As lawmakers convene, Utahns rally to save the Great Salt Lake

Hoping to encourage lawmakers to address a potential ecological disaster before it’s too late, more than 400 people joined a virtual rally Saturday afternoon to speak about the shrinking Great Salt Lake.

The event, which took place just days before the start of the 2022 General Session of the Utah State Legislature, comes as the lake's water levels have fallen to a historic low.

“It is drying up and leaving behind a toxic lakebed that’s on its way to becoming one of the largest dust emission sources in North America,” said Denise Cartwright, the cofounder and executive director of Save Our Great Salt Lake.

An ecological collapse is preventable but so far Utah legislators have failed to take meaningful action, Cartwright said.

“We’re here to demand our elected officials prioritize water conservation,” she said.

The event was originally planned to take place in-person at the Utah State Capitol. Due to the rising numbers in COVID-19 cases, however, organizers moved the proceedings to Zoom. Cartwright said she would be sending a recording of the rally to legislators.

At the rally, participants also made plans to flood elected officials’ mailboxes, and attendees were asked to fill out a form with their information and messages.

The vice chairman of the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation, Brad Parry, spoke about the importance of keeping balance in nature.

“We need to become more climate adaptive,” Parry said. “We need to use less water in the population for things we don’t need.”

The Shoshone tribe has depended on what the Great Salt Lake provides for more than 1,000 years and, according to Parry, if the lake continues to dry up it will drastically affect these communities.

Cristina Chirvasa, a member of The Sunrise Movement climate activist group, spoke about the loss of recreational opportunities and tourism.

“The loss of these actually leads to job loss for those working in those industries,” Chirvasa said.

Other industries — such as the brine shrimping, mineral extraction, and winter recreation — will also lose out if the lake dries up, according to Chirvasa.

“Without the lake, the quality of our snow will go down, and the ski and tourism industries will take a major hit,” Chirvasa said, “as will Utah’s economy.”

According to Chirvasa, individuals of lower socioeconomic statuses will be disproportionately affected by the effects of air pollution as the water retreats and exposes more sediment to the air.

“The wind is going to carry it to the surrounding communities,” Chirvasa said, “potentially even as far as Cache Valley.”

The lake holds toxic particles like arsenic and lead in its sediments and, according to Chirvasa, when these particles become airborne they pose health risks to humans — such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

“These conditions are going to be felt more seriously for those of lower socioeconomic status since their access to quality health-care is limited,” Chirvasa said.

The executive director of the Utah Rivers Council, Zach Frankel, said dozens of bills have been introduced over the past two decades in the Utah Legislature to save water, only to be defeated by water lobbyists.

“They kill good legislation,” Frankel said. “Because they work for water suppliers that make money selling water.”

Frankel said he is hopeful there are some legislators who will have the courage to take action, although he acknowledged there will be legislators who will decline to help.

“It is our job to sort out that difference to demand of our Utah legislators the ethical courage that we as Utahns want to save the Great Salt Lake,” Frankel said.

Many artists have created work that has been featured on Save Our Great Salt Lake’s Instagram page. One of the artists, Nick Carpenter, made a graphic design of an Eared Grobe, as they are one of the species of bird that has the most to lose from the lake vanishing.

“Over half of their population migrates to the Great Salt Lake every summer to gorge themselves on brine shrimp,” Carpenter said. “And once they’re here, they molt their flight feathers.”

If conditions at the lake decline after these birds have arrived for the season, there could be a huge die off since they won’t be able to fly anywhere else, according to Carpenter.

Carpenter finds humans have a similar relationship to the lake.

“We are also grounded and can’t easily move our cities and infrastructure if the lake were to dry up and become a dust bowl,” Carpenter said.

Author and activist Terry Tempest Williams also attended and spoke at the rally. For decades, Williams has been writing about the lake and its impact on nature and society.

“This is more than an ecological or political crisis,” Williams said. “It’s a spiritual one. The Earth will survive us. We are the ones being baptized by fire.”