Despite two wet years, the Great Salt Lake is still in crisis. Lake levels fluctuate, but the long-term trend remains persistently low. To restore the lake, Utah needs a solution that adapts to both human use and nature — without turning water users into rivals.
The challenge of refilling the lake is daunting, but in it lies an opportunity: Utah has the chance to show how collaboration and innovation can restore this iconic saline lake. The state Legislature has already passed major reforms and committed significant resources to refilling the lake, but fully addressing the crisis will require creative thinking and collaborative approaches that bring everyone to the table.
One of the most promising approaches is voluntary water leasing, a market-based strategy whereby water rights holders are compensated for temporarily reducing their water use. Unlike other approaches, leasing is dynamic. The amount of water leased can shift in response to changes in lake levels, and the method rewards water users who choose to proactively transfer water to help restore the lake.
The state’s agricultural producers — who hold legal rights to much of the basin’s water — are critical to any restoration effort. But rather than viewing them as adversaries, Utah is embracing them as partners, offering compensation for temporarily reducing their water use and helping restore flows to the lake. This approach recognizes that saving the lake should not require sacrificing entire communities, particularly those that use water to feed the state.
But for leasing to be successful, water savings must be accurately measured at the farm level — a task that has historically been difficult. As a result, existing approaches often prescribe specific water-saving practices, such as installing certain irrigation technologies or switching crops. However, without being able to measure how much water such changes truly save, this method provides at best an educated guess. Further, prescribing changes in practices ignores the nuances of local supply chains and farmer preferences, and it also limits the long-term flexibility of a farm.
Fortunately, addressing these obstacles is possible with the right approach, creativity and partnerships with agricultural communities. New technologies, such as satellite-based evapotranspiration monitoring, can provide accurate data on water savings at the individual farm level. By establishing a baseline for historical water use, farmers can be compensated based on actual water saved rather than specific practices adopted. The benefits of using voluntary leases are significant. Farmers retain the autonomy to choose how — or whether — they save water, to make decisions that are both profitable and efficient, and to adjust year-to-year if economic or climatic conditions change. Instead of a one-size-fits-all solution, farmers can customize the best approaches to generate water savings for their circumstances.
We don’t need to tell farmers how to save water — no one knows farming better than the man on the spot. We just have to empower them with access to that information.
Of course, success will depend on more than policy and technology — it will require trust and collaboration among all stakeholders. The state and conservation groups must understand that the long-term sustainability of the lake will not come if it is at the expense of agricultural communities.
No country has ever successfully saved a saline lake on the decline. But, by building on its recent policy innovations and embracing the spirit of collaboration, Utah has a chance to set a global example in environmental stewardship. The Great Salt Lake is not just a local concern — it can be a symbol of how communities can come together to solve complex challenges.
In a world where climate pessimism is often the norm, this moment calls for optimism grounded in action. Utah can restore the Great Salt Lake and show that even the most daunting environmental challenges can be overcome. The future of the lake — and the region that depends on it — is in our hands.