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Boston Globe

Great Salt Lake is disappearing. New Englanders should be concerned.

For years, Great Salt Lake has been This is not just a Advertisement Great Salt Lake is the foundation of northern Utah's ecosystem. Its water evaporates and may fall as rain or snow, helping to sustain life nearby, including in Salt Lake City. Precipitation, and mountain snowmelt in particular, return water to the lake. Now, the cycle is faltering. Thanks to warming temperatures, snowpack is turning to water vapor, reducing the amount that flows into Utah's rivers and, eventually, the lake. Population growth means more and more water is diverted from the lake's tributaries. None of this is good news: No other Advertisement If the lake disappears, it would not only wreck ecosystems but also poison the Salt Lake Valley. Industrial waste dumped into the lake has contributed to dangerous amounts of heavy metals. As water levels drop, windstorms blow over stretches of exposed lakebed and carry 'I've got lung problems from the dust coming from the lake,' says Steve Clyde, a lawyer who has spent decades working on Utah water issues. My own family has been affected, too: When an unexpected storm blew dust into Salt Lake City while my mom was mountain biking, she inhaled it and passed out on a cliffside. A desiccated lake could harm more than just Utahns. Particulate matter from its dry lakebed, such as Dust clouds have even been known to travel between continents. Just last month, dust blown from the Ben Abbott, an ecology professor at Brigham Young University, says dust from Great Salt Lake could wreak havoc over thousands of miles. At similar lakes, such Mar Chiquita Lake in Argentina or the dried-up Owens Lake in California, he's seen dust plumes 'affect soil health and public health at a very large scale.' Great Salt Lake is larger than either of those, so its consequences could be worse. Advertisement New Englanders are familiar with air quality problems originating far away: In recent years, dangerous particulate matter from To save it, more water must reach the lake — about New Englanders concerned about potential impacts on air quality can consider asking their congressional representatives to get involved. Brian Steed, Utah's governor-appointed Great Salt Lake commissioner, says his state would 'absolutely welcome any assistance' from leaders here. In 2024, the House and Senate overwhelmingly passed the Advertisement Flying over what's left of the lake, childhood memories cycled through my mind. Growing up, it was always there — just as the White Mountains and Lake Winnipesaukee are fixtures of life here. The fact that it could disappear felt absurd. But there it was, vanishing in real time. 'Oftentimes, people think of Great Salt Lake as a Utah problem,' Steed says. 'In reality, it's an international one.' He's right. Because if the lake vanishes, the impact would be felt not only by Utahns, but people building lives and memories wherever they are. Adelaide Parker can be reached at Follow her on X Adelaide Parker can be reached at