The Future of Great Salt Lake Survey was conducted in fall 2022 when state and global attention on Great Salt Lake was ramping up, following record lows of the elevation of lake water levels. In the survey, we asked Utahns their opinions on securing water for Great Salt Lake and focused on strategies that individuals, local communities, and the state of Utah could pursue.
When it comes to how water is used and managed in Utah, there are multiple actors and institutions who all make decisions and have authority or ability to take different actions. While the state of Utah can guide growth and development and manages the state’s water resources, local county, city and town governments are primarily responsible for land use planning and delivering water to their residents. We also sought to understand what individuals would commit to do for Great Salt Lake and under what conditions. Understanding Utahns’ support for strategies across the three scales of the state, local communities, and individual is helpful, because actions across all three scales are not always coordinated. With greater emphasis on coordination and cooperation to solve the problem of a drying Great Salt Lake, the results of our survey are intended to help policymakers better implement strategies across the three scales.
The survey gathered information and opinions from 1,112 Utahns throughout the state. This report summarizes overall findings from the survey. The key findings and conclusions of this report revolve around the following seven points:
- Utahns are aware of the issues facing a drying Great Salt Lake, and they care about its future.
- Utahns view their quality of life as linked to the health of the Great Salt Lake ecosystem.
- Utahns express commitment to preserving Great Salt Lake.
- People want to see state and community actions to save Great Salt Lake, and they are also willing to act individually.
- People want to be more informed about how the government is responding to a drying Great Salt Lake.
- People prioritize basic human and ecosystem uses of water over economic and “non-essential” water uses.
- Utahns emphasized a collective responsibility for the lake and a sense of loss if we cannot protect it.