WASHINGTON, D.C., Dec. 1, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — The U.S. Senate has unanimously passed the Saline Lake Ecosystem States Program Act, to assess data from the Great Salt Lake in Utah and Lake Albert and Goose Lake in Oregon.
The bipartisan legislation, introduced by Senators Mitt Romney (R-UT) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR), is designed to help integrated regional assessment of saline lake ecosystems and fill a critical data gap that has made it difficult to address a variety of problems caused by declining water levels.
Representatives Blake Moore (R-UT) and Jared Huffman (D-CA) are leading companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives, which is also sponsored by Representatives Chris Stewart (R-UT), John Curtis (R-UT), and Burgess Owens (R-UT).
“With the Great Salt Lake currently at the lowest levels ever recorded, we must do whatever is necessary to save it,” Romney said in a statement released Thursday.
The legislation “will establish a scientific foundation and ongoing monitoring system to inform coordinated management and conservation actions for threatened Great Basin saline lake ecosystems and the communities who depend on them,” he said.
“This legislation will complement and help elevate the work already being done by the State of Utah to understand this key resource and the role it plays as part of the larger landscape. I urge my colleagues in the House to pass this legislation immediately so we can save this iconic and cherished part of Utah.”
Merkley weighed in on Oregon’s salt water bodies.
“Our lands and waters — including our saline lakes like Lake Abert and Goose Lake — are integral to the survival of countless animals and migratory birds, as well as Oregonians’ quality of life and livelihoods,” he said. “These ecosystems must be protected, but we can’t do that without sufficient data. With Senate passage of this bipartisan bill, we are one step closer to securing the studies and science needed to put long-term plans into action to ensure our saline lakes ecosystems can thrive for generations to come.”
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said he was pleased.
“This is a superb bill for the future of the Great Salt Lake and the animals and people who rely on it,” he said. “”It would address the economic value associated with the lake and the importance of migratory birds, help fill gaps in science around hydrology, integrate existing work being done on water quality, and assess future water needs. This legislation could be a key to ensuring the viability of the Great Salt Lake far into the future.”
USU study
Utah State University released a video preview Thursday on a study of toxins found in the dust left behind as the waters of the Great Salt Lake recede.
“As a terminal lake, one without an outlet, the same process that makes the Great Salt Lake so salty also makes it prone to collecting pollution since it acts as the end of the line for the rivers that empty into it,” says an introduction to a newly released video.
“Now, Utah State University researchers are investigating if pollutants collected in the sediment of the lake are getting airborne with the lake continuing to recede and more and more lake bed becoming exposed.”
The study, still in progress, is expected to be completed by the spring. See the video preview below.
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