Editing Great Salt Lake (section)

==History==
[[File:1852 Stansbury Map of Utah and the Great Salt Lake - Geographicus - GreatSaltLake-stansbury-1852.jpg|thumb|[[Howard Stansbury|Stansbury]]'s 1852 map of the Great Salt Lake and adjacent country in the [[Utah Territory]]]]

There are several maps dating back to 1575 that show the Great Salt Lake at the correct latitude and longitude, within an accuracy of a few degrees.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}} One example is a map by Nicolas Sanson dated 1650.<ref>[[:File: Insel Kalifornien 1650.jpg]]</ref> The Great Salt Lake entered written history through the records of [[Silvestre Vélez de Escalante]], who learned of its existence from the [[Timpanog]]os [[Ute people|Utes]] in 1776. No European name was given to it at the time, and it was not shown on the map by [[Bernardo de Miera y Pacheco|Bernardo Miera y Pacheco]], the cartographer for the expedition. Escalante had been on the shores of [[Utah Lake]], which he named Laguna Timpanogos. It was the larger of the two lakes that appeared on Miera's map. Other cartographers followed his lead and charted Lake Timpanogos as the largest (or larger) lake in the region. As people became aware of the Great Salt Lake, they interpreted the maps to think that "Timpanogos" referred to the Great Salt Lake. On some maps, the two names were used synonymously. In time, "Timpanogos" was dropped from the maps, and its original association with Utah Lake was forgotten.

In 1824, it was observed, apparently independently, by [[Jim Bridger]] and [[Étienne Provost|Etienne Provost]]. Shortly thereafter, other trappers saw it and walked around it. Most of the trappers, however, were illiterate and did not record their discoveries. As oral reports of their findings made their way to those who did make records, some errors were made. In 1843, [[John C. Fremont]] led the first scientific expedition to the lake, but with winter coming on, he did not take the time to survey the entire lake. Fremont's glowing reports of the area were published shortly after his expedition, and they influenced the choice of [[Brigham Young]] and [[Mormon pioneers|other members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] to settle in the [[Salt Lake Valley]] in July 1847.<ref>{{Citation | last1 = Talbot | first1 = Vivian Linford | last2 = Gowans | first2 = Fred R. | title = Utah History Encyclopedia | publisher = University of Utah Press | year = 1994 | chapter = Exploration in Utah | chapter-url = https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/e/EXPLORATION.shtml | url = https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/ | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240321165137/https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/e/EXPLORATION.shtml | archive-date = March 21, 2024 | isbn = 9780874804256 | access-date = May 3, 2024}}</ref> Young visited the lake three days after arriving in the Valley, and it was supplying salt to the settlers within a month.<ref>{{Citation | last = Jackson | first = Richard H. | title = Utah History Encyclopedia | publisher = University of Utah Press | year = 1994 | chapter = Great Salt Lake | chapter-url = https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/g/GREAT_SALT_LAKE.shtml | url = https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/ | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240105143601/https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/g/GREAT_SALT_LAKE.shtml | archive-date = January 5, 2024 | isbn = 9780874804256 | access-date = May 3, 2024}}</ref>

The lake was comprehensively surveyed for the first time in 1850 under the leadership of [[Howard Stansbury]] (Stansbury discovered and named the Stansbury mountain range and Stansbury island).<ref>{{cite book |title = Encyclopedia Britannica |volume = 10 |year = 1971 }}</ref> Stansbury also published a formal report of his survey work which became very popular. His report of the area included a discussion of [[Mormon]] religious practices based on Stansbury's interaction with the Mormon community in [[Salt Lake City|Great Salt Lake City]].<ref>{{cite book |last = Stansbury |first = Howard |url = https://archive.org/details/explorationands00stangoog |page = [https://archive.org/details/explorationands00stangoog/page/n426 1] |quote = stansbury survey great salt lake. |title = Exploration and survey of the valley of the Great Salt Lake of Utah |publisher = Lippincott, Grambo & Co |year = 1852 |access-date = January 23, 2010 }}</ref>

Beginning in November 1895, artist and author [[Alfred Lambourne]] spent a year living on the remote [[Gunnison Island]], where he wrote a book of musing and poetry, ''Our Inland Sea''. From November 1895 to March 1896, he was alone. In March, a few [[guano]] sifters arrived to harvest and sell the guano of the nesting birds as [[fertilizer]]. Lambourne included musings about these guano sifters in his work. Lambourne left the island early in the winter of 1896 along with the first group of guano sifters.<ref name="Utah History to Go">{{cite magazine |last = Carter |first = Lynda |date = June 1996 |title = Guano Sifters on Gunnison Island |url = http://historytogo.utah.gov/utah_chapters/statehood_and_the_progressive_era/guanosiftersongunnisonisland.html |journal = History Blazer |publisher = Utah State Historical Society |access-date = October 30, 2013 |archive-date = October 16, 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131016032113/http://historytogo.utah.gov/utah_chapters/statehood_and_the_progressive_era/guanosiftersongunnisonisland.html |url-status = live }}</ref>

