- Great Salt Lake faces more water challenges due to record-low snowpack levels.
- Officials predict the lake's southern arm may peak a foot lower than 2024.
- Conservation efforts will focus on improving irrigation and reducing outdoor water use to help the lake.
Editor's note: This article is published through the Great Salt Lake Collaborative, a solutions journalism initiative that partners news, education and media organizations to help inform people about the plight of the Great Salt Lake.
SALT LAKE CITY — The Great Salt Lake basin experienced a normal snowpack last year, even if it was a mixed bag everywhere else.
That has been the case so far this winter. The basin's snowpack collection this season — the amount of water contained in mountain snow — crossed into record-low territory this week, much like the statewide average.
"It hasn't been an abysmal snow year. ... It's something that gives us all a tremendous amount of anxiety," said Brian Steed, Utah's Great Salt Lake commissioner, as he gave reporters an update on the Great Salt Lake on Wednesday.
It's concerning because what's collected in the mountains near the lake eventually melts and flows into the lake's tributaries. While the lake's southern arm has gained nearly a foot since its low point last year, a record-low snowpack would likely translate into little additional water for the lake.
Early water projections have the southern arm likely peaking at nearly 4,192.5 feet elevation, which would be a little more than a half-foot above its current level and approximately a foot lower than last year's peak. Those projections don't account for water diversions and other caveats that could reduce how much the lake gains.
"We're still in that well-below-normal lake level even with whatever we get as a boost," said Jordan Clayton, a hydrologist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
The season isn't over yet, which is another caveat in that early projection. The basin's snowpack peak is April 4, a few days later than the statewide average.
A change in the weather?
Although warm and dry conditions are forecast for the rest of this week, long-range forecasts point to a shake-up soon. A system bringing a mix of valley rain and mountain snow is forecast to impact the state during the first half of next week, which could open the door for additional storm activity, said KSL meteorologist Matt Johnson.
It's unclear yet what the snow line will be for any of the future storms, though, which is the largest reason many low- and middle-level snowpack sites have received little snow this season.
Steed, his office and every water manager in the state plan to closely monitor the forecasts. They're holding out hope that the next few months play out like last year, when the basin's snowpack jumped from 80% of normal entering February 2025 before a late-season surge led to the normal season.
Current snowpack levels are 58% of normal for this point in the water year, and a few inches below where they were this time last year. It would likely take "unprecedented changes" in the weather to have a normal snowpack, which is why the state is preparing for a potentially worse season, Steed said.
Entering 'conservation mode'
Neither he nor Clayton anticipates the lake breaking its all-time low level this year, even after its typical summer level losses.
However, without a change in snowpack, this summer might test some of the protocols that 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 to concerning enough levels.
Steed doesn't anticipate any regulatory measures over the poor water outlook, but he says that reality highlights the challenges his office may face in getting water to the lake. He expects the state will ramp up efforts to improve agricultural irrigation and reduce outdoor watering consumption this summer to help avoid more environmental concerns tied to a low lake.
"I think it's really important to emphasize that we're in conservation mode, and that we absolutely need to be aware that how we use water matters this year," he said. "It always matters, but especially this year."
