'Potential Environmental Nuclear Bomb': The Disappearing Salt Lake

[@gobblox38]

The fact that they estimate that total water usage must be cut by 50% or else the lake will dry up in five years tells me that the lake will be dry in five years.

[@jermainerace4156]

Yeah, it's basically a foregone conclusion. If the state hasn't even begun to restrict agriculture this late in the game, it wouldn't matter if they started in earnest right now: the lawsuits and the lobbyists would mire efforts until well past 2030

[@Joe-bh4vz]

Tells me they’re lying.

[@gobblox38]

@@Joe-bh4vz who is lying?

[@Joe-bh4vz]

@@gobblox38, they

[@gobblox38]

@@Joe-bh4vz we are "they."

[@silver6380]

Also important: There is a vicious cycle here. The Great Salt Lake has a significant effect on the climate of the region. The moisture present there makes the whole area wetter and cooler than it otherwise would be. As the lake shrinks, the climate becomes drier and warmer, making it shrink even faster.

[@DSTKO-w7z]

The Soviets found out the hard way when they decided to grow cotton in the desert. Look up the Aral sea disaster. What remains of the sea today is a toxic hell-hole and everything around it is toxic. Utah is pretty much repeating the same mistake that the Soviets did. Unless drastic changes are made, agriculture around Salt Lake City will collapse and SLC will suffer as well.

[@xochj]

Probably most important.

[@allwheeldrive]

And this is one of the most significant reasons - besides the overall change in climate that will never stop - they should be actually sounding the alarms right the eff now. Humans... Same with Phoenix, same with Vegas, same with parts of California. We are well past the curve.

[@Pangolin-Mandolin]

Right?! It's like a positive or reinforcing feedback loop....the most devastating effects of climate change regarding how it affects people, usually seems to be this type of, "because this was worse this year, it makes this happen less each year and because that happened it means that the thing that would usually replenish the first part of the cycle, doesn't happen as much as it did the previous year...." and on and on it goes.

[@majorkramer]

I'm expecting no solution because America is great. I'm watching this while trying to think why nothing is being done & just as important, what we have left that can be saved. It's almost as if we should pack up & move. After everything dries up & after other area's flood where is it liveable?

[@keyper555]

My Mother always told me when I was just a child back in the 60's that one day in the near future water would be worth its weight in gold, I grew up in the Pacific Northwest surrounded by lakes rivers and ocean, I thought she was crazy, but now I see what she was talking about, she said our great aquafers deep in the ground that we use for water to supply our cities and farmlands would eventually dry up with no way to refill them due to the natural changes in climate and our usage, and then the lakes would be next, boy she was so right, look whats happening today. Not only that she also said that our water supplies would be totally poisoned from all the chemicals we so easily flush down our drains and into our ground and water tables beneath our feet. Once this starts it will be the end of civilization as we know it. Just look at the price of filtered water these days, its insane, we pay more for a gallon of filtered water than we do for a gallon of gas, if we don't do something soon to stop this careless usage of our water supplies, we are screwed, our future generations are screwed.

[@Teedollaaaa]

Deep

[@mattnoonan6519]

I’ve always believed the next world conflicts won’t be over oil and gas, but water and fish.

[@donnewton7858]

We are already screwed, it's just that no one (especially the people who denied it was happening and now want people to forget they did) wants to admit it. We've fundamentally accelerated a process that we literally cannot stop, and there's a snowball effect, except the snowball is melting as it gets larger.

[@markstewart4501]

@@donnewton7858 those people that denied it was happening and now wont admit it spend their time sending "thoughts and prayers", because they view their actions to be in control from a grown up version of an invisible friend. God, the idea, is for people that want a false sense of 'control'. Their 'god' even explains to them how to treat slaves in his super holy book. It's nuts.

[@rusharnmal7425]

The problem is that the water management bureau of Utah viewed any water reaching the Great Salt Lake as wasted water. The Lake never had any water designated for it. It has been very hard to get the Utah government to listen and a lot of that has to do with blatant corruption within the state government.

[@scottanno8861]

Also the alfalfa farmers use insane amounts of water to export abroad

[@scottanno8861]

@@BF... Don't you get it? A single cup of walnuts takes 10 GALLONS of water to grow. An acre of agriculture is far more water usage than an acre of urban development.

[@jermainerace4156]

@@scottanno8861 But neither the agriculture nor the urban development is really appropriate in a desert.

[@ChristianityRecap]

@@scottanno8861why is nobody talking about the absurd amount of golf courses in the salt lake valley?

[@lordgarion514]

The thing is, the only reason water isn't reaching the lake is because humans are using it. Everywhere is running short on water.

[@jacksonwayne9445]

It’s important to add that the majority of agriculture water in Utah is simply used for inefficient alfalfa and other livestock feed, not crops that we see in the grocery store

[@Spiral.Dynamics]

Oh yeah! They grow the food that my food eats.

[@nicbtw6062]

@@Spiral.Dynamics spoken like a true big alfalfaian.

[@samuelmashpow9854]

Wouldn’t that alfalfa feed livestock that we would end up eating later on down the line?

[@spicychad55]

@@Spiral.Dynamics Your food is extremely water intensive. You can get protein for cheaper LOL

[@lorenzoblum868]

Farmers being scapegoats once again and not a word about the 1054 nuclear tests conducted from 1945 to 1992...

[@derpcade]

I'm a native Utahn, lived on the wasatch front my whole life. When I was little, I remember being able to see the lake from my house, and I remember how blinding it used to be during sunsets. Now I can't even see the lake from the former shoreline. Humanity always finds a way to ruin the most majestic things..

[@deutscherfischer55]

You do realize that The Great Salt Lake used to be 20,000sq mi at the end of the last Ice Age and has been drying up ever since right?

[@didybopintitys]

@@deutscherfischer55 there’s a lot of that within the greater debate on our impact on things, but we most certainly had a hand in speeding it up that’s for sure lol

[@YT-mp7ei]

@@deutscherfischer55 sure keep avoid taking responsibilities. I’ll just sit back and watch these GOP denialists and ultra Christians liars suffer.

[@TheSkidds]

@@didybopintitys The statistical facts that have been proven, show that humans have little too no effect.... So... Not sure what you are on about.... lol....