===1930s Fresh Water Project===
In the early 1930s, there was a project to dam off a third of the lake with dikes on the east side north of Salt Lake City to make a freshwater reservoir for drinking and irrigation. The project was abandoned before it got beyond the planning stage.<ref>{{cite magazine |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=1ScDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA41 |title = Aim To Change Great Salt Lake Into Fresh Water |journal = Popular Science |date = May 1932 }}</ref>

===Causeway===
The causeway across the lake was built in the 1950s by the [[Morrison-Knudsen]] construction company for the [[Southern Pacific Railroad]] as a replacement to a previously built wooden trestle, which was the major component of the [[Lucin Cutoff]]. The route is now owned and operated by [[Union Pacific]].<ref name="DNews Causeway">{{cite news |url = http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705374172/Union-Pacific-causeway-upgrade-proposal-could-change-colors-of-the-Great-Salt-Lake.html?pg=all |title = Union Pacific causeway upgrade proposal could change colors of the Great Salt Lake |first = John |last = Hollenhorst | publisher = Deseret News |access-date = November 21, 2012 |archive-date = October 29, 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131029204150/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705374172/Union-Pacific-causeway-upgrade-proposal-could-change-colors-of-the-Great-Salt-Lake.html?pg=all |url-status = dead }}</ref> About 15 trains cross the {{convert|20|mi|0|adj=on|abbr=on}} causeway each day.<ref name="SLTrib Causeway"/> Before December 2, 2016, the causeway constrained the flow of water between the northern and southern arms, which had a significant impact on various industries surrounding the lake. The construction of a {{convert|180|ft|m|adj=mid|-long}} bridge created an opening of the causeway for water to flow between the arms of the lake.

===Willard Bay Reservoir===
{{Main|Willard Bay}}
[[Willard Bay]], also known as Willard Bay Reservoir or Arthur V. Watkins Reservoir, is a freshwater reservoir completed in 1964, which separated, drained, and subsequently filled with fresh water from the Weber River a portion of the Great Salt Lake's northeastern arm.

===West Desert Pumping Project===
Record high water levels in the 1980s caused a large amount of property damage for owners on the eastern side of the Great Salt Lake, and the water started to erode the base of [[Interstate 80 in Utah|Interstate 80]]. In response, the [[State of Utah]] built the West Desert Pumping Project on the western side of the lake. It began operation on April 10, 1987. This project consists of a pumping station <sup>({{coord|41|15|9.28|N|113|4|53.31|W|region:US-UT_type:landmark_scale:5000|display=inline}})</sup> at [[Hogup Mountains|Hogup Ridge]], containing three pumps with a combined capacity of moving {{convert|1500000|USgal/min|m3/s}}, an inlet canal, and an outlet canal. Also, there are {{convert|25|mi|km}} of [[Levee|dikes]] and a {{convert|10|mi|km|adj=on}} access road between the town of Lakeside and the pumping station.<ref name="Hassible & Keck, p.22">{{harvp|Hassible|Keck|1993|p= 22}}.</ref>

This pumping project was designed to increase the surface area of the Great Salt Lake and thus increase the rate of water evaporation. The pumps drove some of the water of the Great Salt Lake into the {{convert|320,000|acre|km2}} [[Newfoundland Evaporation Basin]] in the desert west of the lake. A weir in the dike at the southern end of the Newfoundland Mountains regulated the level of water in the basin and it sometimes returned salty water from the evaporation basin into the main body of the Great Salt Lake.<ref name="Hassible & Keck, p.22"/>

At the end of their first year of operation, the pumps had removed about {{convert|500000|acre.ft|m3|lk=in}} of water from the Great Salt Lake. The project was shut down in June 1989, as the level of the lake had dropped by nearly {{convert|6|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us|spell=in}} since reaching its peak levels during June 1986 and March 1987. The Utah Division of Water Resources credits the project with "over one-third of that decline".<ref name="Hassible & Keck, p.22"/> In total, the pumps removed {{convert|2730000|acre.ft|km3}} of water while they operated.<ref name="pumping fact sheet">{{cite web|url = http://www.water.utah.gov/construction/gsl/fact_sheet.htm|title = Fact Sheet: West Desert Pumping Project |publisher = Utah Division of Water Resources |access-date = August 23, 2006 |archive-date = August 27, 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130827221947/http://www.water.utah.gov/construction/gsl/fact_sheet.htm |url-status = live}}</ref>

