Will Utah's Great Salt Lake disappear?

Рет қаралды 204,790

Жыл бұрын

Utah's Great Salt Lake has been in decline, owing to climate change, drought, and over-use of water resources, and is now one-third the size it was in the 1980s. A new scientific report warns that, without dramatic and immediate cuts in water consumption, the lake could vanish in just five years. Correspondent Lee Cowan talks with Sen. Mitt Romney, who co-sponsored a bill studying the lake's problems, and with experts who say aggressive action is needed.
#greatsaltlake #utah #waterconservation
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Пікірлер: 723

@RHTeebs Жыл бұрын

It's heartbreaking to see a lake you know so well, die. I'm from Buffalo. When Lake Erie was classified as a dead lake, I was devastated. I know it's not quite the same, but, seeing a lake you love, filled with memories, being classified as dead. Unsafe to swim in. It would be awful. I couldn't even imagine seeing Lake Erie disappear completely.

@guyserious2468 Жыл бұрын

It's not even caused by nature. It's just being drained by God loving lawns.

@feelinguru-vywiththepaingu9808 Жыл бұрын

I understand. For my family it's Lake Mead in Arizona and Nevada. So many memories are caught up in it. To see the water so low is heartbreaking.

@carlpierce7991 Жыл бұрын

When you mean its dead does that mean its polluted and stuff?

@darksu6947 Жыл бұрын

@@carlpierce7991 Yes that's what it means.

@thesoundsmith Жыл бұрын

It IS the same. We are killing the ecosystem. And NOBODY is seriously trying to stop it, they just want to buy their way out and blame the other guy. We are the SECOND LARGEST polluter, and we shipped all our manufacturing to China or Mexico. WTF are we DOING to generate all that crap?

@romstar Жыл бұрын

For the lake to recede that dramatically over the course of at least 40 years is tragic 😭🥺

@thisguy73 Жыл бұрын

Let me guess you contribute to George Soros.

@mrscottygreenwood Жыл бұрын

The state knew this was coming and just kept ignoring the problem

@marcoschavez1028 Жыл бұрын

Mormonism at its best

@HobbyOrganist Жыл бұрын

The root of all todays problems is human overpopulation, the consquences of jamming 333 MILLION people onto the same land area that as recently as the year 1900 had just 75 million, and just 100 years before that in 1800 the population was only a little more than live in NY City alone today- about 14 million. As long as we keep adding more people exponentially like this, the problem will only get worse no matter what "mitigation" measures are attempted.

@O-sa-car Жыл бұрын

It’s not too many people but they’re in the wrong places and too much farming is done in arid areas

@zonegaming3498 Жыл бұрын

@@HobbyOrganist Maybe you should take action on this situation of overpopulation and lower it by not existing.

@AxelQC Жыл бұрын

Exasperating the problem by putting growth ahead of ecology.

@obstinatehammer7113 Жыл бұрын

"Alfalfa farming represents 0.2% of the Utah economy but uses 68% of available water." The Salt Lake Tribune

@crIms0ngen Жыл бұрын

That sounds like something that should just outright end immediately, full-stop.

@ozzyoz1495 Жыл бұрын

I know people people tend to distrust government often with good reason. However, I feel this is one of the most clear cut cases where private enterprise should not triumph over the public good. The residents of the great salt lake should collectively decide if growing alfalfa in an arid environment is good for them and a good use of their resources.

@windrider23 Жыл бұрын

And 29 percent of that alfalfa is grown for overseas export. 2/3 of which goes to China.

@feelinguru-vywiththepaingu9808 Жыл бұрын

@@windrider23 Therein lies a problem. Why does another country need our alfalfa? Is it solely to serve the 1% of our population?

@alanbourne2332 Жыл бұрын

@@ozzyoz1495 could buy the water rights from the farmers and then put it in the Lake

@iansmith2094 Жыл бұрын

Utah appears to be ignoring the obvious correction. STOP diverting water away from the lake. No company, individual, nor organization has a right to any of the water that then generates a problem for someone else. Period. End stop. Cut off all diversions by all force necessary, NOW. What part of that does Utah not understand.?

@sherriianiro747 Жыл бұрын

Someone earlier in this thread said the farmers are on the water board.

@kitlc1 Жыл бұрын

As a former Utahn, this is so sad. It’s such a naturally beautiful place that deserves to be environmentally protected.

@coomtothebroom778 Жыл бұрын

As a former Utahn myself, I echo this statement. A natural beauty sadly lost and deserves protection for our descendants.

@isocarboxazid Жыл бұрын

Vote Republican, vote for climate deniers, reap the rewards. Great job, Utah.

@rzrdude2782 Жыл бұрын

@@isocarboxazid not sure what this has to do with politics. But it will be full again after the crazy amount of snow we got this winter.

@ckstaff Жыл бұрын

It doesn't need protection, it needs water.