[@OceanLife772]

@@didybopintitys Please tell which civilized Population Melted our last Ice Age? Which oil companies? It’s called NATURE! Yes, we should not Pollute our Planet! We should have clean air unlike China and India. This global “warming” scam is what it is! A scam for a few elites to make themselves Wealthy like John Kerry, Al Gore. IF they believe the oceans will rise, Why are they dropping $20-$30 million dollars on Ocean Front Mansions? Why Are THEY Consuming and polluting The Most?! Ask yourself these questions. If you really believed the ocean would rise, would you build your dream home on the very same oceanfront? Put your hard work and sweat into that property OR would you build your home as far away from the ocean? C’on man! THINK For yourself. The climate Does Change! It has to do with the moon 🌙 and God knows what else. We see what a full moon does to the tides. Gravitational Pull: Nature IS Amazing. Stay Safe out there with all the UFOs/ UAP Flying around! 😊

[@BoycottNCSoft]

Over 40 years ago as a kid I could swim in the Great Salt Lake. As a teen, living up north of it I'd sit on the hillside and watch the sunset every day after school. Now, I see this and cry.

[@BlueSharkRides]

I'm from Utah, 28 years here and it's insane how far gone the lake has gotten. We need to buy out farmers water rights that only grow alfalfa (cow feed) and push all of that water back into the GSL. Most farms only grow alfalfa which is an awful crop to grow anywhere as dry as Utah.

[@user-pd9ju5dk5s]

Why are they farming in Utah in the first place? Isnt it one of the driest states in the US?

[@BlueSharkRides]

@@user-pd9ju5dk5s Good question, there are farms all along Utah lake and all over the state. And yes it is.

[@esmewvimes2901]

Thank you, I was sure I was the only one that would make this comment. I know people will say they've had cattle through many generations, and there are a lot of very big farms who graze for free on federal land and it seems to foster entitlement. We can't afford to keep all those cattle, and I say that as someone who can't afford to buy meat more than once or twice a month. I'm becoming a piscatarian out of financial hardship. Canned tuna and the occasional tilapia fillet are nothing to look forward to, month in and month out.

[@cstephen98]

I remember this first being discussed and predected back in the 80's as well as water use on the Colarado River and the entire Southwest predicted to become a giant desert.

[@kilocasanova6838]

Its inevitable, climate change will not stop no matter what humans do. Its what meant to happen, its natural..

[@stringlarson1247]

Yup. I've been ridiculed ever since. I really wish I was wrong 'back in the day'.

[@BL-zi9wb]

When I was a little kid I had a geography book that talked about desertification of the Western US. It's proven entirely true.

[@bonegrubber]

I remember you remember that!

[@oneone5028]

The entire southwest is a giant desert for million years and will be always a desert but we bend the nature to our will. It can go only so far before snapping. We are witnessing that.

[@XOguitargurlOX]

I remember learning in grade school early 00s that if we didn't take this problem seriously we'd see the end of the Great Salt Lake before we died...they didn't say before I turned 35 😞

[@DavidHalverson]

Everything on this planet is actually finite quantity, even the air we breathe is finite, if we pollute it, we will eventually lose the use of the atmosphere to breathe, as well. Water, and air are needed for carbon based lifeforms, remove these from the equation, spells the end of human life and all life on this planet, right down to the bacteria.

[@talkingthetalk3640]

Keep voting red.

[@yourfavoritemartian224]

@@talkingthetalk3640 what does that have to do with anything he said

[@xAlexZifko]

you still have a few years left to get a death in

[@oh-yt9ug]

@@yourfavoritemartian224 early 00's had the bush admin + oil lobbyists republicans are the ones who roll back epa regulations

[@estewar03]

As someone born & raised in SLC, 38 y/o, I have to agree with this. All of our Lakes & reservoirs are dangerously low. Wastefulness is killing our cities name sake. It's such a sad sight to see just how much things have changed in my short lifetime thus far; I really hope people wake the heck up before it really is too late to be able to recover.

[@AGRsZuk]

Yeah, I'm in the same boat with ya I'm 37, born and raised here. It's crazy how bad things are now.

[@Ashphinchtersayswhat]

They are actually keeping gates open and allowing it to run to the ocean. Ask anyone who works at a dam.

[@MONSTERSINC801]

Do you remember when you'd round the point of the mountain by the old prison and Lehi and everything was literally just a giant field with no buildings or houses in sight besides Thanksgiving point and how big of a deal it was when they built the cabelas? The good old days...

[@estewar03]

@Sullivan Locke unfortunately I do remember. I used to kinda laugh when I was young, and my parents would say how much it'd changed back then. Now I understand, except it's substantially worse these days.

[@buninparadise9476]

too late

[@austint.6627]

Never thought this would happen in my lifetime. This seemed like an ocean as a kid

[@lostinbravado]

And likely much worse is still yet to come, globally. We haven't really made any progress with climate change except to slow down how rapidly things decline.

[@Chris-re3xr]

Hahahaha

[@Broken_Orbital]

and that's exactly the mentality that leads to this kind of thing..

[@TheCaptainSplatter]

This like Russia's version of that one lake.

[@beigegaming9905]

Years of inaction. Hate to say this but you, your parents, and your parents parents are responsible for this. All of our bad decisions have led us here. Now we will have to wallow in this. If we were smart, we’d leave the desert alone. It’s something we shouldn’t be trying to conquer. We should be chipping the edges away with greenery in hopes that this will spread and eventually make these places thrive again.

[@lemonvalkyrie1521]

As someone who lives in SLC it's great to see people talking about the lake drying up. It's important to raise awareness

[@iRiShNFT]

It's a Salt Lake ... It's been drying up for millions of years ... then you come along and live beside it and then cry about it drying up. It's ridiculous Try living somewhere that isn't a desert

[@EthansSmallHands]

@@d.w.8100 oxymoron.

[@permacultureecuador2925]

WHAT ABOUT THE NORDSTREAM PIPELINE THAT WAS BLOWN UP BY THE USA!??!!

[@keynage6693]

@@iRiShNFT sure it might've been drying up but nowhere near the pace it is now

[@LifewithAlelee]

Same. It’s so damn important we act on this. And this is the first step.

[@noduh736]

Drive around salt lake county there's literally thousands of Mormon churches with 2 or 3+ acres of emerald green grass tap water mostly it's damn ridiculous were in a drought

[@grmpEqweer]

F!!k lawns. Xeriscape ought to be mandatory in states with water problems. It would be better for native insects to have native plants.

[@craigb8228]

It's okay. Don't believe in karma.

[@AntarcticIceCap]

I KNOW, ITS FUCKING CRAZY I live just north of SLC and this stupid church a few streets over has an enormous, 3+ acre, beautiful green field. Guess what they do with it. ABSOLUTELY FUCKING NOTHING.

[@mochiebellina8190]

there are 130 golf courses in Palm Springs area using Colo. River water.

[@montyjackson8156]

It will give folks the excuse to migrate to MO just like ole Joe Smith said.

