Partnerships for research and policy regarding our Great Salt Lake
The USU Janet Quinney Lawson Institute for Land, Water, and Air is deeply involved with efforts by many organizations, agencies, and government leaders to ensure the ecological viability and sustainability of our Great Salt Lake. We partner with the State of Utah Great Salt Lake Commissioner’s Office, the Great Salt Lake Collaborative, and the Great Salt Lake Strike Team to provide data and research, communication, and recommendations on policy and management practices for this vital body of water.
Publications and Reports on Great Salt Lake
The Great Salt Lake is drying as the water within its basin has been claimed for other purposes over many years. The Institute for Land, Water, and Air has worked with partners around the state to better understand the lake and create policy recommendations to positively impact its future.
May 2024
- Great Salt Lake Issues Forum Keynote: The Great Salt Lake Strategic Plan and The Way Forward
- Great Salt Lake Issues Forum: Values in the Brine, Utahns’ Attitudes and Values on the Great Salt Lake
January 2024
- Great Salt Lake Strike Team Data and Insights Summary
- Great Salt Lake Strike Team Policy Summaries
- The Great Salt Lake Commissioner’s Office Strategic Plan
December 2023
February 2023
- Great Salt Lake Strike Team partnership
- Great Salt Lake Policy Assessment, produced by the strike team
December 2022
Dozens of USU researchers are working to understand broader issues that can positively impact the Great Salt Lake:
- Understanding Utah’s drought patterns
- Tracking water availability in the state
- Managing Utah’s watershed
- Creating residential and agricultural water conservation strategies
- Measuring water quality and usability
- Measuring air quality
- Determining outdoor recreation impacts
- Understanding ecological impacts
- Outlining economic benefits of natural resources
Attention and commitment to the Great Salt Lake is not only saving the lake, but it is laying foundation for solutions to other critical issues on the horizon:
- Changing snowpack and snowmelt trends
- Reservoir capacity and water storage
- Northern Utah river and stream health
- Agricultural irrigation technology development
- Utah Lake water quality and management challenges
- Salt Lake Valley air quality
- Understanding viable change strategies
The Interconnectedness Of Great Salt Lake Research
USU Researcher Collaborations
- The National Audubon Society
- Friends of Great Salt Lake
- Great Salt Lake Advisory Council
- Great Salt Lake Brine Shrimp Cooperative
- Great Salt Lake Technical Team
- Intermountain West Joint Venture
- Marriner Eccles Foundation
- National Science Foundation
- Property and Environment Research Center
- Salt Institute
- USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- U.S. Forest Service
- U.S. Geological Survey
- Utah Department of Commerce and Economic Development
- Utah Department of Environmental Quality
- Utah Department of Natural Resources
- Utah Division of Forestry, Fire, and State Lands
- Utah Division of Water Quality
- Utah Division of Water Resources
- Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
- Utah Water Banking Strategy Management
USU Great Salt Lake Researchers
- Lisa Welsh
- Wayne Wurtsbaugh
- Joanna Endter-Wada
- Karin Kettenring
- Janice Brahney
- Sarah Null
- Som Dutta
- Trisha Atwood - Mapping GSL wetland habitats
- Phaedra Budy - Microplastic Transfer to Fish Comm.
- Michael Conover - Bird movement and habitat
- Kim Hageman - GSL dust emissions
- Ed Hammill - Heavy metals in wetland plants
- Bethany Neilson - Waterflow models in the GSL
- Doug Ramsey - Mapping GSL algal growth
- Ron Sims - Using GSL algae for water recycling
- David Tarboton - Water management strategies
Bodies Of Water Used To Study GSL Insights
- Laguna de Aculeo (Chile)
- Lake Urmia (Iran)
- Mono Lake (California)
- Owens Lake (California)
- Salton Sea (California)