the options also imply various financial commitments, which might amount to roughly $100 million annually. Leasing the water would cost the state anywhere from $144 million to $400 million.
Richter stated that although leasing water is the more costly alternative, it gives farmers and ranchers the ability to determine how to conserve water while receiving payment.
We believe it is crucial to be straightforward and honest about what we believe should be done. Richter said, however, that we truly don’t want this study to demonize, accuse, or condemn farmers or ranchers for cultivating these crops.
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