@ckstaff Жыл бұрын

@@isocarboxazid Are you saying Democrats can fill the Great Salt Lake? LOL

@loriblessner9663 Жыл бұрын

My first visit in the late 80’s, the lake was lapping at I-80 as we drove by, creepy. Last visit in 2019, water nowhere to be seen. I thought I had taken a wrong turn, such a difference 😢

@thisguy73 Жыл бұрын

Vota MAGA! DONALD J TRUMP WOULD MAKE THIS LAKE RISE FASTER THAN JESUS CHRIST!

@xstraightedgefishingx Жыл бұрын

I never thought I would ever say I could respect Mitt Romney, but I have to give him due credit for this.

@petebusch9069 Жыл бұрын

Credit for what, just standing there watching it dry up?

@skiyalater626 Жыл бұрын

Credit for what? Nature TRUMPS Romney and will have its way.

@buyallmeans425 Жыл бұрын

For what...? 25 million to monitor the situation. What have they been doing for the last decade or more?

@josephmayfield945 Жыл бұрын

@@skiyalater626 “I’m in a cult.”

@anthonys.8569 Жыл бұрын

As a Salt Lake resident- this is one of many reasons I plan to move out of the valley. Not taking the risk of this with my family.

@annapri1526 Жыл бұрын

These kind of stories always make me cry. I'm about to finish my Bachelors of Science in Energy and Sustainability Policy at Penn State and learning about all the damage to our planet over the last 150 years makes me extremely sad and worried everyday.

@pottergirl287 Жыл бұрын

The effects of Owens Lake drying up are incredible for that area of California. For SLC, that's going to be increased a hundred fold.

@vilstef6988 Жыл бұрын

In CA, there is also the drying up of Mono Lake and the Salton Sea. The dust from the dry lakebeds is a threat to human health!

@cadespencer6320 Жыл бұрын

@@vilstef6988 Tulare Lake too!

@guyserious2468 Жыл бұрын

Every "fix" to the help our environment is going to cost someone somewhere a profit. It will be said that "jobs are going to be lost." But a job is temporary, and a profit is private. We're talking about our obligation to our descendants.

@tuckerbugeater Жыл бұрын

So consumers don't benefit from their business?

@JG-tt4sz Жыл бұрын

Ok boomer.

@guyserious2468 Жыл бұрын

@@JG-tt4sz lol your reply

@mattalley4330 Жыл бұрын

Most people are so short-sighted that they, atleast when it comes to their deeds, dont care about our descendants. They will say otherwise, but actions speak louder than words. Those helping this happen are effectively raising a big middle finger to future generations. Sad but true.

@Zb_Calisthenic Жыл бұрын

"Blessed are those who plant trees under whose shade they will never sit"

@crookedbird6589 Жыл бұрын

If you live in a dry country you shouldn't have green lawns.

@oquirrhlight Жыл бұрын

The disconnect between neighborhood development/home building and water use is nothing short of blindness. They are building homes and apartment complexes like never before. Lawns and trees and golf courses and sanitary needs come with each of these homes. It amazes me how they continue to develop unchecked, like water is infinitely available. We can’t live without agriculture, that’s a waste of time to discuss. However, something needs to be done about the unprecedented development and housing growth in the second driest state in the Union. Politicizing this issue is a waste of energy. Whether you believe in global warming or not is a waste of energy. The fact is, our growth exceeded our resources many decades ago and yet we march on as if everything will always be ok.

@666size666 Жыл бұрын

The GSL Strike Team just released their report and all other factors combined still don't even make up one third of the water usage from agriculture. Yes, developers are to blame but not even close to the blame agriculture....especially alfalfa farmers...are responsible for. Gov. Cox's deal with Texas Instruments is also foolish.

@TheBandit7613 Жыл бұрын

68% of the water is diverted to grow alfalfa. It's not the lawns or toilet flushing.

@bearnuts Жыл бұрын

You are so Spot On

@WildflowerAnn Жыл бұрын

@@666size666 alfalfa is grown to feed those cows all of those people want to eat though isn’t it? There is always a direct correlation to agriculture and people.

@666size666 Жыл бұрын

@@WildflowerAnn 50-60% of Utah's alfalfa is shipped to China. Growing animal feeds in another state that isn't an arid desert makes much more sense, however, as I do not eat cows, I view cows (at 1,847 gallons of water to produce a mere 1 pound of beef) also a waste of resources.

@ramonnape Жыл бұрын

breaks my heart💔im not in utah but i hope there becomes an ambitious plan to save this beautiful wonder of the world, and the citizens of slc!🧡

@cbpd89 Жыл бұрын

In the short term, we have excellent snow pack and rain this winter, so the lake isn't shrinking this year! Long term, we'll see if the changes enacted are enough and we keep asking our government and our neighbors to do more!

@_A4A Жыл бұрын

Not sure why 2.5 Million people thought it would be wise to live in the desert and not think once about the cost of doing so!....

