Help Save Our Lake
The Great Salt Lake fuels our weather, our wildlife, and our way of life. But it's disappearing — fast.
Let's #RiseTogether to save our lake.
The Great Salt Lake fuels our weather, our wildlife, and our way of life. But it's disappearing — fast.
Let's #RiseTogether to save our lake.
The lake generates $2.5 billion in direct economic productivity every year — $2B in mineral extraction, $249M in recreation, $163M in ski industry revenue, and $106M in brine shrimp. More than $1.5 trillion in infrastructure along the Wasatch Front is at risk.
The Great Salt Lake drives lake-effect snow that supplies half the precipitation in our valleys and much of the snow in our mountains. Less lake means less snowpack, less water, and a shorter ski season.
800 square miles of exposed lakebed contain arsenic, lead, and mercury. Wind events send toxic dust across the Wasatch Front, where 3 to 5 million people live downwind. Communities near dried saline lakes worldwide have seen cancer rates rise 50-60% and infant mortality climb 60%.
10 million birds from over 400 species stop at the Great Salt Lake every year. These birds migrate to every state in the country and every country in the Western Hemisphere. An empty lake means millions of empty nests.
It is a public health, economic, and cultural emergency. 80% of the lake's decline is caused by water use. We can fix this.
80% of the lake's decline is caused by water use. Nearly all water used indoors returns to the lake. Almost all water used outdoors does not.
We are coordinating across 30+ organizations to get water back to the lake. The immediate goal: 500,000 acre-feet of annual water savings by 2027.
Get updates on progress, events, and how you can make a difference for the Great Salt Lake.
100% of donations go directly to projects that get water to the lake. All overhead is covered by local businesses.
Utah's business community is leading the charge. Join the coalition of companies committed to restoring the Great Salt Lake by 2034.
Great Salt Lake Rising exists to protect and restore the Great Salt Lake as a vital source of life, health, and prosperity for Utah and beyond. Sixty percent of the world's saline lake area has been lost. No lake has ever been restored. Utah will be the first.
GSL Rising is a public-private partnership 501(c)(3) that unifies and accelerates all lake restoration efforts — from phragmites removal and agricultural water transactions to municipal conservation and water rights purchases. We coordinate across 30+ organizations, agencies, and academic institutions to get more water to the lake.
No community has ever successfully restored a saline lake. Utah will be the first.