"We have not made any deals with Utah on our water. We’re not giving Utah our water," Speaker Moyle told Idaho News 6. "You’re not taking our water and if you raise our fuel taxes, we’ll sue you. It’s what it is."
House Concurrent Resolution 9 will be taken, gutted, and rewritten to urge President Trump and Congress to start moving to help Utah in its efforts to reverse the Great Salt Lake's declines. The resolution was originally written to demand Congress stop spending so much & balance the federal budget.
President Trump speaks at a podium. A headline on the image reads: Trump wants to make Great Salt Lake ‘GREAT AGAIN.’ Utah leaders will float him a $1B plan.
President Donald Trump pledged in posts and remarks made Saturday to help Utah save its drying Great Salt Lake. But the president offered no details as to what aid might look like to address one of the Beehive State’s most pressing challenges.
Story: greatsaltlakenews.org/latest-news/...
Bills aim to help conserve water in a year kicking off with drought and dismal snowpack
Two of the bills relate to working with water rights owners to get more water to Great Salt Lake and the Colorado River system, while a third would use funds from the state brine shirmp tax for things like water leasing for the Great Salt Lake or projects that could help brine shrimp health.
Without a change in snowpack, this summer might test some of the protocols the state enacted a few years ago to help prevent the lake's southern arm from falling to its record low set in 2022. Those include raising the berm between the lake's two arms if the southern arm levels drop low enough.
SB250 calls for $198.5 million to be added to the state's Great Salt Lake account, which would be used for water agreements and leases, and other ways to get water to the Great Salt Lake. Another $1.5 million would go toward the Office of the Great Salt Lake Commissioner for administrative expenses.
A report from the Natural Resources Conservation Service showing that Utah's snowpack is now at a record low has caused alarm in the state legislature.
"We like to be number one in the state of Utah for a lot of things. This isn’t one we want to be," House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, said.
"The number one thing we want to do is to be able to help our ag producers view water as a commodity," deputy Great Salt Lake Commissioner Hannah Freeze told FOX 13 News.
“This is our fifth year, and the rally has become an opportunity to show our lawmakers and decision-makers that we the people care about Great Salt Lake,” said Chandler Rosenberg, co-founder and board member of Save Our Great Salt Lake, one of the groups organizing the rally.
At the 5th annual “Rally to Save Our Great Salt Lake,” hundreds of Utahns gathered in Salt Lake City to celebrate water conservation work while also questioning whether the state’s efforts are enough to meet Gov. Spencer Cox’s recent pledge to fill the ailing lake by 2034.
Utah's Department of Agriculture & Food reported the agriculture water optimization program, which helps farmers buy new irrigation equipment that's more water-efficient, has resulted in roughly 100,000 acre-feet per year of savings.
At issue are two applications for new water rights. Both involved large ranches seeking to pump groundwater on the west slope of the Promontory Point peninsula, near the shores of the Great Salt Lake.
"What this purchase of water will do will be to add some additional water into the Great Salt Lake. This is a very strategic purchase."
HB296 amends existing law that requires providers — including retail water suppliers and conservancy districts — to present clearly stated conservation goals, provide public notice, and officially adopt those goals.
In a major update to the US Magnesium saga at Great Salt Lake, the state of Utah has apparently won a bid for U.S. Magnesium's bankruptcy assets with plans to conduct environmental remediation and keeping more water in the Great Salt Lake.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has taken steps toward designating the Wilson's phalarope an endangered species.
Gov. Spencer Cox offered a bold prediction during a parting message for a Sundance Film Festival crowd at the end of a screening for a new documentary highlighting the fight to save the Great Salt Lake.
The Great Salt Lake will be “full” again by the time the Winter Olympics and Paralympics return to Utah in 2034, Gov. Spencer Cox said at the Sundance premier of “The Lake.” But getting there requires more long-term commitment.
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An open 80-acre spread of grasslands near the fringe of the Great Salt Lake is being eyed for a rezone to industrial uses, drawing pushback from some neighbors and environmentalists.
“Tribal inclusion must be formal, meaningful and permanent. Tribes are not new participants. We are original stewards of the river, and our voices must be part of shaping the future family."
"I will be going back to D.C., I think towards the end of next week, all the governors are going to be getting together with the Department of Interior to have a discussion there," Gov. Cox said. "And we know that it's going to be difficult for every state."
With the dramatic declines of the Great Salt Lake and Utah political leaders' push to get it back to a healthy level in time for the 2034 Olympics, lawmakers are looking to run bills again that promote water conservation.
Utah and seven other states have until Feb. 14 to agree on how to share the drought-stricken water supply for 40 million people.
Snowpack in the mountains that feed the Colorado River, the water supply for 40 million people, is off to its worst start in a quarter century.
“Very poor snow conditions are out there right now,” said Cody Moser, a hydrologist with the Colorado Basin River Forecast Center.
A new online tool from the University of Utah shows how much dust from the shrinking Great Salt Lake is impacting northern Utah neighborhoods.
The Great Salt Lake Basin Dust Exposure Modeling Tool is free to use and allows users to adjust water levels to see how dust spreads across the region.
Utah’s elected leaders have pushed for the state to be a hub for data centers, facilities that for decades have relied on large amounts of water to keep their servers cool. Since 2021, Utah has added or announced plans for at least 15 new data center buildings or campuses.
The annual report, released Wednesday, compiled the latest data and insights from state universities and agencies. It points out that more collaboration and data are needed in long-term solutions.