@Zb_Calisthenic Жыл бұрын

Apathy, lethargy.

@bonlevina5621 Жыл бұрын

"Lawns are so last century!"

@tribemayamex Жыл бұрын

Native americans lived in harmony with nature for 20000years. Usa is only few hundred years in power and land has been depleated of animals, plants, big trees and more. Sad to see it all gone

@blondie7240 Жыл бұрын

yeah that's a bit racist and not true, native American tribes were just as in "harmony" with nature as European, African, or Asian tribes.

@thisguy73 Жыл бұрын

Native Americans hate the GOP and love George Soros. Sad.

@d.s.2519 Жыл бұрын

Thank you for highlighting this crises to a national level.

@rhinman Жыл бұрын

This environmentalism by Utah politicians is a NEW THING. They allowed this for years. Now they're spending our tax dollars to correct their "choices" (they weren't mistakes). Of course they put the water conservation on the citizens.

@linguaphile42 Жыл бұрын

Step one: quit watering lawns.

@darksu6947 Жыл бұрын

Step two: Stop living in the desert. It's stupid and shortsighted.

@mattalley4330 Жыл бұрын

Actually, things like lawns and golf courses use a small fraction of the water. Its inefficient use of water on farms more than anything that is causing this, although climate change is a close second. I agree with darksu. The desert southwest/great basin region is a house of cards that could collapse very soon.

@blueshattrick Жыл бұрын

Sure.. but 70% of the water goes to agriculture

@linguaphile42 Жыл бұрын

@@blueshattrick So what is your Step Two?

@jamesmcintyre4243 Жыл бұрын

LOL nahhh

@poolhall9632 Жыл бұрын

Yes, that’s what happens when you live in the desert and use more water than the environment can provide… It’s almost like people shouldn’t live in the desert🤔

@ramonnape Жыл бұрын

agreed, the feds shouldve always had a population limit or a population control in the southwest in general!

@feelinguru-vywiththepaingu9808 Жыл бұрын

Living in the desert isn't the problem. Native Americans did for hundreds of years without an issue. The white man came to the desert and said, "Woohooo! We can golf here all year!" So they planted acres and acres of grass. It's when we put the burden on nature to provide what isn't natural to provide that's the problem.

@jfrankerickson8993 Жыл бұрын

@@feelinguru-vywiththepaingu9808 Congratulations! you get the woke Hippie award for the first to blame the "white man". Way to stick with the zeitgeist.

@sicknado Жыл бұрын

OR....or....we stop global warming with the 10 billion people that live on this planet. (used to be 150 million for a very long time)

@dobbysboggart6883 Жыл бұрын

@@ramonnape ... I hate Thanosism

@edwardrosenthal1764 Жыл бұрын

wow, powerful story

@jeffgold3091 Жыл бұрын

when you look at the well meaning mistakes made in the past , it’s interesting to reflect on what mistakes are being made today that people will scratch their heads about 50 years from now

@Me97202 Жыл бұрын

I think calling them well-meaning mistakes is naïve. These corporations and their government enablers have known about the problem for decades.

@rustyshackle917 Жыл бұрын

Lead, asbestos, PFAs, coal, oil, plastics.... Future generations will be aghast at what current generations see as "normal" and they'll be cleaning up the mess.

@andybaldman Жыл бұрын

There won’t be anything in 50 years.

@codycluff Жыл бұрын

I've lived in SLC my whole life, and while it is bad and we do need to take action, there is hope on the horizon. The lake has risen over a foot this year, and it's long before we see spring runoff. The snowpack that will feed the lake is also way above normal this year.

@feelinguru-vywiththepaingu9808 Жыл бұрын

It will take years of that.

@RileyStroud99 Жыл бұрын

The problem is that because of the many many years of continued drought, the root systems of the plants in the Rockies tend to hold onto more water than is necessary. Just because we saw a larger amount of snow this year doesn’t necessarily mean that we will see a proportionate amount of runoff.

@LadyJanie Жыл бұрын

That spring run-off will come in and be gone fast.

@codycluff Жыл бұрын

It will definitely take more than one good year, but as they mentioned in the story, Utah has also enacted measures that will conserve many hundreds of acre-feet of water. We also had a wet fall, so the ground was well saturated prior to the buildup of the snowpack. There is still a long way to go, but ultimately I'm hopeful that the lake will not only survive, but thrive again in years to come.

@aqueen13 Жыл бұрын

I am so grateful for the heavy snowpack this year for our great salt lake… what do think of their idea to put in a pipeline from the ocean? Seems more logical than any other solution to me, since both are salt water

@dylanlough5234 Жыл бұрын

This made me teary eyed.

@lexicat6177 Жыл бұрын

I lived there in the late 80's. That's really eye opening.

