Great Salt Lake Strike Team Releases 2026 Summary, Highlighting Progress, Next-Step Options

Salt Lake City — The Great Salt Lake Strike Team released its 2026 Data and Insights Summary, a comprehensive, science-based resource for Utah policymakers that synthesizes the latest data, research and policy-relevant analysis on Great Salt Lake conditions, recovery efforts and remaining challenges.

The release builds on previous strike team reports and reflects thousands of hours of collaborative work. It integrates updated datasets, field studies, modeling and policy analysis into a single, accessible document designed to support legislative and agency decision-making during the upcoming legislative session.

Key themes include:

• Measurable progress in slowing the lake’s decline.
• Improved understanding of dust risks and mitigation pathways.
• Refined accounting of human water use across sectors.
• The need for continued innovation, coordination and adaptive management.

The 2026 Data and Insights Summary underscores the strike team’s multi-agency, multi-university partnership, which brings together more than 40 experts from Utah State University, the University of Utah and key state agencies to provide timely, objective information. This directly supports the Office of the Great Salt Lake Commissioner and the Great Salt Lake Basin Integrated Plan.

“This work reflects what’s possible when agencies and universities align around a shared mission,” said Brian Steed, Great Salt Lake commissioner and executive director of USU’s Janet Quinney Lawson Institute for Land, Water and Air. “The Strike Team exists to make sure decision-makers have the best available science, clearly synthesized, when it matters most.”

USU plays a central role in the Great Salt Lake Strike Team, contributing expertise across hydrology, water policy, agriculture and applied modeling. USU team members include Brian Steed, Anna McEntire, Bethany Neilson, David Tarboton, Sarah Null, Joanna Endter-Wada and Matt Yost, along with additional faculty and research staff supporting Strike Team analyses. Together with experts from the University of Utah and state agencies, these researchers help ensure policy discussions are grounded in rigorous science, interdisciplinary perspective and a clear understanding of real-world tradeoffs.

At the public briefing accompanying the report’s release, Strike Team leaders highlighted how scientific understanding and policy action have advanced over the past five years.

• Brian Steed presented the scientific summary, outlining updated findings on lake elevation, salinity, inflows, human water use and long-term projections under different conservation scenarios.
• Anna McEntire, managing director of the Janet Quinney Lawson Institute for Land, Water and Air at USU, provided an overview of key actions taken since 2021, including major legislative reforms, new governance structures, water-dedication and leasing tools and philanthropic and federal investment.
• Bethany Neilson, director of the Utah Water Research Laboratory at USU, presented new analyses evaluating dust-mitigation opportunities in Farmington Bay and the potential recovery of water from the Newfoundland Evaporation Basin, a remote area west of Great Salt Lake.

The Great Salt Lake Strike Team was originally created as a short-term, rapid-response partnership to meet an urgent moment. It wasn’t intended to be a permanent body, but four years later, the team continues to see a positive impact on the lake.

“Each year, we ask team members whether they are willing to continue — knowing the time commitment and intensity involved — and every single person has chosen to stay,” McEntire said. “That says something important. I think we all recognize that this partnership is unique and represents the very best of what we can do when universities and state agencies work together toward a shared goal.”

About the Great Salt Lake Strike Team

The Great Salt Lake Strike Team is a collaborative partnership among Utah State University, the University of Utah and Utah state agencies. It serves as a primary point of contact for rapid research support and data synthesis related to Great Salt Lake, providing independent, non-partisan analysis to inform state policy and management decisions.

The full 2026 Great Salt Lake Data and Insights Summary is available online: https://d36oiwf74r1rap.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/GSL-Jan2026.pdf.