[@johnellis7124]

Alright... Here's something I don't hear anyone saying, but I think it needs to be said: The entire Salt Lake and Utah Valleys, as well as the Wasatch Mountains are the watershed for the Great Salt Lake. Virtually every community that allows development requires that storm water and snow melt runoff be contained within the site. 50 years ago, when the Great Salt Lake Watershed was home to fewer than 1 million people, the snow and rain that fell on the west side of Utah Lake and the Jordan River ran virtually unrestricted into the Great Salt Lake. Today, residential and commercial development covers most of that once-wild land. Every development has catchment systems that prevent all but a very little snow or rain from ever reaching the Great Salt Lake. Blaming farmers, who are cultivating fewer and fewer acres each year, for using water is disingenuous. It is our municipal policies restricting runoff from moving into the lakes and rivers that feed the Great Salt Lake that are choking it to death.

[@photosbyernesto9621]

We see this time and again: the Salton Sea, the Aral Sea... Man never learns.

[@neutrongarbage]

The Salton Sea was man-made, effectively. The lake that was there in the past dried up in the 1500s and the Colorado River was redirected for irrigation in the early 1900s, filling the dry lake basin now known as the Salton Sea. The name for this prehistoric lake is Lake Cahuilla. Not a very adept comparison, but nonetheless indicative of mankind's terraforming desires.

[@Pretermit_Sound]

Owen’s Lake….

[@Brownyman]

Going to be on the US’s Aral Sea disaster.

[@bilaltv2124]

Here is the recommended clip that say it : kzbin.info/www/bejne/en-uf56GmNWlo8U

[@michaeltan7855]

Sounds like Mike lee

[@DavidHalverson]

Going to be seeing a lot of lakes and interior seas being depleted to nothing through mismanagement and lack of conservation. Take notice of Lake Mead, Nevada which is used for water and electric generation by Nevada, The Great Salt Lake for water by Utah, The Canadian and American Great Lakes System for water by both USA and Canadian border cities.

[@theblackhand6485]

@The Ethicist Philosophy Show: Exactly that! And pointing towards the Russians while 'we' are creating the same disaster!

[@TheCaptainSplatter]

@@DavidHalverson this why i dont want western states touching my great lakes. Off limits other than states who live by them. Oh and canada of course.

[@Hurricane0721]

History shows that entire Salt Lake Basin is made up of pre-historic lakes that no longer exist. That was long before mankind was ever there! So these salt lakes are born, and then eventually disappear on their own naturally. At one point in time what is now downtown Salt Lake City was under hundreds of feet of water under pre-historic Lake Bonneville, which was about the size of present day Lake Ontario! That gives you an idea how much the lakes and the climate in that basin have varied radically over time by nature. History shows that none of those lakes are permanent features. That’s the course of nature. It is purely mankind’s hubris to think that nature meant for the Great Salt Lake to be something that is permanent. However, it’s the crap that mankind has dumped into the lake that makes this an environmental disaster.

[@royaleevangeline2038]

You’re 100% correct. Nature never meant for the Great Salt Lake to be something that is permanent. Like you said, that is made very clear by the geological history of the Salt Lake Valley. These lakes are born, and then they disappear naturally. The geological history of the valley also makes it very clear that the climate of the valley has radically changed over time naturally long before mankind ever lived in the valley.

[@peteheslop456]

Having grown up in Salt Lake City it’s a real fear considering worsening air quality and other environmental repercussions. The lake drying up has always been speculated but never taken for a reality until the last few years.

[@alexs1640]

It's a good thing Utah is a safe Republican state who vote for Republicans who have shown time and again that they deny any climate changes and generally ignore all environmental actions.

[@Cheesusrice69222]

The lake has been drying for thousands of years it's a dryed up puddle of what lake Bonneville was

[@peteheslop456]

Honestly can’t argue with that, but the idea is that it’s drying up at an unhealthy rate because of poor management.

[@peteheslop456]

@@alexs1640 it’s a party based on facts and data not emotions. Now that it’s no longer an emotional speculation they’re dumping millions into the problem.

[@alexs1640]

@@Cheesusrice69222 ah the age old "climate is always changing and humans have no effect on the environment" argument. Only god can affect nature right?

[@LoneTreeAdventures]

It’s sad to know as an activist in Utah how hard we have been working to voice this alarm for over a decade now. Hopefully we can reverse some of these effects and it’s not going to be to little to late.

[@stringlarson1247]

And you can get labeled a terrorist. Nice country, eh?

[@leonardosantuario3346]

Cool story, bro.

[@H43N]

wont joseph smith save the day?

[@unguidedone]

its one thing to raise alarm but what are the countermeasures to field if you are faced with this problem?

[@ariw9405]

And they were probably calling you alarmist back then as well. So sad thank you for fighting the good fight

[@hyguy1258]

The amount of water that has disappeared in the last 10 years is insane, I can’t even remember the last time you were able to launch out of the marina at antelope island…

[@Big_ol_bass]

All the poor liberals moved there from California. Was expected..

[@mibox8302]

Telling 1 group to conserve while letting another group use as much as they want will end in nothing being done to fix the problem

[@guitarhausdoesntknowwhatac3285]

Have's and Have not's is pretty core to modern republican ideology.

[@kirkmoody6109]

@Guitarhaus doesntknowwhatacommunistis no no it's not that would be modern democrats

[@guitarhausdoesntknowwhatac3285]

@@kirkmoody6109 It absolutely is kid.

[@kirkmoody6109]

@@guitarhausdoesntknowwhatac3285 no it's not child

[@guitarhausdoesntknowwhatac3285]

@@kirkmoody6109 yeah it is kid.

[@thelostcosmonaut5555]

They tell us to watch our water usage when the water parks are still open and golf courses are still being watered.

[@larion2336]

rules for thee not for me

[@pokeman5000]

Always remember when they talk about lowering the carbon footprint, or making "sacrafices". It's you. You're the carbon footprint they have to "sacrifice".

[@Sanjuannative]

All that doesn’t even compare to the amount of water agriculture uses to grow alfalfa that usually ends up being sold to foreign countries such as Saudi Arabia to feed their cattle

[@kegsofvomitspit]

tHeY

[@thelostcosmonaut5555]

@@kegsofvomitspit thank you for your meaningful contribution to this conversation.

[@tommym875]

Takeaway: That’s one of the nicest kayaks I’ve ever seen..

[@davebenz8271]

Gorgeous.

[@p.williams]

Thank you for posting this! Utahns like myself have been trying to bring attention to this for years, to no avail.

[@leonardosantuario3346]

Cool story, bro.

[@samuel_P420]

@@leonardosantuario3346are u really this sad

[@leonardosantuario3346]

@@samuel_P420 on the contrary, I'm pretty happy 😊

[@Fechual]

@@leonardosantuario3346 Cool story Bro.

