Utah
Stop driving on Great Salt Lake’s exposed lakebed, Utah agency says
Tire tracks from a car illegally driving on uncovered Nice Salt Lake lakebed. Utah land managers say they’re seeing an increase in unlawful driving on the lakebed. (Utah Division of Forestry, Hearth and State Lands)
Estimated learn time: 3-4 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — The shrinking Nice Salt Lake has generated newly uncovered lakebed because it continues to drop right down to record-low ranges.
It has fallen to an elevation of 4,189.4 toes, as of Aug. 25, in accordance with the Utah Division of Water Assets. That is practically a foot beneath the earlier file low set final yr. Each foot it falls has the potential to reveal just a few sq. miles of beforehand lined lakebed, Utah Division of Forestry, Hearth and State Lands consultants defined earlier this yr.
But the Nice Salt Lake continues to be a preferred draw regardless of its decline, and state land managers say it is leading to an uptick in unlawful driving on the uncovered lakebed, which is inflicting “severe issues.”
“Driving on the lakebed would not simply disturb the fragile crust, nevertheless it additionally has severe implications for wildlife, air high quality and the delicate (Nice Salt Lake) ecosystem,” stated Ben Stireman, the sovereign lands program administrator for the Utah Division of Forestry, Hearth and State Lands, in an announcement Thursday.
It’s unlawful to drive on uncovered lakebed or navigable rivers in Utah with out written permission. Each are thought-about lands owned by the state, which implies Utah manages legal guidelines for land areas.
The Utah Legislature tweaked the regulation earlier this yr, clarifying that primarily each car with a motor is banned by uncovered lakebed or navigable rivers, together with off-highway autos. Violation of the regulation is a category B misdemeanor and might go away somebody chargeable for civil damages, in accordance with division officers.
This additionally applies to different widespread recreation areas like:
- Utah Lake
- Jordan River
- Moab Trade Lands
- The Utah portion of Bear Lake
- Parts of the Bear, Colorado and Inexperienced rivers
However the regulation tweak was particularly made this yr with the Nice Salt Lake in thoughts. The mud from the Nice Salt Lake accommodates poisonous heavy metals that may be blown into communities close to the lake, inflicting extreme air high quality issues. Driving on the uncovered lakebed can disturb the lakebed’s pure salt pan that will in any other case entice the poisonous mud within the floor.
“This was designed to be sure that the more and more uncovered lakebed would not get damaged up,” stated Rep. Doug Owens, D-Millcreek, the invoice’s sponsor, in an interview again in April. “If you happen to break that crust, then the underlying mud is extra simply airborne. … It is a severe air high quality subject, probably.”
State land managers add there’s additionally a threat for autos to be caught in comfortable mud, leading to a “tough” car restoration that does ever extra lakebed injury. That is why they’re reminding guests that they can not drive on the uncovered lakebed.
The state regulation would not apply to land throughout the boundaries of the Bonneville Salt Flats in Tooele County, which is operated by the Bureau of Land Administration. The bureau usually permits motor recreation with some seasonal closures, particularly when the salt is moist within the spring.