Latest news with #JakeDreyfous
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Why this weekend's Sailfest could be a last hurrah for Great Salt Lake boaters — for now
Sailfest is a Great Salt Lake tradition, bringing all types of groups together for a day of music, food, and of course, boating on the lake. '(It's) a community celebration of the Great Salt Lake,' said Jake Dreyfous, managing director of Grow the Flow, a nonprofit initiative seeking to preserve the lake, which now co-organizes the event alongside the Great Salt Lake Yacht Club. Low lake levels prevented the event — or any boating for that matter — for several years, but that changed when back-to-back above-normal snowpack years brought levels up to a five-year high and the event back from a five-year hiatus in 2024. Those gains will allow the event to take place again this weekend at Great Salt Lake State Park and Marina, 13312 W. 1075 South. A 'family-friendly day' featuring cardboard boat racing, kayaking and a sailing regatta, along with live music, food trucks, art workshops and educational workshops, will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. However, organizers say Saturday's event could be the last of its kind for the foreseeable future due to new lake trends. The Great Salt Lake's southern arm is listed at 4,193.2 feet elevation after likely peaking in May, while its northern arm is listed at 4,192.5 feet elevation, per federal data. The lake is unlikely to gain much more since nearly all of the lake's snowpack has already melted, meaning that its highest point this year is all but certain to be 2 feet below last year's peak. The lake is 'noticeably lower' and bad enough that some of the larger boats are stuck at Great Salt Lake Marina, Dreyfous said. Boats were hauled out of the marina when lake levels began to decline a few years ago, reaching an all-time low in 2022. The lake lost 3 feet in elevation last year from a combination of above-normal heat and below-normal precipitation. With long-range forecasts suggesting that similar conditions are likely to prevail this summer, experts warn that the lake could experience similar declines over the next few months. 'We had a little bit of a breathing (room) and it's back to a little bit of a nervous feeling,' said Joel Williams, deputy director of the Utah Division of Water Resources, as he briefed state lawmakers on the situation last month. Boats may have to be plucked out of the marina if history repeats itself. All of that is to say, the lake may not be boatable again soon — a reality that will be present at this year's Sailfest. Some activities will center around updates on the lake's health and ways to improve water conservation, helping get more water to the lake. The ultimate goal, Dreyfous said, is making sure that Saturday's event isn't the last Sailfest ever. 'We're inviting people to come and celebrate Great Salt Lake, but also bear witness to its decline,' he said. 'Until we can get the lake back to a healthy level, this is likely the last opportunity and the last year for Sailfest, and more specifically, sailing on the lake. That puts a 150-year history of the Great Salt Lake Yacht Club at risk — until we can get the lake back to a healthy level.' Saturday's event is free to the public, but visitors must still pay the state park entry fee if they park at the marina. The fees are $10 per vehicle or $5 for senior citizens, and $2 per walk-in or bike. Organizers will operate a free shuttle service from noon to 5 p.m. for anyone who chooses to park at The Great Saltair instead, Dreyfous said. Visitors can also register to win prizes at the event. Raffle prizes include ski passes, spa treatments, sailing lessons and a fly-fishing trip.