[@tomstevens8243]

No need to thank them Utah. They make their living scaring people into clicking their videos. Fossil fuels also didn't cause the last ice age so I'm not sure why they're telling us the next one is. What does "bringing attention" to this actually do to fix anything but make these guys money anyway? I can tell you first hand, many people have been sounding the alarm about this and many other atrocities committed against us and our planet since at least the early 70's when I was an activist. We got rid of hair spray for one. (For the 70's big hair era, that was a huge deal!) Gas prices went up then too but we also had to sit in miles long lines on alternate Tuesdays to fill our tanks. We used to bring frisbees and footballs to the gas station and throw the ball around with other customers while we waited. The Ozone layer must be gone by now but I haven't heard another word about it since it made the news way back then, but it did make a bunch of people rich scaring us about it. What actually got done? Companies moved to China and our air quality got better but, it killed our economy too. Today, the Ozone is still on it's own. No money in it. There's nothing you or I can do about global warming, only complain and point fingers. It's my guess that it's part of the reason why all the super rich are building rockets. They're running out of ways to make money. Very little resources left to steal and make profits off any more. We little people aren't the ones destroying the planet but we're the ones being held accountable. Just follow the money if you want to know where we should be concentrating our efforts. Also, DNR and VICE using words like "Nuclear bomb" is just irresponsible. Like this stuff isn't bad enough, they need to add Nuclear Bomb to the title. "Scared" sells now more than ever. Something had to replace "sex sells" now that we don't have any idea what that is any more. Everything is about making money and not caring about what we do to each other to get it. We need to hold these reporters more accountable. That's something we CAN do something about now. Don't feed these trolls. Make them do something honest to earn it. The more we allow these people to do this, the more that will do it.

[@froogleislive]

I grew up in Salt Lake and Shrimped for 3 years, its hard work and smells terrible but it pays really well. The view at night is unmatched. Never before or after have I seen stars like that. Sad to see this happening to such a beautiful place.

[@KB-ke3fi]

It'll come back when your great grandkids are old. It always does. This is a natural 150 year cycle.

[@observantmonkey4055]

:)

[@steviewonderisnotblind5833]

@@KB-ke3fi His great grandkids will be busy knifing each other for the last bottle of drinking water.

[@thirtythreeeyes8624]

​@@KB-ke3fi While it has been drying up for 30,000 years it's never been completely dry.

[@gazzy9136]

@@steviewonderisnotblind5833you gotta look on the bright side of life sometimes and not be so cynical

[@smesui1799]

A similar lake ( inland sea ) the Aral Sea in central Asia is already gone.

[@Billhatestheinternet]

For anyone who wonders what the health, economic, and other impacts of this salt lake in the middle of the American desert drying up, one only has to look to another salt lake (sea) in the middle of another desert in Asia: the Aral Sea and what has happened after the Soviets diverted all of the water for cotton.

[@Schmucketellyjoe]

This is a very important point!

[@pippetandpossum]

Also the Salton sea in Ca

[@gallectee6032]

The animal agriculture sector is using like 80% of that water while only contributing around 2% of the GDP to Utah (I might be mixing it with Lake Mead). This is a no brainer. Your video also relies on interviews. Referencing the studies that were performed on what is causing that depletion would improve the quality of the information you provide.

[@bilaltv2124]

Here is the recommended clip that say it : kzbin.info/www/bejne/en-uf56GmNWlo8U

[@poolhall9632]

this is Vice, they don’t do research anymore, it’s just shock value.

[@alexs1640]

@@poolhall9632 it's called awareness. Maybe you don't, but plenty of people who see stuff like this do their own research and come to find information likely not given in the news piece. It's still raising awareness for what is happening in Utah. The more eyes, the more likely things change

[@yucol5661]

Research papers never hit well in the news

[@rhododenbro]

Agreed, it's misleading to just have a few people go oh well people say a lot of water is used by farmers when even a casual search for data shows that 70-80% of water is being used for agricultural irrigation and has been for some time. What gives Vice?

[@terramater]

Crazy thing: so many enorheic lakes around the world are currently drying up. We made a video on this exact topic a couple of months ago and: Owens Lake in California is a perfect history textbook case on what will happen when GSL is drying up further. Only on a much larger scale!

[@terramater]

It's insane how lakes are disappearing worldwide and how global water scarcity is becoming an even more real threat. Our crew recently filmed the Colorado River and tried to explain why it is drying. We also investigated other water conflicts, like the river Nile, that's slowly drying, plus there's a major construction project upriver that is further endangering the life of the river. At the same time, Saudi Arabia is trying to use new technology to resolve water scarcity using seawater; we also shed light on this new desalination system.

[@Quantum-]

Funny how bodies of water are drying up in the deserts. Because nobody could do the math on that.

[@butterman0007]

Nothing is more important than water. Def subbed. Check out Andrew Molison's coverage on 'the india water cup'. There are real solutions to these problems

[@kyleelward5445]

@@Quantum- those lakes and rivers have done just fine for thousands of years now all of a sudden they're drying up at the same time as large man made co2 production. do the maths on that

[@Quantum-]

@@kyleelward5445 volcanoes produce more toxic and greenhouse gasses than man could ever put out. And that water did fine when it was undisturbed. Humans started consuming that water for their own purposes, what did they think would happen? Global warming is a sham. It's called climate. The earth does this all by itself. It would get hotter even if we were still carving rocks with hand tools.

[@Quantum-]

@@kyleelward5445 where were the cars and factories when the Nile stopped flooding for the ancient Egyptians and the desert spread into their oasis? That whole area used to be jungle before it turned into a sea of sand. And that all happened before modern CO2 production.

[@RoninAvenger]

Makes me think of the fate of the Anasazi civilization. Their region was a lot greener once and they were able to create irrigation for massive farms and provided for several major cities in the region. A lot of the canyons that are near their ancient cities were once flowing with water. Eventually things started drying up and this helped to cause their massive civilization enter a famine and civil war, and eventual collapse.

[@phole1100]

Amazing how we never learn isn't it? We use words like "shocked" and "amazed" like we have had our eyes closed this whole time

[@shillian4770]

@@phole1100 ⭕️

[@EricSanAltarez]

The only difference is that they weren't using any fossil fuels compare to modern times. Maybe they were affect by the 'Great Flood' that happened in every culture? 13th century BC?

[@byrnc927]

I guess the climate changed for the Anasazi from all those buffalo and horse farts, not SUVs.

[@YouAreStillNotablaze]

@@byrnc927 Obviously we're talking about different scales and capabilities, and different causes for different things.

[@rellstuttin9198]

My apartment complex here in Utah was watering the grass every night until lat November!

[@JamesRockefeller45]

The fact the state put one of the ranchers in charge of the problem shows exactly how much power those guys have in the state

[@theterminaldave]

And once the water runs out, so will their influence, leaving a wake of destruction in their absence. That whole bible verse (and I'm not religious) where it says the meek shall inherit the earth, used to sound so hopeful, but if nothing changes all the meek will inherit will be a wasteland.