@barnbuild27 Жыл бұрын

It’s interesting that people in 1983 were worried that flooding along the Wasatch Front was going to pour so much fresh water into the Great Salt Lake that the salt water would be diluted and the ecosystem would be destroyed.

@oleggorky906 Жыл бұрын

I read about that in Lonely Planet, of all things.

@GilmerJohn Жыл бұрын

Exactly. These silly alarmists nuts always are looking to micromanage everything. The reality is that most surface (and deep well) water is used for growing crops. Perhaps it's time to impose a modest tax on agriculture water use. If you goal is to maintain the lake level, the tax rate would vary with the lake level. The farmers would have amble warning of what their water costs would be in the coming year.

@HobbyOrganist Жыл бұрын

All of these features are temporary anyway, lakes dry up, rivers dry up, rivers change course, forests die off, the landscape is always changing

@jamestucker8088 Жыл бұрын

Two things would really help. First seal off the north west section of the lake by closing the holes in the rail road causeway. This will keep the water in the southern part of the lake. Then stop growing 1/2 acre of grass around every house and let the water flow into the lake. The water used inside houses doesn't cause a problem. It flows to a sewer treatment plant and then to the Great Salt Lake.

@takeiteasynacho Жыл бұрын

I live on the northern end and no do not close it off. Farming needs to use better watering practices than flood irrigation. That’s the most inefficient way to irrigate. Yard golf courses and public works still make a small percentage of total water diverted. It’s the irrigation that’s the main factor.

@guythatpaysforyourhandouts2478 Жыл бұрын

Or you could just realize it's not sustainable that's why it's a SALT LAKE.

@GhostRyder2008 Жыл бұрын

@@guythatpaysforyourhandouts2478 It's a salty lake because it has no outlet. It was salty before humans started settling in the area and using the water that would flow to it.

@guythatpaysforyourhandouts2478 Жыл бұрын

@@GhostRyder2008Thanks for proving my point a salt lake is not sustainable.

@GhostRyder2008 Жыл бұрын

@@guythatpaysforyourhandouts2478 not sure what your definition of sustaining a salt lake means then

@AxelQC Жыл бұрын

The Great Salt Lake is the canary in the coalmine for the US West. The loss of the lake is devastating, but it forebodes a massive drought in the Western 1/3 of the US due to climate change and excess human population there.

@danbilyeu6678 Жыл бұрын

Yay! Lee is hosting!!!! Great show!!!!

@honestlynate7922 Жыл бұрын

On the plus side, if you're an out-of-stater, boat prices are outstanding

@zbaby82 Жыл бұрын

But you would have to put wheels on them to get around.

@groob33 Жыл бұрын

@@zbaby82, yeah... that's called a Trailer.

@yasminhelenendangeredspecies Жыл бұрын

That's truly sad. Those past pictures of all the sailboats on the water is what the Lake should get back to. I hope they can! I wouldn't sell if those were my boats.

@adamwallace8082 Жыл бұрын

Hey Mitt, if you really want to fix the Great Salt Lake issue... 1. Change the water use, and water rights for the Great Salt Lake watershed. 2. TAX, TAX, TAX! Corporations! such as Exxon Mobil, and others that are directly responsible for causing climate change, and using the tax revenue to fix the problem! Stop letting the organizations causing the problems off the hook!

@feelinguru-vywiththepaingu9808 Жыл бұрын

Yes!

@jfrankerickson8993 Жыл бұрын

Interesting. You realize those "evil corporations" are providing a product in demand. Taxing corporations is passed directly onto the consumer. To believe otherwise is idiotic.

@MrMatteNWk Жыл бұрын

But corporations are people, my friend.

@thisguy73 Жыл бұрын

CORPORATIONS ARE PEOPLE BABY!

@MijoShrek Жыл бұрын

@@MrMatteNWk not when it comes to their tax filings and abiding by laws and regulations that the average American does. They simply have the ability to lobby their interest with funding. The corporations interest is in opposition to the best interest of people that would ask for protections against being exploited by a corporate entity. As can be shown through the productivity of workers has increased over time decade after decade. While wages have remain stagnate as CEO salaries increased exponentially. This is just part of the m an example of being the systems being beholden to corporations over the good and will of the people.

@Jakestar105 Жыл бұрын

I remember driving from Monterey Ca thru the great salt lake basin (I-80) in 1985. It was early evening maybe? hazy dusty and there were a bunch of road workers all wearing, what looked like to me space suits, holding pennants and things. A pretty bizarre sight as I headed for Salt Lake City to find a hotel for the night.

@joaminow6943 Жыл бұрын

Since he was in high school population in the Salt Lake Basin has tripled. Lake is 1/3 the size. Hmmm. You do the math.

@AdamCarsonX Жыл бұрын

Very well done, and nicely presented with real feeling. I hope this helps aid real change.

@kaylenemiller1804 Жыл бұрын

Stop building the thousands of apartment and condocomplexes. Stop moving here!