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Toxic dust storm sweeps across Salt Lake Valley, hitting Utah's most densely populated areas
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — A dust storm carrying toxic elements swept across the Salt Lake Valley last Sunday, impacting residents in some of Utah's most densely populated areas, according to an initiative from Conserve Utah Valley, which is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting and sustaining Utah's land and water. According to a Conserve Utah Valley initiative known as 'Grow the Flow,' the storm originated from the Great Salt Lake near Saltair and the Kennecott Tailings site. The plume of dust could reportedly be seen across the valley, affecting residents in Magna, Tooele County, and Salt Lake City's west side. According to the initiative, the event went unrecorded by the state's existing air quality network due to a reported lack of dust monitors along the southwest shores of the Great Salt Lake. These strong winds carry toxic contaminants like arsenic, lead, and lithium from dry sediment. The initiative said residents' exposure to these contaminants highlights Utah's growing public health crisis, as dust from the Great Salt Lake is reportedly linked to increased respiratory illnesses, cardiovascular diseases, developmental defects, and cancer. 'We often think of the impacts of Great Salt Lake dust on our public health as a far-off, distant future. The reality is that dust storms from more than one-thousand square miles of exposed lake bed are infiltrating our communities and impacting the air we breathe today,' said Jake Dreyfous, Managing Director of Grow the Flow. 'We must take proactive steps as individuals and as a state to get more water to Great Salt Lake, if we hope to avoid widespread impacts to our health, economy, and ecology in Northern Utah.' Great Salt Lake's South Arm elevation currently stands at 4193.4 ft above mean sea level, meaning the lake is only 40% full by volume. This reportedly leaves more than 1000 square-miles of lakebed exposed. According to Grow the Flow, below-average runoff and a hot summer may cause the lake to recede below 4192 ft. this fall. This will exceed the Great Salt Lake Strike Team's threshold for 'Serious Adverse Effects.' Utah lawmakers have reportedly recently approved funding to install more dust monitors around Great Salt Lake. However, of the $651,000 requested for Great Salt Lake dust monitoring and research, only $150,000 was granted. Grow the Flow said this is enough to hire a staffer at the Division of Air Quality, but not enough to install more dust monitors or provide real-time information to impacted communities. Nonetheless, the Division of Environmental Quality is reportedly working to install more monitors with the existing funds. 'We don't know what we don't measure,' Utah Division of Air Quality Director Bryce Bird told lawmakers during a recent hearing. Until Sept. 2024, the Great Salt Lake only had four PM10 dust monitors, none of which were within 10 miles of shoreline. While there are now six, there are still big gaps in the state's ability to track toxic dust events. 'We're deeply concerned about what the shrinking Great Salt Lake means for our families and communities. More frequent and toxic dust storms, like the one on Sunday, April 27th, are carrying dangerous pollutants from the lakebed and nearby tailings piles, putting our health at serious risk,' said Carmen Valdez, Senior Policy Associate for The Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah (HEAL Utah). 'Everyone deserves clean air and a safe future, and we're committed to fighting for solutions that protect both.' 3 injured after car catches fire following multi-vehicle crash Toxic dust storm sweeps across Salt Lake Valley, hitting Utah's most densely populated areas 2 Utah breweries win awards at 2025 World Beer Cup These US cities are being called the best places to live in the country, says a new study Life expectancy in southern states barely changed from 1900 to 2000 Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Why groups remain ‘deeply concerned' about Great Salt Lake
A dust event near Saltair over the weekend highlights how dust is still flying off the Great Salt Lake despite its recent gains, a local environmental group says. They add that it also highlights the need for more dust monitoring around the lake. 'We often think of the impacts of Great Salt Lake dust on our public health as a far-off, distant future. The reality is that dust storms ... are infiltrating our communities and impacting the air we breathe today,' Jake Dreyfous, managing director of Grow the Flow. The Great Salt Lake's southern arm is up to 4,193.4 feet elevation, nearly 1½ feet from its low point at the end of the last irrigation season, but a little more than 1½ feet below its peak last year. Its northern arm remains about a foot below the southern section, per U.S. Geological Survey data. With 8.7 inches of snow-water equivalent still left in the mountains within the lake's basin, nearly half of its peak this year, the lake could make some additional gains, depending on how much of that water ends up in it. Yet despite its gains, Grow the Flow points out that it remains only about 40% full by volume, leaving hundreds of square miles of lakebed exposed. A cold front that pushed through the region on Sunday visibly kicked up dust, which is often deposited in nearby communities. That's a problem because — as documented in a Great Salt Lake Strike Team report earlier this year — the dust can create a 'health hazard' from increases in particulate matter concentrations, as well as 'chronic exposures to carcinogenic elements such as arsenic.' 