Although the pumps are no longer in use, they have been kept in place in case the level of the Great Salt Lake ever rises that high again.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.water.utah.gov/construction/gsl/gslpage.htm |title = Great Salt Lake Pumping Project |publisher = Utah Division of Water Resources |access-date = August 9, 2006 |archive-date = August 27, 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130827163800/http://www.water.utah.gov/construction/gsl/gslpage.htm |url-status = live }}</ref>

===Shrinking===
Drought conditions, [[climate change]], and the overuse of snowmelt have caused the Great Salt Lake to shrink considerably.<ref name=bloomberg_0722>{{cite news |last1=Yeung |first1=Peter |title=Salt Lake City Confronts a Future Without a Lake |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-07-08/drought-leaves-salt-lake-city-with-a-looming-water-crisis?sref=CIpmV6x8 |access-date=14 July 2022 |publisher =Bloomberg.com |date=8 July 2022 |language=en}}</ref> As of July 2022, the Great Salt Lake occupies approximately {{convert|950|mi2|km2}}.<ref name=bloomberg_0722/><ref name=nasa_0821>{{cite web|url=https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/148700/record-low-for-great-salt-lake|title=Record Low for Great Salt Lake|first=Michael|last=Carlowicz|work=NASA Earth Observatory|date=August 18, 2021}}</ref> In 1987, it occupied about {{convert|3300| mi2|km2}}.<ref name=bloomberg_0722/> As of March 2023, the lake's highest recorded surface elevation was {{convert|4,211.2|ft|m}} For comparison, on April 15, 1987; the lowest recorded surface elevation was {{convert|4,188.5|ft|m}} on December 17, 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |title=USGS Great Salt Lake Hydro Mapper |url=https://webapps.usgs.gov/gsl/data.html |access-date=2023-03-02 |website=webapps.usgs.gov}}</ref> In 2023, scientists at Brigham Young University estimated that without policy changes, the lake would dry up in 2028, with local species killed off by overly salty water somewhat before that.<ref>{{cite web |title=Climate change and a population boom could dry up the Great Salt Lake in 5 years |website=[[NPR]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603225101/https://www.npr.org/2023/02/03/1153550793/climate-change-and-a-population-boom-could-dry-up-the-great-salt-lake-in-5-years |archive-date=2023-06-03 |url-status=live |url=https://www.npr.org/2023/02/03/1153550793/climate-change-and-a-population-boom-could-dry-up-the-great-salt-lake-in-5-years}}</ref><ref name="BYU">{{cite web | url=https://pws.byu.edu/GSL%20report%202023 | title=Emergency measures needed to rescue Great Salt Lake from ongoing collapse | accessdate=July 30, 2023 | author1=Abbott, Benjamin | display-authors=1 | author2=Baxter, Bonnie}}</ref> Continued shrinkage could also turn the lake into a bowl of toxic dust, poisoning the air around [[Salt Lake City]].<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Flavelle |first1=Christopher |last2=Tarnowski |first2=Bryan |date=2022-06-07 |title=As the Great Salt Lake Dries Up, Utah Faces An 'Environmental Nuclear Bomb' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/07/climate/salt-lake-city-climate-disaster.html |access-date=2022-08-15 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> 

Environmentalists proposed establishing a level of {{cvt|4,200|ft|1}} above sea level as an official state policy, among other interventions.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5a46b200bff2007bcca6fcf4/t/653944b92ed3f805d5cd80e9/1698251983729/The+4%2C200+Project+Guidebook.pdf |title=The 4200 Guidebook - An advocacy manual to raise the Great Salt Lake to a sustainable level for future generations of Americans |author=Utah Rivers Council |date=2023}}</ref> University of Utah researchers<ref>[https://gardner.utah.edu/great-salt-lake-strike-team/ Great Salt Lake Strike Team]</ref> proposed a level between 4,198 and 4,205 feet.<ref name="more" /> A non-binding resolution in the state legislature to adopt 4,198 feet was voted down and governor [[Spencer Cox (politician)|Spencer Cox]] called it "dumb".<ref name="more">{{cite news |url=https://www.kuer.org/politics-government/2023-10-25/last-winter-was-good-to-great-salt-lake-but-utah-rivers-council-says-more-can-be-done |title=Last winter was good to Great Salt Lake, but Utah Rivers Council says more can be done |publisher=[[KUER]] |author=Saige Miller |date=October 27, 2023}}</ref>