@bingusbingus776 Жыл бұрын

It's so sad to watch the world cry out for Help and see nothing done to stop it.Wake up before its way to late.

@Ex_christian Жыл бұрын

It’s the Republican way……

@bingusbingus776 Жыл бұрын

@@Ex_christian 💯

@watermaster2197 Жыл бұрын

The solution is simple: (1) the Legislature needs to buy and lease a really big amount of water from farmers and ranchers; (2) keep it in the streams; and, (3) make sure it reaches the lake and isn't used to build more subdivisions. None of that is easy, mind you, just simple.

@matthew3136 Жыл бұрын

Not buy and lease. Cancel.

@watermaster2197 Жыл бұрын

@@matthew3136 Just a tiny Fifth Amendment issue with that.

@karanbirsingh2615 Жыл бұрын

Great coverage 👏👍

@jjj1951 Жыл бұрын

Growing lawns in the desert. Ludricous

@TheBandit7613 Жыл бұрын

It's not the lawns, it's mostly alfalfa. 68% of the water is diverted to grow alfalfa.

@tracelucas8083 Жыл бұрын

Unbelievable. Very very very sad !!! :(

@smallfootprint2961 Жыл бұрын

I remember bobbing on the surface of the lake as we took a little swim in it during a camping trip through the area back in my young mom days. I'm old now, and see that the lake is too. I can accept things changing though time, but don't understand the competition for the greenest lawn, which is furthering the demise of all our water ways. Can't we all agree to stop watering lawns. There's so many no maintenance yard designs nowadays. So many people believe the higher ups who say that there's no changes that we people could affect, but I believe that is one that's pretty clear, we can do something about.

@billysunday7507 Жыл бұрын

Standing out in that area you wouldn't even think about breathing in pollution.

@Bennytree Жыл бұрын

We got our Engagement pictures done there during sunset. It is beautiful. Fingers crossed we can do what it takes to keep it wonderful.

@mikekarlin7452 Жыл бұрын

Pump water from the ocean itll work!! Maybe even help with rising ocean levels

@LadyJanie Жыл бұрын

They looked into that and it would cost trillions to pump that much water across the sirerra mountains.

@rustyrolla5432 Жыл бұрын

With all the snow we've gotten this year hopefully it might do some good. Everyone needs to quit moving here so our lakes and reservoirs don't get used as fast

@steveconn Жыл бұрын

Sad to see though terrible rotten eggs smell when wind blew off it (remember from SLC airport in 03, Dennis Quaid on a payphone, interesting day).

@kjorlaug1 Жыл бұрын

We we focus on agriculture in regions with basically no rain amazes me

@sharonannen8859 Жыл бұрын

* Wow! Yes, I lived there during the 1980s when the weather was wet, when we built the State Street Bridge, when the Great Salt Lake, Jordan River, Utah Lake were rising, lapping the Interstate freeway. The smell of the brine flies filled the Summer air. *

@steveschultz7227 Жыл бұрын

And it will get wet again. And then we'll all be freaking out about some other supposed catastrophe.

@captainnima Жыл бұрын

The simple solution is to build pipes from East to West to carry our excess water but that makes too much sense.

@alvarofortunatosamayoa8640 Жыл бұрын

😢great segment.

@daveyboygee 10 ай бұрын

Sad story but some of the best reporting I've seen on CBS in years. Excellent piece. I will be showing this to my 5th grade class.

@mpetersen6 Жыл бұрын

The dry lakes in other locations in the Southwest have disappeared. The large lakes from the Ice Age disappeared. The Great Salt Lake is but a remnant of the the Ice Age Lake Bonneville. It is my understanding that the lake has been slowly shrinking for decades.

@brandonperkins2447 Жыл бұрын

The entire Jordan river used to flow into the great salt lake. Lake effect snow from the salt lake would blanket the Wasatch mountains and the Jordan River would carry water to the salt lake and replenish it. Water no longer replenishes the Salt Lake, the cycle is broken and thus it’s drying up at an incredible rate. The great salt lake was not shrinking before sapiens started diverting water. Lake Bonneville had an erosion brake in the lava dam, it was the 2nd largest flood in North America.

@kellharris2491 Жыл бұрын

Much of this is recent.

@cbpd89 Жыл бұрын

All of this has happened in the last 30 years. A process like this should have taken a thousand or more if it were natural.

@josephmayfield945 Жыл бұрын

😂😂😂 sure Jan.

@rockya2409 Жыл бұрын

Got a love that 1985 reference when it was as high as it has ever been. Oh and mitt Romney? Ok click.

@misswildlife7905 Жыл бұрын

If the contamination is so very bad where they were, why wasn't anyone wearing protection from breathing in the arsenic?