'We're deeply concerned about what the shrinking Great Salt Lake means for our families and communities,' said Carmen Valdez, senior policy associate for the Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah, in a statement on Monday. State air quality officials aren't surprised by the recent event. They point out that 'unvegetated or disturbed soils' across the state have the potential to release dust in the air during wind events. Dry lakebeds, such as the Great Salt Lake, pose greater concerns because of the 'small size of the particles' and large surface area to pull from, said Bryce Bird, director of Utah Division of Air Quality. 'The conditions in the spring and summer are favorable for creating large dust events,' he wrote in an email to 'In the spring, the freezing and thawing of surface moisture can loosen the protective crust that may otherwise protect the surface from wind erosion.' Utah lawmakers ultimately set aside $150,000 in funds this year toward air quality monitoring, including ongoing funding for personnel. But that was below the $650,000 that the Office of the Great Salt Lake requested to help the Utah Division of Air Quality compile an analysis of dust issues by the lake. Brian Steed, Utah's Great Salt Lake commissioner, said last month that his office intends to help the division acquire the monitors through other means and set up a monitor 'distribution scheme' across communities near the lake or as soon as possible. This would help the state better understand where dust goes when it flies off the lake and other important datasets that can help the state manage dust impacts. He added that the state has been 'under monitoring' dust compared to other Western saline lakes with similar issues, such as Owens Lake or the Salton Sea in California. On top of state funding, Bird said the Utah Division of Air Quality received federal grants to acquire more particulate air samplers and 'low-cost' particulate sensors closer to dried portions of the Great Salt Lake. It's unclear how many sensors are needed to monitor its dust, but state officials plan to focus on communities east, north and south of the lake first as they build up a network. 'It would be helpful to have that baseline information,' Steed said. 'People want to know, and people want to know how much of a problem it is. Without those monitors, we don't have a full picture.'
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
How is the Great Salt Lake doing right now? A new ‘live' billboard will tell you
The Great Salt Lake remains over 5 feet below its minimum healthy level, and a water conservation group hopes that a billboard they've added along I-15 in Salt Lake County will help drive home that the lake still has a long way to go before it's out of danger. A new digital billboard message popped out last week in Millcreek, offering southbound drivers a 'live feed' of lake conditions, according to Grow The Flow, a Great Salt Lake-focused initiative led by the nonprofit Conserve Utah Valley, which is behind the project. A spokesperson for the group told last week it is still working with a billboard company to move the message closer to Salt Lake City after a 'mix-up.' They said the plan is to have the digital billboards in multiple locations along the I-15 corridor in Salt Lake County, rotating through updates and other messages about the lake. Ben Abbott, an associate professor of environmental science at BYU and the group's director, said the effort aims to bring awareness to the Great Salt Lake's low levels. 'No billboard can capture all of the details of the health of the lake, but just seeing the current lake volume gives Utahns a way to access the situation,' he said in a statement. 'Israel did this with the Sea of Galilee, and it really helped the whole community get on board.' The Great Salt Lake's southern arm rose back up to 4,192.8 feet elevation to start the week, according to U.S. Geological Survey data. Its northern arm is up to 4,192 feet elevation, as the gap between the two continues to shrink. This data will be included on billboards, updating as soon as U.S. Geological Survey and the Utah Division of Water Resources release new numbers. It will also feature other statistics such as capacity. The Great Salt Lake is often tracked by its water level elevation and not its natural capacity, as Utah's reservoirs are. Grow The Flow says this data will also be included by taking active measurements and dividing that by the lake's 'natural volume,' which isn't 4,198 or 4,200, but 4,207 feet elevation. Right now, the lake stands about 38% of that number. All of this will be boiled down into an 'easy-to-read graphic' for motorists driving by. 'We believe more transparency and visibility will empower Utahns to advocate for practical solutions and encourage our state leaders to take the necessary next steps to ensure the lake's rapid restoration,' added Jake Dreyfous, managing director of Grow the Flow. The lake has benefitted from recent storms, which have favored the Great Salt Lake Basin over many other regions in the state. Both its southern and northern arms have gained close to a foot of water since the end of last year's evaporation period. The southern arm peaked at 4,195.2 feet elevation — its highest point in five years — before losing about 3 feet during a hot and dry summer. More water is possible with a good snowpack. With recent storms, Great Salt Lake Basin's snowpack jumped back to 99% of its median average for this point in the season to start this week. It's higher than the statewide average of 89%. State officials say they're still working on solutions to get water to the lake. Yet, despite the lake's gains over the past two years, Grow The Flow leaders say its current levels are similar to 2021, the year before the lake reached its record low, which highlights how close it still is to repeating history. 'Great Salt Lake is at a critical tipping point,' Dreyfous said. 'While we've seen positive momentum in recent years, the work is far from over.'