[@theterminaldave]

@@GrapeSoda672 oh puke, i can not deal with this religious delusional garbage.

[@beaudwayful]

@@GrapeSoda672 Another religious terrorist rotting for the end of days...

[@montyjackson8156]

It will give folks the excuse to migrate to MO just like ole Joe Smith said.

[@Endorphins27]

Ranchers and Mormons

[@carsondavis9675]

Someone who grew up in rural Utah, on the wasatch front, and on a farm. My grandfather was the water district president and my other family members had integral roles in managing that water. There is a ton of wetlands that feed into the great salt lake. While our forefathers did secure very good water rights, there were more water rights gained later in the 20th century. As example is sewer treatment plants (I worked at a major one along the wasatch front) and that water is cleaner than any of the rivers, as it leaves the plant, and then is used for irrigation. We have less farmers, using less water, to water less ground. Farming isn’t a growing industry in Utah, if anything it’s dwindling fast. I would say it has much less to do with farmers, than it does with warmer temp cycles, and more people moving in, that utilize grass and yards, and at least 200 gallons per day in their household. Farming has been happening for hundreds of years, and the lake flooded its banks in 1984 and 85. What’s the biggest difference from then to now? Weather cycles, and more people. Significantly less farmers as well. Most of the water used in Weber and Davis counties is flood irrigation, and a lot of the water is drained off, and goes right back to the lake.

[@spider0804]

According to the Utah Rivers Council, 85 percent of the Great Salt Lake's watershed is used for agriculture, 7.5 percent for industrial, and 7.5 percent for residential What you feel and the reality are different.

[@carsondavis9675]

@@spider0804 I’m not saying agriculture doesn’t use the most, I’m saying it farmers haven’t increased their usage or changed anything, and they were doing fine for 100 years. I’m also saying the laying was full in 1984 at least. Warmer temperatures, more water being utilized for evaporation ponds (I’m not sure if that is taken into account for industrial). So what exactly changed? What drove the change that the lake is being lowered now and it hasn’t in the last 100 years?

[@BlackFrogCO]

The sad part is no-one cares what you have to say... Having family in Tooele and learning too about water rights, no one wants to spend the time to learn about the history of water management or conservation. Low hanging fruit to say it's the farmers fault. Growth / population in the West has been the largest impact on water and it's loss. But thank you for saying it, some appreciate it.

[@spider0804]

@Carson Davis you can say all that but 85% is 85%

[@carsondavis9675]

@@spider0804 cool story, you have no definitive proof if we stopped pulling water from rivers, that it would make a change. The water table on the wasatch front is like 6 ft down and any extra water that isn’t used by plants goes through groundwater right to the lake.

[@kamenneikoo7854]

They need to let the lake recover. If they dont shut of the water siphons and create a temporary no fishing zone eventually there will be no water left to harvest or fish in

[@xavierjefferies9291]

I was raised in the Tooele valley over the last 17 years which is less than 10 miles from the lake. It’s been a crazy thing to see the water levels dropping every year. During 2022 you could see a visible difference in the lake levels from month to month. It’s a crazy lake, but it would be sad to see the only natural body of water in the valley disappear.

[@castlekingside76]

People used it too much. Now it's drying up.

[@lordjaraxxus5418]

@@castlekingside76 mixed with the rain from the east not reaching as far east and the rain from the west being stopped by the rocky mountains.

[@eddiegutierrezjr6226]

@@lordjaraxxus5418I’m pretty sure the Sierra Nevada mountains are the ones you’re referring to.

[@sqlevolicious]

@@castlekingside76 Global warming onset by mass pollution and industry is the biggest contributor though.

[@janb3938]

@@sqlevolicious Global warming is a hoax bro

[@matthewpetzold9878]

It blows my mind these people know so much but they still just keep killing their environment. Take kill take is the game. Wen its all gone go somewhere else

[@bilaltv2124]

Here is the recommended clip that say it : kzbin.info/www/bejne/en-uf56GmNWlo8U

[@peyton.simpson]

Until there is nowhere to go, to which humanity is doomed.

[@Siegefya]

Wouldn't say killing, environment gonna hit back eventually. Nature has a way of shifting into equilibrium and it doesn't care how much time we have to prepare for the blow. That's why I don't worry about any of this sht, we as humans actually think we are powerful..we believe it, and yet nature can make all of this stop for us quicker than we can even begin to prepare for it.

[@moroteseoinage]

Das crazy. Pass the Doritos

[@deucebigs9860]

That's capitalism baby! Everyone is just trying to make enough money so THEY don't have to really pay the price of capitalism, and not realizing if we band together it'll be cheaper and better for all but the 1%.

[@TheFeist77]

conserving excess water from agricultural fields is good, but what about the chemicals and fertilizers they use being added into the lake.

[@Randy_Butternubs]

I'm from Utah and this makes me feel really sad but mostly angry because people here don't really care.

[@grmpEqweer]

They won't care until they have to move.

[@Freshadventures_]

Most people don't care about anything until it affects them ,unfortunately most of the population is like this.

[@michaeltan7855]

COVID wasn't strong enough

[@talkingthetalk3640]

Keep voting red. Conservative policies have been doing a great job protecting your lake.😆

[@theterminaldave]

@@Freshadventures_ Most of humanity is like this. It's like our defining characteristic.

[@Gremlack13]

I flew over the great salt lake multiple times per week as a flight student. It was always seen as an area to just fly over without much thought and how the environment was treating things. I no longer live in that part of the country, and miss seeing what could be.

[@bens395]

Sadly The great lakes will you turn into development areas for investors...

[@JosephKulik2016]

We live in a civilization that can split the atom, put a man on the Moon, and put a computer in everyone's home, yet you want me to believe that this same civilization can't find a cost effective way to desalinate ocean water ??? Bull $hit !!! Water is Power. Not just Water Power but Social and Political Power too. The Elites know that if we started to desalinate ocean water they would lose a lot of Social and Political Power over the 99% of the rest of Humanity. The 1% have a way to control the 99% by controlling what fresh water is now available.

[@oceanmariner]

The real problem is too many people. The farmers have been there for over a hundred years, and there was plenty of water then. Just because the world is overpopulated doesn't mean we need to do the same here.

[@Dubbyuh]

I live in Utah and I am afraid the best we can do is "thoughts and prayers".

[@apeman939]

we can fast, too! /s

[@mho...]

maybe thinking about sustainability & taking care of the enviroment, rather then messing up the land & then praying to an imaginary skywizard to change it back to rapeable nature, to do it again 🙄

[@annakeye]

Only if you're wearing your magic underwear.