@docwatson1134 Жыл бұрын

The wind wasn't blowing hard enough. The soil often has a crust that keeps it intact, during a major wind event that crust layer is ripped off exposing loose soil underneath. The loose soil becomes windblown, and will easily become windblown again during future windstorms. Once the process starts it will quickly escalate. The arsenic is relatively speaking not as dangerous as long as the soil stays intact. But toxic effects are cumulative over time, as it becomes airborne and blows into populated areas.

@moiznicees Жыл бұрын

How much longer will lake Mead in Las Vegas be around before it disappear

@TheBandit7613 Жыл бұрын

The level of Lake Mead is 100% adjustable. It's whatever the water dept wants it to be. The lake level is artificial, means nothing.

@marclegarreta3359 Жыл бұрын

Heartbreaking!

@rlbrown1009 Жыл бұрын

Terribly sad 😪 we had lots of rain & snow this year.

@seanohelan8241 Жыл бұрын

Heartbreaking and it's all our fault!

@lcprivatepilot1969 Жыл бұрын

Maybe yours

@mattalley4330 Жыл бұрын

@@lcprivatepilot1969 Who is to blame? Nobody. Everybody. God. At a certain point the blame gets spread out so much that asking "whose fault is it" is rather pointless. There are steps that need to be taken that can help but will people be willing to do it? Probably not.

@dianethulin1700 Жыл бұрын

My family founded Davis County and I have seen this as recently as last year. I’m very worried

@nearkolob Жыл бұрын

I wonder why they didn't mention that the levels are rising faster than normal this year? And that one good snowpack can erase half of what the decades long drought caused. This means that 2 good snow years could bring the lake back to its average depth. Looks like more climate change grift to me.

@elliotoakley4664 Жыл бұрын

100% couldn't agree any better. You also gotta love how all those whining liberals in California were whining about drought and now complaining about too much rain. WOW... look at all your global warming in action.

@seththomas9105 Жыл бұрын

The explosive population growth from the Front Range thru the Intermountain West to the Coast since 1980 has had a extreme affect on the water supply for the whole region. My dad was saying it years ago that there was not enough water in the West, nevermind the Mega-drought of the last 30 years, for all the damn people.

@EVtripper Жыл бұрын

This made me cry

@Mango_B Жыл бұрын

I've been saying for years, why do we not have a WATER grid? We have an electrical grid. We have a transportation grid (interstates). We have grids within our cities, but the grids are NOT interconnected. Install a grid to transport water from places that have enough to places that are in need. Have a series of reservoirs interconnected. Yes, the cost will be high, but water is too precious of a resource going forward.

@gregghoshovsky6665 Жыл бұрын

Your state's bad planning is not a reason to let you suck my state's water resources dry. Y'all think your so independent, self made men who have no need of the Feds. Red states want divorce from the blue states...Well boys and girls figure it out for yourselves without Federal help. Besides I'm sure "it will dry up in 5 years" is just a WOKE scare tactic.

@Mango_B Жыл бұрын

@@gregghoshovsky6665 my state, Virginia, plans well. No problems here. But when the majority of our produce is grown in the West, then the Feds need to jump in. I don't want bloated government, but that's probably the only way it gets done.

@rr7firefly Жыл бұрын

Human beings destroying the world around them. We are known to make big mistakes, and fortunately there are still responsible people in power to reverse that trend. Hats off to Senator Romney.

@mrtruth1748 Жыл бұрын

For? Thinking he's better than you.

@yasminhelenendangeredspecies Жыл бұрын

I really hope Mitt Romney and the Utah people can come up with a solution. This is a terrible thing to happen. I feel very sad about this for Utah. They need solutions before it's too late. Go Mitt! 💖🙏🇺🇸 ~

@sicknado Жыл бұрын

@@mrtruth1748 You're everything thats wrong with the world wrapped up into one.

@alanbourne2332 Жыл бұрын

@@yasminhelenendangeredspecies don’t expect Mitt to do anything unless he personally profits from it

@mrtruth1748 Жыл бұрын

@@sicknado??? For understand the elites and the agenda?

@dantecarpino7500 Жыл бұрын

Be cool to see 60 minutes do a program on the lake!

@deannamadrigal7503 Жыл бұрын

I just recently flew into SLC Utah for thr first time in January. I could not believe how much smog there was. NO One these days needs to have lawns. It's a huge waste of water. Wake up people

@clarestucki5151 Жыл бұрын

Actually, there was a time lomg ago when the great salt lake filled the entire great basin! Evidently it's been shrinking a helluva lot longer that what these guys are saying.

@mattalley4330 Жыл бұрын

Agreed, but the rate of shrinkage took off like a rocket though when people started diverting most of the waters coming into the lake from rivers to irrigate farms.

@spockspock Жыл бұрын

The Great Basin has numerous wetlands turned artifacts. The hubris of humanity is completely disregarded by natural forces.

