It’s up to Utah farmers to save the Great Salt Lake, according to a new study published Tuesday.
New research quantifies just how much water must be saved to restore the lake, proposes how to achieve that goal and calculates how much it would cost.
Brian Richter, the lead author of the paper published Tuesday in the journal Environmental Challenges, believes the agricultural water reductions needed to save the Great Salt Lake present a “financial opportunity” for farmers and ranchers across the basin.
“We can still keep them on their farms and ranches, and keep them farming as much as we can,” he said, “but at the same time, we’re asking them to be the heroes here to save the Great Salt Lake.”
The Great Salt Lake has been declining for decades, and even more rapidly in recent years due to climate change, sustained drought and human water use. As the lake shrinks, toxic dust events become more frequent, migratory birds lose crucial wetland habitat and the lake’s population of brine shrimp — which support the global seafood industry — declines.
The study estimates that, to bring the lake back to an ecologically healthy level within 10 years, humans in the Great Salt Lake basin need to reduce their water use by 35% — 650,000 acre-feet — per year.
That’s enough water to fill Jordanelle Reservoir twice, but less than the estimated 1 million acre-feet per year that Brigham Young University researchers said was necessary in a 2023 paper.
The study presents a detailed water budget, parsing out individual uses of the water that would otherwise fill the Great Salt Lake. Humans consume the most of that water, the majority of which goes to agriculture.
The lion’s share — 80% — of the water used for agriculture sustains thirsty crops like alfalfa and grass hay, which are grown primarily to feed cattle. Utah produces 1% of beef cattle in the U.S. and less than 1% of the nation’s milk.
“We don’t think an [agriculture]-only reduction solution is really appropriate or desirable, because the cities and industries also need to contribute,” Richter said. “We’re all going to have to pull together to save the Great Salt Lake, but because of how the water is used, a lot of it’s going to have to come out of agriculture.”
In response to a 2022 study that also suggested reducing alfalfa irrigation to save water in the state, a Utah State University researcher suggested that the crop makes for a good fit with the West’s arid landscapes, where most other crops could not be grown profitably.
The researchers present several recommendations for reducing human water use across the Great Salt Lake basin, many of which target agricultural water use: growing wheat instead of alfalfa, temporarily fallowing grass hay fields and harvesting less alfalfa each season. A mixture of these techniques, combined with reducing water use in mining and municipalities, could help restore the Great Salt Lake.
Another solution discussed in the study is water leasing. Water rights, like property rights, are privately held. The state could pay farmers, irrigation companies and water districts to temporarily lease their water, freeing it up to flow into the Great Salt Lake instead of into their fields.
This summer, Utah’s Office of the Great Salt Lake Commissioner partnered with the Property and Environment Research Center to facilitate voluntary water leasing. PERC is a member of the State Policy Network, a nationwide organization of conservative think tanks, and suggests that market-based incentives like water leasing are better ways to save water than “heavy-handed mandates or forced reductions.”
“We know it’s not an easy task to save the lake and recognize it takes everyone conserving, dedicating and delivering water to achieve healthy levels,” Great Salt Lake Commissioner Brian Steed said in a statement responding to the latest study. “We are working closely with all Utahns, including the agricultural community, businesses, cities and towns and water districts to shift the long-term downward trend of the lake.”
Any of these options, Richter explained, require compensating ranchers and farmers for reducing their water use.
For example, the study calculated that reducing alfalfa production by 61% in the Great Salt Lake basin alongside fallowing half of the basin’s grass hay production would cut agricultural revenues by $97 million each year.
But, the study found, farmers and ranchers could be fully compensated for those losses if each Utah resident paid between $29 and $124 each year. The Utah Legislature, which convenes for its 2025 session on Jan. 21, would have to approve any spending.
Dairies and other cattle operations would also need to import feed from other places; 65% of dairy and beef producers in the basin are already doing so, according to researchers.
The challenge of sustainably restoring the Great Salt Lake reflects myriad struggles over water use across the arid West, from the Colorado River to California’s Central Valley.
“So, what are we going to do about it? You have to gravitate toward agriculture,” Richter said. “There’s got to be some adjustment, and it’s going to be kind of brutal, unfortunately, in a lot of places.”
