Utah still trying to dodge accountability on Great Salt Lake
If you’ve hiked a trail overlooking the Salt Lake Valley, driven out to Antelope Island, or simply followed the news, you know the Great Salt Lake has been fluctuating at dangerously low levels for years. Those declining levels have fueled increasing dust storms across the valley. Dust that not only poses serious health risks but also carries heavy metals and industrial pollutants.
The only way to truly protect public health is to raise the lake to what experts consider its minimum healthy elevation. Despite spending millions in taxpayer dollars, the state has failed to do so. That’s why UPHE, along with our partners, sued the state under the Public Trust Doctrine, which requires Utah to protect the lake for the benefit of the public.
The state tried to get out of that lawsuit, but was unsuccessful as the judge ruled the case could continue in March of this year.
“In denying multiple motions to dismiss (twelve in total), this Court recognized the fundamental principle that ‘courts play an essential role in declaring and enforcing the public trust,'” attorney Heidi McIntosh, from Earthjustice, our partner in the lawsuit, wrote.
Earlier this year, a judge ruled that our case could move forward after the state tried to have it dismissed. Now, the state is trying again to avoid accountability, this time citing a Utah Supreme Court ruling on homelessness, which shielded Salt Lake City from a lawsuit claiming it failed to manage public property.
Great Salt Lake is different.
The state holds the Great Salt Lake in trust for the public. As trustee, we believe the state has a fiduciary obligation to protect the lake. That includes modifying upstream diversions when necessary to ensure that enough flows reach the lake to sustain its minimum viable elevation of 4,198 feet.
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