@beexiong1105 Жыл бұрын

When I moved here to SLC back in 1998 the lake still play a major role in Utah’s weather pattern. The snow in the valley and up in the mountains were beautiful. Above in the sky as the planes circling, ready to land you can see all these rings of colors in it. The islands in the lake were cut off and are actual islands. It was beautiful! Now it’s just sad to drive by it. It looks as though the Lake is crying for help. Talk about a heart break. Some people here don’t even care, especially those that does not believe in climate change or global warming. It’s so sad.

@powerband5235 11 ай бұрын

Climate change is made up.

@elizabethpowers7540 Жыл бұрын

5 years?! Holy crap! I've never been there, but anyone with a lick of sense should be able to understand what a serious problem that is. I sincerely hope that people can buck their usual self-absorbed tendencies and do what needs to be done to avert this catastrophe. Unfortunately, selflessness is all too rare a commodity in this society, but it is not unprecedented. There have been moments in our history where people have managed to overcome their individual petty concerns and do what needed to be done for the good of all. For those of us who do not live there, let us hope this is the case and attempt to find ways to support necessary action. For those who do live there, it's up to you - not some ambiguous entity you identify as controlling things - YOU, every individual who lives and uses water and votes there. You all have impact - it's up to you what you do with it.

@blondie7240 Жыл бұрын

its Tragedy of the Commons, even though a majority of people made changes years ago a small group of people are make more money with the unused water. People in Utah have been cutting back on water use for decades, but the water just gets used by the few who don't care.

@geomodelrailroader Жыл бұрын

Sad to see Salt Lake like this. We need to act now and cut water use or in 5 years there will be no Salt Lake it will be reclaimed by the desert and everything will die. We need Salt lake to heal and people need to stop wasting water.

@davidalanjonesridge9874 Жыл бұрын

Depending on the amount of yearly snow accumulation and runoff, and how much reservoirs hold that back the Ogden and Weber rivers, and other tributaries should offer a continuous supply

@mattalley4330 Жыл бұрын

I mean no offense, but did you watch the whole video? They plainly state that the majority of water that would otherwise enter the lake is being diverted to irrigate farms. This is the main culprit, regardless of factors like snowpack.

@davidalanjonesridge9874 Жыл бұрын

@@mattalley4330 Yes I did view the whole video, and thanks for the reminder but my comment was made in one of the rare times I am positive. I am 76 and I still consider Ogden as my home town but I reside currently in Omaha. About the water, Nebraska and Colorado are having the same argument. I had seen and heard in the local news how the run off was ran down the SLC main street, so it was nice to that clip. Some years back I Googled Saltair, sad to see it closed and water logged. Does UP and I-80 still run run across that lake?

@ExpeditionNomadicAdventures Жыл бұрын

Salt Lakes Natural or unnatural impacts within a human life gives reason to consider the human impact. The question becomes, DO WE CHANGE?

@ulaana Жыл бұрын

*edit* the GSL is fine. It's up nearly 5 feet already from the epic snowpack we had this winter. And it'll probably rise another 3-5 feet in the next months. It's all good

@Ezoangelofdeath Жыл бұрын

I would like to know how much this has effected Willard Bay??

@GamerplayerWT Жыл бұрын

Preparing the way for the great sandworms - Shai-Hulud

@timothybuck2396 Жыл бұрын

Did all the rain and snow out west this winter help? Or did it mainly just reach California?

@steveschultz7227 Жыл бұрын

Uhh, you could say that. Record (so far) snowfall in the Wasatch Mountains, much of that will end up in the GSL. The lake will likely rise 2-3 feet this year, which in a shallow lake like this, is a lot. This is the latest thing we're supposed to freak out about. The drought will end and the lake will come back.

@laskey2175 Жыл бұрын

If only we knew of a place on this planet to get salt water.

@jacobjames1171 Жыл бұрын

2:14 I thought he would have said it sooner.

@FGH9G Жыл бұрын

A simple solution, tell the Big Ag farms to stop hoarding water.

@drwho5437 Жыл бұрын

And we can all eat salt instead of food. Great idea!! That makes perfect sense..........

@666size666 Жыл бұрын

@@drwho5437 You obviously don't know how much "food" Utah produces nor where Utah gets its food. Less than 5%. Growing most (not all) crops in an arid desert...especially alfalfa....is foolish and wasteful.

@drwho5437 Жыл бұрын

@@666size666 They aren't growing lawns. They grow hay to feed animals which provide food for us. What is your suggestion that they should grow? You're the same stupid person that would say "that in order to save the plant we must stop all farming". You do that while I grow a garden and eat. Where ya gonna get your food from? Try stealing it from me, I've a nice pistola waiting for such people like you.

@BQuick-ix9bo Жыл бұрын

Dr Who, you sir, are a fool. Always part of the problem. Never part of the solution. Go pound sand.

@drwho5437 Жыл бұрын

@@BQuick-ix9bo What is this problem you speak of? I see no problem except uneducated people trying to restrict educated people's actions. It's a shame California and the West coast didn't pay more to the climate change fund. Maybe they wouldn't have gotten snow and rain if they had........

