{"id":126558,"date":"2022-12-30T06:27:59","date_gmt":"2022-12-30T13:27:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=126558"},"modified":"2022-12-30T12:28:58","modified_gmt":"2022-12-30T19:28:58","slug":"saving-great-salt-lake-a-step-in-the-right-direction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2022\/12\/30\/saving-great-salt-lake-a-step-in-the-right-direction\/","title":{"rendered":"Saving Great Salt Lake – A Step In The Right Direction?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Or is Utah just kicking the can down the road?<\/p>\n

My readers are already painfully aware that we’re on the brink of losing Great Salt Lake so I won’t belabor the point, other than to…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

include a couple of photos of Fremont Island, taken from the Antelope Island causeway just a few years ago. Here Fremont Island is the smaller, lower land mass directly in front of the much larger Promontory Peninsula directly behind it. From this perspective, and at this focal length, it’s difficult to distinguish the island from the peninsula behind it.<\/p>\n

The dark specks on the water are mostly Eared Grebes, hundreds of thousands of them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A tighter perspective makes it a little easier to distinguish the island from the peninsula. When I took these photos, Fremont Island was actually an island. There was water separating the island from the peninsula directly behind it and there was 16 miles of water between me and the island.<\/p>\n

But today that 16 miles of water is gone. You could actually walk from where I took this photo on the causeway to Fremont Island without getting your feet wet.<\/em><\/p>\n

To get a better perspective of the relationship between Fremont Island and part of the Promontory Peninsula, please see this aerial photo of Fremont Island<\/a><\/span><\/span> when it was very close to being an actual island.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

US Magnesium (USM) is the largest producer of magnesium in North America. Their remote 4525-acre site on the west shore of Great Salt Lake includes the USM facility and surrounding areas used for waste disposal. They isolate magnesium chloride salts from the lake and then extract the magnesium by electrolysis, which requires massive amounts of water, all taken from the lake.<\/p>\n

But because of the receding Great Salt Lake (which USM is partly responsible for) they’re having difficulty getting as much water as they say they need from the lake so they applied to Utah’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for permission to dredge and extend its intake canals 3.7 miles into the lake so they can reach its receding water<\/a><\/span><\/span>. Doing so would allow USM to pump 100,000 gallons of water a minute <\/em>(yes, you read that right) out of the lake, which has hit record-low elevations for the last two years in a row. Some of the water is discharged back into the lake but its environmental quality is significantly degraded.<\/p>\n

My heart sank when I first learned of USM’s application for more water, especially given Utah’s long history of kowtowing to the demands of industry and development over environmental concerns. So yesterday I was very pleasantly surprised when DEQ announced that they\u2019d denied USM’s permit application, citing insufficient detail in their application.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It’s a step in the right direction. But, and it’s a big “but”, US Magnesium can submit more detail about water impacts and then apply again.<\/p>\n

Assuming USM does apply again, we won’t know until later if Utah is finally serious about trying to save Great Salt Lake or they’re just kicking the can down the road.<\/p>\n

Ron<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Notes: <\/em><\/p>\n