Environmentalists stage silent protest to save the Great Salt Lake

Salt Lake City, Utah — In order to call for more to be done to save the Great Salt Lake, a group of environmentalists staged a silent protest inside a legislative committee hearing.

A half-dozen people wore masks with fluorescent X’s that read things like “Save our GSL” and “Let us speak,” during a presentation about water infrastructure in the Utah State Legislature’s Public Infrastructure and Government Operations Interim Appropriations Subcommittee.

Utah’s Division of Water Resources focused on the Bear River development project, which would divert water from the Great Salt Lake. The project, which would include a new reservoir near Tremonton, has been controversial since its inception. It also has been pushed off repeatedly. Division director Candice Hasenyager testified that the agency didn’t see a need for it until 2050.

The representative said that the lake could lose about eight inches of water on a question of Rep. Gay Lynn Bennion, D-Cottonwood Heights, how much water the Bear River project would take from the Great Salt Lake?

The committee took no public comment on the presentation, which was meant to be informational for lawmakers. Denise Cartwright with Save Our Great Salt Lake, called for the legislature to do more.

“There’s a lot of talk from legislators but there just isn’t enough action, so our legislators need to know that Utah cares about the Great Salt Lake,” she told FOX 13. “We all need to get together and cause a stir and raise our voices to our legislators that we care and this is an issue that needs to be prioritized starting in this upcoming legislative session.”