[@jayman5692]

Well y’all are def fucked

[@christopherross8358]

Prophet Nelson is working it out right now with clean shaven Jesus and Joseph S. No Worries 🌈

[@vyoufinder]

I used to live just a few miles from the Waterfowl Management Area near Centerville. I started photographing the birds in about 1993. At that time, I could spot hundreds of eagles in a day. One time I counted over 100 eagles in one tree alone! In about 2000, I started noticing a sharp decline. Suddenly it was hard ot find an eagle and in general, the birds had lessened their numbers. Now you can never spot an eagle there. Not one, not in sevarl days and weeks of trying to find one will you find an eagle I'll bet. Not just the eagles though. The hawks, owls, and seabirds like Great Blue Herons are all barely represented compared to what they were. It is a disaster, as is the air pollution and pollution of all types around Salt Lake City. That's why I left. In general, the people in the area don't have a clue. They grow water hungry crops using water intensive irrigation methods en masse. The people don't seem bothered by anything corporations do around them in the name of commerce and god will save them. I think Salt Lake City will ultimately have to move its location.

[@Big_ol_bass]

Oh wow, the water's drying up in the desert!? Holy cow!

[@thatGUYbehindthemask]

imagine the dustbowl all over again.

[@apeman939]

+cancer

[@rovelfox7832]

Now with 100 years of agricultural pesticides mixed in! Fun times

[@vamhpydeath]

all i can say is, i’ve grown up here. watching the lake shrink year by year is a very weird feeling

[@au2au2]

Salt Lake City uses twice as much water per person as other desert cities like Santa Fe... Not going to solve the problem entirely, but people need to be made aware and act accordingly

[@joshuawatson1902]

Activists have been sounding this alarm for at least 20 years, and politicians have done NOTHING. We MUST take massive action right now

[@eliseeden]

GOP state. What’s ya expect?

[@krto7663]

Dont worry the american healthcare system will take care of you when the toxic dust starts affecting your lungs

[@kingofoblivion1822]

Is it because of the excessive use of the lake? They are pulling everything out of it, of course it will die

[@guitarhausdoesntknowwhatac3285]

@@eliseeden Pretty much this; Utah is a deeply republican and mormon state so you have this insane one two punch of a complete disregard for environmental sustainability and *also* the assumption that god will fix it if you just pray hard enough.

[@Wanderer25]

You are taking massive action, by voting in the politicians owned by the corporations. You keep voting against yours own interests.

[@at1970]

Unlimited population growth and development in an area with finite resources. What could possibly go wrong?

[@kiwidiesel]

Personally I can't think of anything wrong with that model 🤣🤣

[@at1970]

@@kiwidiesel It’s given us the planet we have now and the bleak future we are facing. And nobody will even discuss it.

[@grmpEqweer]

The main problem is trying to have too much agriculture in a semi-desert environment. 75% of water usage there is agriculture.

[@at1970]

@@grmpEqweer The main problem is the same one everywhere. Too many people. What do you think causes climate change? Or drives agriculture or development like roads, oil and gas use and on and on. We can dance around the issue all day forever, but in the end human over population causes all these issues. The US has added >110 million people in the last 40 years. The country didn’t get a sf bigger or get any more resources. Just the opposite in fact. If we had a population policy that encouraged a steady state population (like virtually all other species) would our energy, pollution, climate change, open space, housing crises etc be better or worse?

[@grmpEqweer]

@@at1970 We native-born aren't reproducing enough to hold replacement value. These people are immigrating here, my friend. Which means they would exist somewhere on the planet if not here. ...The best way to voluntarily lower birthrates: -Women's rights -Freely available birth control -compulsory child education -child labor mostly illegal. -basic healthcare, including vaccines. I note the USA, my country, is backsliding on this. Compulsory child education means that parents can't have kids to work full-time and make money; children are liabilities. If basic healthcare is accessible, children will live to adulthood. If women then have birth control, they will average two kids. Are you proposing some sort of genocide to save the planet? If so, the Western world sucks down far more resources and puts far more CO2 in the atmosphere than the rest of the world. So we should go first on that.

[@JohnnyMotel99]

human greed vs human need, results in this

[@tyraikaika]

Utah can only blame itself and greed. They did that to the environment and themselves. Ruthless and thoughtless Utahans 💔💔

[@calinfloyd]

The lake is also a big contributor to our snowfall. lake effect in the winter creates fluffy light snow that utah is known for.

[@jussikankinen9409]

No snow most like ans support global warming

[@calinfloyd]

@@jussikankinen9409 what

[@Wasatchwatts]

This is not true. Only 30-40 inches of Altas annual 547” come from lake effect or about 6-7%.

[@calinfloyd]

@@Wasatchwatts sure it is

[@Yarpon]

As the water level continues to fall the salinity of the water increases. Pretty soon the water will be too salty to support aquatic life.

[@jacobmcgovern3753]

You should cover the ACTUAL environmental atomic bomb in East Palestine, OH.

[@cstephen98]

This will eventually be the US equivalent to Russia did to the Aral Sea.

[@casmatt99]

Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are the primary parties involved there

[@caribbeanbro4630]

@@casmatt99 In the early 1960s,[27] as part of the Soviet government plan for cotton, or "white gold", to become a major export, the Amu Darya river in the south and the Syr Darya river in the east were diverted from feeding the Aral Sea to irrigate the desert in an attempt to grow cotton, melons, rice and cereals.

[@LurkingxReaper]

It is okay the governor says it will come back if the state prays together!

[@bilaltv2124]

Here is the recommended clip that say it : kzbin.info/www/bejne/en-uf56GmNWlo8U

[@douchecraft3113]

Because it's a "salt" lake, is this something that could actually be replaced with ocean water?

[@PappaMustafa]

Soon it'll be call Salt City

[@jacobcooper7123]

Or just "City"

[@usnchief1339]

Ghost city

[@nataliezementbeisser1492]

Salt Lake City has no Salt Lake anymore. Nice job people.

[@apeman939]

it's just called City, Utah

[@robertm.6583]

Thank God they are actually telling us that the overuse of agriculture is the reason.

[@nosferatuoddz7974]

Lot of insane stories popping up lately

[@undead_games_]

The world is getting more insane

[@markmajka1877]

@@undead_games_ only because of the truth being exposed seem to be impossible for many, deep inside we all know something evil was going on we just didn't know what it was, the catholic church was one of them, always felt out of place when I went to church, it was so uncomfortable in there.... I was in my teens when I had a dream that the ground under the church opened up into a hidden room and it was dark and creepy...

[@tuckerbugeater]

@@markmajka1877 You can't prove Covid is a bioweapon or weather warfare is happening. Attribution is nearly impossible.

[@gaz.9142]

@@undead_games_ real

[@lorenzoblum868]

To really expose the truth, we should mention the 1054 nuclear tests performed from 1945 to 1992...

[@SeptikAvenger]

The Aral Sea says hello from the grave.

