Mid July is here and it's worth a look at the Great Salt Lake. Satellite imagery from July 11, when northern Utah was cloud free, showed considerable lake bed exposed in the Bear River and Farmington Bays.
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| Source: https://worldview.earthdata.nasa.gov/ |
Elevation data shows that both the north and south arms had early and broad peaks in April and began to decline in earnest around mid May. The north arm currently sits at an elevation fo 4190.5 feet and the south arm at 4190.9 feet. Each of these above their respective record minimums in 2002, which were a bit below 4189 feet. It's unlikely we will get down that low this year, but getting below 4190 seems to be in play.
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| Source: https://greatsaltlake.utah.gov/current-conditions |
Next winter will be critical for whether or not we end up flirting with a record minimum again. There are good reasons to root for a good snow year besides skiing.
Fingers crossed we have a good water year in northern Utah! On a side note, it seems like the obvious short term fix is to dike off Farmington Bay and fill it up to cover the exposed lake bed that is closest to the Wasatch Front? The dike is in place from Syracuse to Antelope island, just need to build up the very old dike on the south end of Antelope island going south towards the new prison site. The added benefit of this would be a new fresh water bay for all of the boaters we have in Utah.
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