You can’t unlink air quality and Great Salt Lake. Speak out! 

House Bill 60 is being framed as a way to streamline water applications for the benefit of the Great Salt Lake, but the bill raises serious concerns about what it would leave out of the process. As written, HB 60 would prevent the Utah State Engineer from considering certain protests on water rights applications, including those that raise concerns about air quality impacts. 

For communities already living with the consequences of a shrinking Great Salt Lake, this is alarming. Air quality and the lake are inextricably linked. 

When the lake dries, it exposes lakebed dust that contains toxic metals and fine particulate pollution, which directly threatens respiratory and cardiovascular health along the Wasatch Front. Preventing air quality concerns from being raised during water decisions does not protect the lake, it silences the public and removes critical checks and balances at a time when transparency and health protections are essential. 

We urge Utah residents to call their State House Representative and tell them to oppose HB 60 unless it is amended to ensure air quality and public health impacts can still be considered. Decisions about water use at the Great Salt Lake are decisions about the air we breathe, and Utahns deserve a voice in both.

This bill already passed the House Committee, which is the first step. Please call your Reps today!