Great Salt Lake, migratory birds receive a boost from Pineview Reservoir project

Editor's note: This article is published through the Great Salt Lake Collaborative with funding from Love the Lake, an initiative of the nonprofit Great Salt Lake Alliance. Editorial decisions are made independently by the Collaborative and partner newsrooms.

WILLARD, Box Elder County — One Utah reservoir's loss is turning into a gain for the Great Salt Lake's habitat after a rough summer.

Nearly 10,000 acre-feet of water from Willard Bay is being directed to Great Salt Lake and its wetlands through an agreement reached between various water entities. Most of the water released from the bay came from water that was sent to Willard Bay from Pineview Reservoir, which was recently drained for a critical pipeline project.

The water released won't save the lake, but state experts said it should help during a pivotal time for the lake. It's 3.26 billion gallons of extra water to help during the peak fall bird migration, as millions of birds who rely on the lake every year head south for the winter.

"This water release highlights the crucial importance of collaboration to support and sustain the Great Salt Lake. The health of the lake is bigger than all of us, and it will take all of us continuing to work together to help restore it," Hannah Freeze, Utah's Great Salt Lake Commissioner, said in a statement on Tuesday.

The commissioner's office coordinated the release in collaboration with a few other entities, including the Great Salt Lake Watershed Enhancement Trust and Great Salt Lake Rising, as well as the Ogden Bay Water Users Association, Huntsville Abbey Farm, Ogden City and the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District.

The lake's south arm has fallen to an elevation of 4,189.7 feet, which is only a little more than a foot below its record low set in 2022. Among other environmental concerns, its decline impacts many of the birds that migrate through the area, since waterfowl and shorebirds rely on the lake's ecosystem for food and habitat along their long journey toward their wintering grounds.

Officials with the Great Salt Lake Commissioner's Office say the release was also made in coordination with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, which manages Willard Spur and Bear River Bay waterfowl management areas — both of which benefit from the releases.

"Releasing water flows to Willard Spur – especially in fall — is crucial to preserving Great Salt Lake's health," said Marcelle Shoop, who serves as both the director of the Great Salt Lake Watershed Enhancement Trust and the National Audubon Society's saline lakes program.

The $100 million Pineview Reservoir project is expected to be completed in 2029, but the replacement of a 6.4-mile transmission pipeline, which forced the release of water, is expected to be completed by early 2027.

Project officials said last month that a slightly above-average snow year would likely refill the reservoir.

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