[@LadiesMan-bo2cc]

Crazy how we’re brought this information, shrug, then just watch another video

[@sethsmith8638]

"Whomever claimed the water first, gets it first?" You mean, except for the natives.

[@ericlaw2416]

Which natives? The first ones, the last ones, or the ones in between?

[@sethsmith8638]

@Eric Law not the current ones; the ones who clearly didn't claim it first.

[@hypnoticdelta7937]

Geez, the world really is ending, albeit slowly (and then all at once). Like, people who are not legitimately scared for our collective near future...Those people actually freak me out, and they're why we'll be unable to avert all out disaster.

[@eyeamstrongest]

its simply easier to just not think about things, which is by design but also as a psychological shield

[@maxmordon7295]

"Humans" have it coming: if there's real Justice in this world, the wilful ignorants and main perpetrators will suffer the worst consequences of it all...

[@DrumToTheBassWoop]

Nothing short of a revolution would really sort it out. :/

[@hypnoticdelta7937]

@@eyeamstrongest no doubt, especially about the psychological shield. Honestly, with trying to understand my own mental state after years of learning about our climate emergency, I totally see why people shy away from it 😅

[@bsmithhammer]

Not it's not. Humanity will continue on. The world will continue on.

[@german2507]

07:24 that’s the problem. We as a society do not conserve water. Farmers, businesses, private citizens. Just as California is getting rainstorm after rainstorm, I was at Jack in the box drive thru last night, and would you guess what? Yup, the sprinklers were on as it was pouring. We do not conserve as a society.

[@thelemon5069]

Conservatives don't conserve imagine that

[@mattlarsen8585]

I grew up in the salt lake area and still live here. The inaction to protect the lake and our air quality is infuriating. Our air quality gets worse and worse each year and the dry lake is only making it worse. The Utah legislature doesn’t care about anything but the bottom line. It’s especially annoying that it seems farmers in Utah don’t care about their water usage and act like they contribute so much to Utah’s economy (agriculture only contributes 3% to Utah’s GDP).

[@talkingthetalk3640]

But you keep voting red.

[@mattlarsen8585]

@@talkingthetalk3640 our state is gerrymandered to all hell. Salt lake county is divided into 4 separate districts to prevent any district in our state turning blue.

[@billyclouse8228]

@@mattlarsen8585 and for context for those who don't know, when they say SLCo is in four districts, there are only four districts in the state. There's an intersection in Millcreek where all four districts meet. It's ridiculous.

[@bradleywoodie9219]

Worrying that there’s lead in the air pollution from the lake….. lead changes people and leads to higher crime rates

[@turinthalion8784]

You think this is the famers fault? Are you kidding me? They've had an efficient system since the pioneers got here... it is all the new housing being built (due to all the Californians and Hispanic immigrants that have flooded into our state) that is gobbling up the water. Everyone also refuses to give up their grass/lawns which is a major drain on water. Perhaps you should think of this waste before you go off blaming famers who have been doing this for over a 100 years without issue!!!!

[@jeffchurum1431]

But this is not the only lake that is drying up, It's happening all over the world. Anyone who has grown up near an inland water body as a child and if you compare now as adults can attest to differences, huge decline, and lower water levels are visible. It's just worrying and scary, I fear for the next generation It's gonna be tough.

[@jeremysmith5060]

Fresh water lakes are decreasing but only in certain places, while oceans rise but only in certain places. Makes you think.

[@jamescrawford8121]

I like how they kept talking about farming using up all the water, I don't imagine SLC uses any water.

[@NotSure2020]

i hope you guys revisit this topic in 5 years and check in with the rancher to see what he and the lake are up (or down to) at that point.

[@jasontiscione1741]

He'll be fine, diverting water upstream as usual.

[@Rippypoo]

I wish I had hope that the Great Salt Lake and many other water sources could be saved. But I have no help anymore. Corporations control too much. The water's going to run out, and then people are going to panic and we're going to have wars over water.

[@zippymufo9765]

Can't wait. The sooner our civilization collapses, the better. The only question is wether the survivors will learn from lessons of uncontrolled industrialization and environmental damage.

[@okzoomer5728]

We still have time to fight back. There are many ways to physically remove alfalfa fields if it comes to that

[@montyjackson8156]

It will give folks the excuse to migrate to MO just like ole Joe Smith said.

[@seadragon1456]

@@montyjackson8156 everyone is here already! It’s bs. Thankfully the USA sits on massive underground aquifers. As long as toxic trains don’t keep dumping crap onto the ground. You just need 15-30 thousand to drill down far enough to hit the water.

[@Dan16673]

@@zippymufo9765 better for whom?

[@FlawedMemo]

we are killing ourselves with greed

[@chrisvalleqatsi]

This is happening at the Salton Sea as well.

[@snorttroll4379]

just do like gaddaffi before obama killed him and brought chaos. make a desalination system and a big water pipe

[@garymills562]

The Salton sea was accidentally created by aqueduct overflow, salt lake exists from regular rain or snow melt. The west has seen drought as has the Midwest, (dust bowl of the 1930s). This to shall pass.

[@hannuback]

Wouldn't be the first lake that human actions dry up. Sounds like a familiar story already...

[@lostinbravado]

It's an old story, by our culture and perspective of time. But on geological time scales, this is happening extremely fast.

[@TheCaptainSplatter]

Aral sea

[@hannuback]

@@TheCaptainSplatter that does come to mind, I remember learning about it in school in the 90's when it was drying. It was interesting, but terrible to follow news about its' condition.

[@BRgoalie]

I like how the one "rancher" they interviewed was a government employee lol. Classic vice

[@wes_york7050]

So what can we do as people that don’t live near utah? Being informed is great but I’m not sure what action I could take that directly assists the best solutions to this problem.

[@eksbocks9438]

The goal is to get people in government who can reverse this. Maybe even convince some of them that it is important for the people of Utah.

[@sisigs4820]

Investing in weapons and ammunition and organizing a revolt.

[@sandife4nandes365]

As a Native American, I don't understand how laws can be cemented when laws were broken to take our land in the first place.

[@usnchief1339]

When they finish destroying the land they will give it back. The Earth will have its vengeance soon.

[@sandife4nandes365]

@@usnchief1339 truth!

[@gabbar51ngh]

Right by conquest, the same principle on which you claim it as "your land". Your people should have fought harder.

[@francisvantuyle]

I live in Salt Lake City. They constantly over build here. Building hi rise, homes, condos, town homes and apartments. More building is constantly increasing year after year. Behind this building is the Church. There is no moratorium on building as the church controls the state legislature, local and county governments. This report states that most of the water is used for crop irrigation. When the truth is that crop land is being converted to homes and apartments. The church is behind the depletion of the Great Salt Lake.

