THE GREAT SALT LAKE IS EVAPORATING BEFORE OUR EYES. SCIENTISTS SAY IT MAY DISAPPEAR
ALL TOGETHER IN FIVE YEARS BUT COULD BE SAVED WITH EMERGENCY
MEASURES. MANY EXPERTS BELIEVE WHAT IS
HAPPENING IS A MICROCOSM OF WHAT IS EXPECTED TO HAPPEN TO THE
PLANET. BILL WEIR IS LIVE IN ST. GEORGE,
UTAH. BILL, WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?
>> Reporter: WELL, DON, HERE IN UTAH THIS MEGADROUGHT IS NOT
JUST ABOUT THE WATER THEY DRINK OR USE TO WATER DROPS AND
ANIMALS. IT'S ABOUT THE AIR THEY BREATHE.
TOXIC DUST. THEY ARE REALIZING IF THEY DON'T
SPEND BILLIONS TO PUT MORE WATER IN THE GREAT SALT LAKE THEY
COULD BE PAYING MUCH MORE FOREVER.
THIS IS WHAT IS LEFT OF THE GREAT SALT LAKE.
THEY HIT RECORD LOWS IN IN RECENT MONTHS, EXPOSING 800
SQUARE MILES OF LAKE BED. UNCHECKED WATER USE AND CLIMATE
CHANGE AREN'T JUST THREATENING THE BIRDS AND SAILBOATERS.
AND HERE THE WESTERN MEGADROUGHT THREATENS MORE THAN SNOW SPORTS,
AGRICULTURE AND INDUSTRY BECAUSE THIS LAKE BED HOLDS CENTURIES OF
TOXIC RUNOFF. MERCURY, SELENIUM, ARSENIC, SOME
OF IT NATURAL, SOME OF IT MAN MADE MINING WASTE.
IF IT TURNS TO DUST AND ADDS TO SOME OF THE WORST AIR POLLUTION
IN THE COUNTRY, THIS IS A THREAT TO THE LUNGS OF OVER 2.5 MILLION
PEOPLE. >> WE HAVE DONE THIS EXPERIMENT
IN HISTORY BEFORE. WE KNOW ABOUT DUST STORMS.
WE KNOW ABOUT PARTICULATE POLLUTION.
WE KNOW ABOUT HEAVY METALS AND HOW THEY ARE BAD FOR HUMANS.
>> THIS IS AN ECOLOGICAL DISASTER THAT WILL BECOME A
HUMAN HEALTH DISASTER. >> Reporter: BONNIE BAXTER IS
AMONG THE SCIENTISTS WHO RECENTLY WARNED THAT THE GREAT
SALT LAKE AS WE KNOW IT COULD BE GONE IN FIVE YEARS.
SHRIVELED INTO FINGERS OF LIFELESS WATER BEFORE BACKING
THE GREAT TOXIC DUST BOWL. >> YOU CAN SEE A PERSON STANDING
OUT THERE LIKE THE WATER WOULD HAVE BEEN ABOVE THEIR HEAD A FEW
YEARS AGO. >> Reporter: THIS IS KNOWN AS A
TERMINAL LAKE WITH NO RIVERS TO TAKE MINERALS TO THE SEA.
SO THEY BUILD UP OVER TIME. JUST LIKE OWENS LAKE IN
CALIFORNIA, AFTER DEVELOPERS NOTORIOUSLY DRAINED IT A CENTURY
AGO TO BUILD LOS ANGELES. IT BOTH INSPIRED THE MOVIE
"CHINATOWN" AND FORCED CALIFORNIANS TO SPEND IN THE
BILLIONS TO CONTROL THE TOXIC DUST THAT REMAINS A THREAT 100
YEARS LATER.
. THIS LAKE IS 12 TO 15 TIMES
BIGGER THAN OWENS LAKE. IT'S RIGHT NEXT TO A
METROPOLITAN CENTER, WHICH THAT LAKE WAS NOT.
SO THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO WILL BREATHE THIS DUST IMMEDIATELY
AND WE ARE REALLY, REALLY CONCERNED ABOUT THAT HAPPENING
HERE. SO WE HAVE DONE THAT HE CAN
PEER.
. WE SHOULDN'T DO IT AGAIN.
>> Reporter: HUMAN CHOICES THAT LED TO THAT CATASTROPHIC EVENT,
RIGHT? WE ARE LOOKING AT THE GREAT SALT
LAKE IN A POSITION TO WHERE WE CAN AVOID THAT A CATASTROPHE, WE
DON'T HAVE TO SPEND THE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN REMEDIATION IN THE
FUTURE IF WE MAKE CHOICES TODAY. BRIAN STEED AND JOHN LYNN ARE
FROM RIVAL UTAH UNIVERSITIES. >> THE THING IS IT'S BIPARTISAN,
RIGHT? WE ALL WANT CLEAN AIR.
>> Reporter: THEY ARE PART OF THE GREAT SALT LAKE STRIKE TEAM.
OUT TO CONVINCE EVERYONE THAT EVERY DROP COUNTS.
>> FOR A LONG TIME I DON'T THINK THAT PEOPLE WERE SUFFICIENTLY
TALKING ABOUT THE LAKE. NOW I THINK WE HAVE A LOT OF
PEOPLE INTERESTED. THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE, THE
LEGISLATURE WHO IS ALL VERY INTERESTED IN COMING UP WITH
DIFFERENT SCENARIOS AND DIFFERENT SOLUTIONS SO WE DON'T
END UP WITH THAT CATASTROPHIC OUTCOME.
>> Reporter: IT SEEMS LIKE THE PATH OF LEAST RESIST EANCE IS F
THE TATE TO PAY FARMERS FOR WATER RIGHTS.
IS THAT GOING TO HAPPEN? >> I DON'T KNOW.
A LOT OF THINGS COULD GO TO THAT EXTREME.
>> Reporter: AMONG THE SIGNS OF CHANGE, WHEN U.S. MAGNESIUM
WANTED TO EXTEND CANALS INTO LAKE, THE STATE SAID NO.
THE LEGISLATURE STARTED REVISING THE WATER LAWS WRITTEN IN THE
DAYS OF THE WILD WEST. >> SOMETIMES WE TAKE A STEP
FORWARD AND SOMETIMES BACK, BUT IN GENERAL ALL THOSE PIECES OF
WATER LEGISLATION THAT PASSED IN 2022 WERE BIPARTISAN AND
UNANIMOUS. WHERE DOES THAT HAPPEN ANYMORE.
>> Reporter: FINGERS CROSSED IT KEEPS HAPPENING.
THE ONLY THING THAT CAN KEEP THE SALT LAKE GREAT IS LOTS OF SNOW
AND EVEN MORE COOPERATION. ABOUT TWO-THIRDS OF UTAH'S
POPULATION IS AT RISK OF THIS DUST.
BUT THEY ARE FINALLY COMING AROUND TO THIS.
THEY ARE GETTING WATER METERS IN THE YEAR 2023 TO MEASURE EXACTLY
HOW MUCH THE FARMERS ARE USING AND THEY HOPE KNOWLEDGE IS POWER
TO KEEP THAT LAKE ALIVE. DON, POPPY.
>> THANK YOU. APPRECIATE THAT.