Note to readers • This article is published through the Great Salt Lake Collaborative with funding from Love the Lake, an initiative of the non-profit Great Salt Lake Alliance. Editorial decisions are made independently by the Collaborative and partner newsrooms.

Utah’s Great Salt Lake is quickly approaching its second-lowest level ever recorded.

The lake currently sits at 4,190.40 feet above sea level — inches above its 2021 low of 4,190.20 feet. In 2022, the lake then hit an all-time record low of 4,188.5 feet in November — almost two feet lower than the lake’s current elevation.

Utah Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Joel Ferry told KSL NewsRadio he believes the lake would’ve hit a record low this year had Utahns not worked so hard in recent years to conserve water.

“We’ve invested so much and the people of Utah stepped up so much to conserve that we are seeing … results,” Ferry said. “We are seeing the savings make a difference.”

Ferry said he does not expect the Great Salt Lake to hit a new record low this year, but if Utah gets another winter like the record-dry 2025-2026 season, he said the lake hitting a new record low in 2027 would be “unavoidable.”

What’s the state’s plan if that happens?

Ferry said his department has been preparing for that scenario for years.

If that ever happens, he said they would aggressively ramp up their efforts to lease new water in the Great Salt Lake Basin. Meaning they would purchase water from other water rights holders and deliver that water to the lake.

Ferry said an example of that could be paying a farmer for the water they would’ve used to grow crops, based on the cost of the crop and how much of it they would’ve grown.

Ferry said the Utah Legislature has made it much easier for the Department of Natural Resources to streamline this process, making it easier to get more water to the lake.

“We’re ready to hit the ground running and hit it hard so that we can actually make a big difference towards the amount of water getting to the lake this year,” he said.

We’d likely also see local water districts and other water distributors cut how much irrigation and secondary water people could use, according to Ferry. That could include delivering that water later in the Spring, like they did this year, and turning it off earlier in the Fall.

“We all just need to be prepared to have some of these years where we’re going to have to just get by with less,” Ferry said. “We’re going to have to all do our part.”

And well before the lake ever hits a new record low, Ferry said the department will close the berm on the railroad causeway in the middle of the lake when it hits 4,190 feet. This would trap as much water as possible from the next spring runoff in the lake’s southern arm, which runs parallel to the bulk of the population in the northern part of Wasatch Front.

Ferry said that’ll also preserve more water for areas of the lake with the most wildlife and help them better manage salinity levels, which he said will help them avoid the near ecological collapse that happened in 2022.

Ferry said even if the lake hit a new record low, we would not see that near 19% salinity level again because of how they’ve managed salinity since then. Today the lake’s salinity level sits at almost 13%.

Along with closing the berm at 4,190 feet, Ferry said mineral companies would be required not to take any new water from the lake until it rises back above that mark the following spring.

Is it enough to save the lake?

Ben Abbott is an ecology professor at BYU and executive director of the nonprofit Grow the Flow. He told KSL he believes state lawmakers, water managers, farmers and everyday Utahns have done great work to help the lake, but he said it’s still not nearly enough to restore it in time for the 2034 Winter Olympics, a goal set by the state.

“Thankfully there has been amazing progress … but we still are in the range of 50,000 to 80,000 acre-feet of new water to the lake each year (from our conservation efforts),” Abbott said. “That’s not enough to affect (the) lake level in a meaningful way.”

Abbott said we need to deliver 1 million acre-feet of water to the lake each year to get it back to its minimum healthy level of 4,198 feet by 2034. He said that means we’re less than 10% of the way there based on that 50,000 to 80,000 acre-foot estimate from the Great Salt Lake Watershed Enhancement Trust.

“This would be the largest transfer of water for environmental purposes anywhere in the world … this really is a pioneering effort,” Abbott said.

Abbott believes a few things need to happen in order to accomplish this feat. For one, he said we need to budget the water Great Salt Lake needs every year first before allocating water for other purposes, calling it a “lake-first” approach.

He also said he feels everyone else in the basin, not just mineral companies, needs to follow the same water rules when the lake level gets too low.

“This is the perfect framework,” Abbott said. “When the lake level is low, we all need to tighten our belts and use less water.”

Abbott also said providing more financial incentives could go a long way.

“When cities invest in conservation, that allows them to extend the life of their water infrastructure and reduce expenditures and taxes,” he said. He also noted some local farmers have switched their crops and/or irrigation methods, and are now making more money than before.

“It’s a win-win-win,” Abbott said.

Can we actually save Great Salt Lake?

The Great Salt Lake’s water levels haven’t reached the minimum healthy mark of 4,198 feet since 2012. At least one major dust hotspot, the lakebed of Farmington Bay, has been largely exposed since the early 2000’s.

Getting the lake back to its healthy range by 2034 would be a first-of-its-kind accomplishment, but Abbott and Ferry both agreed it is possible. And they believe Utah is up to the task.

“The Great Salt Lake is actually the crisis that we need in this moment of division,” Abbott said. “This is bigger than left and right … this is about survival and it’s about who we are as a people.”

“(Our) continued efforts will make a difference to where we can recover and see the Great Salt Lake back to a healthy level,” Ferry said.

SALT LAKE CITY — Hundreds of motorcycle riders and community members gathered Saturday for the 20th annual Memorial Ride for Fallen Officers, honoring Utah law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty.

The ride traveled from South Salt Lake Saturday to the Utah State Capitol before concluding with a solemn service at the Utah Law Enforcement Memorial.

For Carolyn Jones, the annual event is deeply personal.

Her husband, David Jones, was a deputy with the Garfield County Sheriff’s Department in Escalante. In 2003, he was shot and killed while making a traffic stop.

Jones has participated in the memorial ride every year since it began.

