The shores of the Great Salt Lake near Syracuse are pictured on Tuesday, May 21, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)
In December, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced the largest ever federal investment in the Great Salt Lake, awarding Utah $50 million to go toward habitat restoration and securing more water to flow to the lake.
It was widely celebrated among Utah’s leaders. But state officials now say that funding has been paused.
“We’re still working with our partners in the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, and trying to figure things out from a federal level on what goes, what stops. Right now, as they figure that out, we’re on a temporary pause,” said Brian Steed, the state’s Great Salt Lake commissioner.
Steed is confident that the state will see that money eventually — he doesn’t think the funding is in jeopardy.
“This too shall pass and we’ll get the money out the door as soon as we can,” he said.
When those funds will be unlocked is unclear. Officials with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation declined to comment on Thursday.
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The Trump administration has slashed budgets for a number of federal programs and agencies, while announcing widespread layoffs of federal workers. Whether the pause in that $50 million investment was part of a larger federal directive was not immediately clear on Thursday.
The bureau manages federal water systems and infrastructure in the West, including the Colorado River, the Glen Canyon Dam and Flaming Gorge Reservoir. Trump has yet to announce his pick for commissioner.
The agency’s commissioner and Biden appointee Camille Calimlim Touton stood alongside Steed and other state officials on Dec. 2 to announce the $50 million package, which stems from the Inflation Reduction Act. The law passed along party lines in 2022 and included hundreds of billions of dollars for various reforms, program expansions, subsidies and more — Affordable Care Act subsidies, expanding the Internal Revenue Service, investments in green energy and drought infrastructure are included in the bill.
The state often gets help from federal agencies for conservation projects around the lake and its tributaries — but except for a $3 million investment from Reclamation and the U.S. Geological Survey in November, federal funds to help the Great Salt Lake are rare.
The funding is intended to be split two ways. Most is intended for ecosystem restoration along the lake, helping agencies like the Utah Division of Water Resources, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, or the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands fight invasive plants, and improve the wetlands and waterfowl management areas.
The rest will be used to secure seasonal water rights leases from farmers, business and other water rights holders in the Great Salt Lake Basin.
“In truth, it’s given us some time to figure out how to best approach this,” Steed said about the pause. “We’ve put the time to good use.”
The Great Salt Lake hit a historic low in November 2022. It’s rebounded since then, with two above-average winters, but it’s still below what the state considers healthy. On Thursday, the south arm of the lake was at 4,193 feet, while the north arm was at about 4,192 feet.
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