What's so Great? Utah's Salt lake
The Great Salt Lake is a stopping point for migratory birds as they make their way from North to South. Because of its placement and the quality of the protein of brine shrimp, it is a perfect resting place. Friends of Great Salt Lake formed in 1994 to protect the ecosystem that is supported by the Great Salt Lake.
“It’s not your conventional lake,” says Lynn de Frietas, executive director. The salt content of the lake makes it different.
Threats to the Great Salt Lake include climate change, drought, warmer summers and declining snowfall. The Great Salt Lake is also a terminal lake, so that things dumped into the lake stay there. Nutrients from water treatment facilities that cause algae blooms and minerals like selenium and mercury from industrial sources have no place to go once they are in the system.
“It is a system that all the people of Utah should be able to use,” says de Frietas. It shouldn’t just be used for resource development but also for recreation.
De Frietas says that visiting the lake and learning about it is the first step to saving the ecosystem and being able to talk about creating a healthy system that will allow the tourist, brine shrimp and mineral extraction industries to live in peace with the environment.
This article was originally published at examiner.com. Links updated Dec. 2016.
“It’s not your conventional lake,” says Lynn de Frietas, executive director. The salt content of the lake makes it different.
Threats to the Great Salt Lake include climate change, drought, warmer summers and declining snowfall. The Great Salt Lake is also a terminal lake, so that things dumped into the lake stay there. Nutrients from water treatment facilities that cause algae blooms and minerals like selenium and mercury from industrial sources have no place to go once they are in the system.
“It is a system that all the people of Utah should be able to use,” says de Frietas. It shouldn’t just be used for resource development but also for recreation.
De Frietas says that visiting the lake and learning about it is the first step to saving the ecosystem and being able to talk about creating a healthy system that will allow the tourist, brine shrimp and mineral extraction industries to live in peace with the environment.
This article was originally published at examiner.com. Links updated Dec. 2016.