Utah is sending over 3 billion gallons of water from Willard Bay to the Great Salt Lake and surrounding wetlands. This strategic release arrives during peak bird migration as the lake remains far below what experts consider a healthy level.
Here's what to know
The Great Salt Lake Commissioner's Office said nearly 10,000 acre-feet of water will move out of Willard Bay after water diverted from Pineview Reservoir was stored there during a construction project.
The water being sent to the Great Salt Lake and surrounding wetlands was first routed to Willard Bay because of work at Pineview Reservoir. As Fox 13 News reported, crews drained Pineview so a 6.4-mile transmission pipeline could be replaced.
Altogether, the transfer adds up to 3.26 billion gallons, which the Great Salt Lake Commissioner's Office said would fill 4,934 Olympic-size swimming pools.
More background
Grow the Flow reported that the Great Salt Lake was 29.7% full, leaving it 8.4 feet below its minimum healthy level.
The group also reported that 57.1% of the lakebed was exposed, covering 1,227.5 square miles.
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The release will send water to the Willard Spur.
What's being done?
Officials are releasing stored water to the Great Salt Lake and its surrounding wetlands.
"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," Great Salt Lake Commissioner Hannah Freeze said, per Fox 13.
Marcelle Shoop, executive director of the Great Salt Lake Watershed Enhancement Trust, said, "Releasing water flows to Willard Spur — especially in fall — is crucial to preserving Great Salt Lake's health."
Where can I learn more?
The Willard Bay release is the latest chapter in Utah's efforts to send water to the Great Salt Lake.
• Record-breaking weather helped save the Great Salt Lake, but worries remained.
• Officials warned that the Great Salt Lake could disappear within five years without action.
• After years of drought, there was a miraculous shift in Great Salt Lake conditions.
• Leaders watched a drastic transformation over summer months leave the lake at scary lows.
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