Millions of gallons of surplus water gushes into the Great Salt Lake

SALT LAKE CITY — Water levels at the Great Salt Lake are getting a big help right now from another lake upstream, which has only happened three times in the last 15 years. There's a surging surplus of water at Utah Lake. It's about three inches away from being full, so the Central Utah Water Conservancy District and its partners are opening the flood gates into the Jordan River and sending 500 million gallons a day downstream to the Great Salt Lake. "The past two good years have really brought the lake level up a lot, and we're just enjoying that surplus," said Jared Hansen, Central Utah Water Conservancy District Project Manager. Hansen said the water has been flowing for the past month and could continue for another month depending on the weather. "During the day, 24-hour period, we could fill 750 Olympic-size swimming pools," Hansen said. https://ksltv.com/local-news/whats-on-tap-for-great-salt-lake-in-2025-utah-general-legislative-session/726897/ That's welcome water to the Great Salt Lake, which needs every drop. A state snowpack expert said projections for snow melt this spring still put the lake below healthy levels. "Even if we move forward with normal snowpack from today forward, we still will be well below in terms of three or four feet or five feet below what the (Utah Division of Water Resources) considers an optimal range for the lake," said Jordan Clayton, a Supervisor for the Utah Snow Survey. Hansen is seeing those projections, too. "Our forecasts right now we're looking at 65% to 70% of runoff, that's pretty low," Hansen said. While Utah Lake can spare it, the water will keep flowing until Utah Lake needs to keep what it has for itself. On Saturday, the Utah Snow Survey plans to prepare a report on Utah's water supply and the levels they expect the Great Salt Lake to max out at for the year. They can't emphasize enough that we still need all the snow we can get.

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