“It’s really important to me that we’re here, that my husband’s not forgotten,” she said.

She said she is especially moved by the people who come out along the route to show their support.

“I love it when people are on the side of the road waving,” Jones said. “That is so energizing, that they care enough to come out on the street.”

Pat Evans, president of the Utah Law Enforcement Memorial, said the ride gives the public an opportunity to stand alongside motorcycle riders and honor officers who made the ultimate sacrifice.

“It really is an opportunity for the public to come out, these motorcycle riders, and support and remember our fallen officers here in the state of Utah,” Evans said.

The ride originally helped raise money for the memorial honoring Utah officers killed in the line of duty. Today, the event continues as an annual tribute to their lives and service.

Evans said the support from the public means a great deal to the families of fallen officers.

“I know a lot of people will stand outside with flags and do different things, but they realize there’s an importance behind it,” he said.

He also emphasized that the risks of law enforcement extend beyond the officers themselves.

“Every law enforcement officer, when they take that oath and they start that job, they know that there are some risks. And also, their family knows there’s that risk,” Evans said.

“Nobody expects it, nobody wants it, but when these officers put on that badge, they know that they are taking on a risk.”

The memorial service that followed Saturday’s ride provided a solemn reminder of that sacrifice, honoring the officers and the families who continue to carry their loss.

The Utah Law Enforcement Memorial encourages members of the public to visit the permanent memorial and learn more about the officers who gave their lives serving their communities.

PROVO — The two-week stretch between the Colorado Open and the Korn Ferry Tour’s Utah Championship may be some of the most blurry of Carson Lundell’s golf career to date.

The 28-year-old BYU grad won arguably the biggest professional tournament of his pro career, a $50,000 check that mattered as much financially as it did mentally, and immediately turned around to catch a flight to his home state for a Monday qualifier on the Korn Ferry Tour. After shooting 9-under-par 63, he advanced to the Utah Championship with a chance to play a pro tournament and sleep in his own bed — a rarity for aspiring pros.

“There wasn’t much sleep,” he joked. “I do remember that.

“It was a great stretch of golf,” Lundell added. “It was really nice to be able to put a couple of good rounds together, to have some momentum, and then to have a week off was nice to be able to reset and pick back up.”

Lundell carried that moment into Friday’s opening round of the Larry H. Miller Utah Open, carding seven birdies and an eagle to tie for the lead at 9-under 63 in the 100th edition of the tournament at Riverside Country Club.

Lundell finished in a four-way tie for first after 18 holes of the 54-hole tournament, alongside Spanish Fork’s Jackson Rhees, former Utah golfer Braxton Watts of Farmington, and recent BYU alum, Skyline High graduate and first-day pro Tyson Shelley, who all shot 63.

That’s three strokes off Lundell’s best-ever round at Riverside, which he admits he shot during a casual round with some friends.

“I was 3 or 4 under on the front, and then I think I shot 27 on the back,” Lundell recalled. “I was hoping for that again on this side, but I was a couple shy.”

With his wife Hayley on the bag, Shelley birdied four of the final five holes to jump into a share of the lead, the last of the top foursome to exit the course.

“I hit some good shots, and I was just having fun,” Shelley said. “We’ve played this course so many times at BYU. I’m really comfortable on it.”

Early on, first-year rookie professionals had quite the day Friday.

Rhees’ 63 led the morning wave of golfers, just one shot ahead of recent BYU graduate Simon Kwon — another Skyline High alum.

Angus Klintworth, a rising senior at BYU from Johannesburg, South Africa, was two shots back at 7-under 65, just ahead of a group that included former BYU golfer Rhett Rasmussen, Utah alum Blake Tomlinson, and BYU rising sophomore Jackson Mauss.

Rhees, who birdied nine holes after polishing off his bogey-free round on the par-4, 415-yard 18th hole to rolled into the clubhouse at 9-under.

Kwon, too, avoided mistakes while shooting 31 on the front nine before back-to-back birdies on the par-5 15th and par-4 16th holes pulled him within a single stroke of the top spot.

Rasmussen, who turned pro in 2020 and won the Southern California Open last year, also filled up his scorecard with six birdies and an eagle on the par-5, 551-yard fifth hole.

It looked like the order for the final day, until Lundell got hot on the back nine.

After firing 3-under 33 on the front nine, the former Lone Peak standout carved out four birdies heading into the par-4, 378-yard 16th hole.

Lundell took his time, waiting back for his group to finish laying up in the fairway while he thought about his next move. Then he grabbed his driver, and ripped his tee shot just above the green-side bunker before chipping in for eagle.

“I thought I could fly it pretty close to the green,” he said. “I had to wait a little bit, but caught it right on the screens to land in the bunker, caught the lip, and sat perfect to trickle it on where everything ran right to the hole.”

Now he’ll take a share of the lead into the Saturday’s second round, with a shot at winning the top professional open tournament in the Beehive State.

“Part of the learning curve in golf is when you’re playing well, you continue to keep your foot on the gas and not protect,” Lundell said. “I’ve had a lot of instances where I’ve let my foot off the gas, and tried to protect. But I’m slowly learning to continue to keep going, to keep staying aggressive, and it’s been a good couple of weeks of staying aggressive.”

100th Larry H. Miller Utah Open

Riverside Country Club, Provo

Top 10

• 63 — Jackson Rhees (p), Carson Lundell (p), Braxton Watts (p), Tyson Shelley (p)
• 64 — Simon Kwon (p)
• 65 — Angus Klintworth (a)
• 66 — Jackson Mauss (a), Rhett Rasmussen (a), Blake Tomlinson (p), Todd Tanner (p), Jordan Gibbs (p), Pete Stone (p)
• Full leaderboard available at utahpga.com