@MrGieschen Жыл бұрын

That will be the next big natural disaster with arsenic and mercury dust going into the air and sticking in the area, causing health issues.

@rlewisprint Жыл бұрын

Wow I like to think I follow and watch alot of environmental videos just to attempt to keep myself aware but honestly never heard about Owens Lake. Why I ask myself now...

@TheWolfHowling Жыл бұрын

The Great Salt lake could be America’s Aral Sea, its waters was also diverted for “better human uses”, growing Cotton

@BrockvsTV Жыл бұрын

The great salt lake is an interesting puddle. Thank you for the video. I’m going to go an English research paper on it and I’m interested in it’s comparison to the Ariel sea that the soviets ruined.

@dethray1000 Жыл бұрын

your mental--the great salt lake used to be hundreds of miles in all directions--salt lake city was covered in hundreds of feet of water--whine,cry about that --your very very low IQ

@TR-nw8hz Жыл бұрын

We can only hope

@stevenrobertson4470 Жыл бұрын

Has anyone ever heard of the Bonneville Salt Flats? It is an area that dries out and is flooded on a regular basis and used for setting motor vehicle land speed records. Would you not have the same heavy metals and toxic substances there that you would have if the lake dried up? If the drying lake is so bad, why do people still live and work in Wendover, Utah/Nevada? If this is a real danger, shouldn't the citizens of Wendover all be dead from toxic dust clouds? I believe there is a lot of fear mongering going on by snake-oil salesmen like Mitt Romney and others seeking power and gain by fleecing taxpayers. I live in Utah and I'm sure there is a financial loss to businesses, but let's not allow ourselves to be stampeded into outrageous "solutions."

@JohnnyAngel8 Жыл бұрын

Yes, the Bonneville Salt Flats have toxic substances in the soil, too ... including arsenic. That flats are not inhabited but government property which can be visited. There is no overnight camping allowed. Vehicle racing activity is not done on a daily basis. I imagine it is not good for one's health.

@sherriianiro747 Жыл бұрын

Unfortunately cancer is an insidious disease as you know, and toxic exposure can be dormant for years until something sets it off. Look at what happened to asbestos workers, 911 rescue teams, etc. Nothing good is going to come out of the Great Salt Lake dying.

@drone_boss Жыл бұрын

Hype!!

@ericclaptonsrobotpilot7276 Жыл бұрын

I always got a Mormon vibe off of Lee. Makes sense now.

@dobbysboggart6883 Жыл бұрын

What do you mean?

@stevenmaginnis1965 Жыл бұрын

@@dobbysboggart6883 He must mean that Lee Cowan seems like a goody-two-shoes guy who doesn't drink or curse.

@adriaanboogaard8571 Жыл бұрын

We also have two more Dams upstream since the 1980's. Jordan L and Little Dell both large capacity and more Houses than Farms it used to be 70% plus Agraculture in the 1970's and 80's. Look at the saroundings of the Great Salt Lake Jordan River Utah lake today on Google. Glad you care enough to bring up public awareness. Keep trying.I have 28 years in the local water system but what I've done on the Jordan River in Utah was my own time

@bluceree7312 Жыл бұрын

Same thing happened to the dead sea. It is so depressing.

@sicknado Жыл бұрын

Hopefully it will. To teach us a lesson while we still have the time

@misterguts Жыл бұрын

4:08 "It sounds like you're talking about the entire ecosystem collapsing..." "The hungry sheep look up, and are not fed; But swoln with wind, and the rank mist they draw, Rot inwardly, and foul contagion spread."

@mattalley4330 Жыл бұрын

Will it die? Probably. With so much of the water in flows being diverted to agriculture... what happens if they greatly reduce the amount diverted? Food prices shooting up and a bunch of farmers out of business? I guess my point is that its a complicated problem, people stubbornly resist needed big changes, and no one simplistic answer will do. Meanwhile, the Great Salt Lake will probably vanish and there will be serious consequences for the area when all of the pollution that went into that body of water becomes dust clouds that get blown onto the growing urban areas.

@jamesferrin5415 4 ай бұрын

1 year revisit. Instead of drying out, today the lake is 5.3' deeper, because GSL is into its 2nd year in a row of growth. 2023 had a 3.5' year over year growth. We are expecting a similar year of growth 2024.

@user-ib9mh1vt7c Жыл бұрын

I live in Utah working on my degree. All I can think is I hope I get out soon enough. Salt Lake already has literally the most polluted air in the entire world some days during the winter because it gets trapped between the mountains with cold air over the top holding it in (called an inversion). To have both summer and winter be toxic is really bad.

@schmoab Жыл бұрын

Destruction of Owens Lake was a choice not a mistake. Now Utah has a choice of what to do with their water. They haven’t been the most efficient state in the West.