[@TheGreenblackstar]

Utahn here, our legislators have failed us, they’ve known this problem for decades but refused to act on it because they felt confident they wouldn’t be around long enough to face the consequences. An utter failure. We deserve what happens to us.

[@talkingthetalk3640]

Stop voting conservative.

[@blakespower]

so sherlock where do you propose getting water from? without effecting other peoples water supplies?

[@montyjackson8156]

It will give folks the excuse to migrate to MO just like ole Joe Smith said.

[@thomasneal9291]

@@montyjackson8156 I wonder if he ever considered that MO wouldn't WANT them?

[@montyjackson8156]

@@thomasneal9291 Absolutely.

[@airbornetortilla9489]

Is there anything that can be done? Or are there any measures to slow it down?

[@bsmithhammer]

Yeah, stop rampant development that is completely out of sync with the sustainable resources in the region.

[@pewpewgotchas]

The state needs to modernize our water irrigation systems. No matter what any politicians tell you, this isn't the fault of residential growth. Don't let them tell you that it's your green lawn causing the Great Salt Lake to die. Out of all the water in the state, from the rivers that feed the Great Salt Lake, 82% goes to farming irrigation, and some counties have irrigation systems that haven't been updated in over 150 years; places where during those 150 years they've reported a waste of 54% of the water supply YEARLY. If farmers were able to save just 10% of that 54% wasted yearly, then it alone would solve many problems the Great Salt Lake faces. Right now a little more than half of Utah's irrigation systems are modernized, these types of sprinkler systems need to reach 100%. Not to mention a majority of the crops that these farmers grow just isn't right for our desert region. They grow alfalfa hay which is a very water demanding crop, not suitable for a desert, then sold to China for cheap. As one U of U professor said "they're spending $1000s of dollars of water to sell $100s of dollars of hay". Just doesn't make sense.

[@grmpEqweer]

​@@julm7744 Well, if your house gets demolished by a tornado, it will not be my care or concern. Have a nice day.

[@jackgaffney8468]

@@julm7744that’s amazing. Thanks for sharing.

[@itstayayg193]

We're losing so many lakes..

[@stormriderkaos]

Human response to such issues is incredibly slow. This has been a looming and foreseeable problem for decades, yet the "use it or lose it" agricultural water allotment laws are still in place. It makes humans look stupid and dysfunctional.

[@nathanblaine2611]

Humans only look stupid and dysfunctional bc they are!

[@snorttroll4379]

whta do those laws sayu?

[@Denycia]

I visited The Great Salt Lake for the first time over the summer. When I got there it wasn't at all what I expected. The levels were so low. It's really sad to see.

[@poshmalosh14]

It's also a really gross lake, it's been at these low levels for 20 years since the drought started in 2000

[@FragrantlyOdious]

I've been watching the decline of NA lakes for the past decade. I saw a shocking graph about the loss of water over the past 5 decades. I've just never had anyone really to discuss it with or tell because it almost seems unbelievable. I'm worried for us all honestly. I don't think there's enough time. I want to help with land reclamation and reestablishment for the nature and cooperate human habitation within it. I've been working at it but on small scale. I need help. I know there's others out there trying to help the ecosystems but it's just not enough :(

[@ryanramaekers2173]

Good work brother keep it pushin! We need more ppl like yourself

[@ReclusiveEagle]

It's not even the city it's entirely farmers. Look at charts on water usage. Did you know in Cali, crops for animal feed use 8-12x more water than the entire city of LA? Not fruit or vegetables. Only animal feed. Reality is, even massive cities can sustain themselves with a single lake or river. Even in millions, people don't really use much. 70% of water usage is the agricultural industry making animal feed.

[@frenzyfol]

So similar to the problem with cotton farming on Murray Darling basin in Australia.

[@Blottingpaper]

Yeah if you listen to the cotton farmers/lobby there's no issue and that water wasn't going to be used anywhere else anyway...

[@nathanb9165]

You forgot to mention the potential nuclear bomb that derailed in East Palistestine?

[@erics.8909]

As a Utah resident my whole life, you start to get a very powerless feeling. Unless the church wants it nothing happens, and all of the church’s have giant green lawns with like half a dozen temples being built just in the state, soaking up more water for their concrete and giant green lawns, people are constantly moving in from the coastal cities and sucking up all the water not realizing they’re now in a desert, and tiger woods is building another giant stupid private golf course in Park City. All of this happening in the second driest state in the country, that’s been in constant drought for years.

[@BriskyJam]

I lived in Las Vegas for many years. Lake Mead is going through the exact same thing. Experts have predicted in 50 years property will be worthless in Las Vegas once the lake dries up since Lake Mead is accountable for 90% of Southern Nevada’s water usage.. It’s scary to think about how soon a global threat & recession is coming. Something we never seen before. Imagine the panic of Covid but on steroids… If things don’t change soon the future it’s looking nearer to its end than expected

[@mrrooster4876]

According to the math and the actual definition of a recession, we've been in a recession since Sept of 2019.

[@charleskavoukjian3441]

Cali has no idea how to manage their water, let alone forests and streets, its a third world country

[@nicoradv3923]

I doubt anything will change to save Lake Mead or GSL. Builder are still building. No thought was given to actually how much water was available for city growth. Now every one is blaming the farmers.

[@sisigs4820]

This was all biblically prophesized, and believe me, it's going to get much, much worse.

[@BriskyJam]

@@sisigs4820 Doesn’t it give you chills down your spine knowing that? It does for me

[@MNDrummer]

An environmental nuclear bomb just went off in Ohio. Very sad and very destructful. Hopefully our idiot government officials start to take the Ohio disaster seriously.

[@jonny-b4954]

My family lived in Salt Lake City (Murray Specifically) in 2000 for 1 year. We visited the lake a couple times. Sad to see it disappearing. Like Lake Mead too. Saw that and the Hoover Dam last year. Depressing. 4:15 Just like my area in Florida now. It's DOUBLED in size and population since I was a kid. Traffic is a freaking nightmare. No news school being built really, so I'm sure those are packed. And they were packed when I was a kid.

[@jonny-b4954]

@@BF... Exactly. I was going to add that into my comment actually, that my city HAS to continually grow to bring in new tax revenue to pay for all the excess spending and the fact the suburb property tax system just does not bring in enough revenue (generally) to support it's infrastructure. Let alone all the other social expenses like fire and police. Thus, you have uninterrupted growth at all costs in the suburbs. Watch some videos on that, you can find them on those biking channels that promote walkable neighborhoods and what not. Great example of how the old school way of commercial districts where the owners lived above the store etc bring in like exponential more revenue than a house on a lot and/or a Walmart taking up 10 acres and most of it being just a parking lot. They'd bring in crazy more revenue if that was traditionally zoned and the car wasn't so central to American life. It's all tied together. That and it's hard to turn away the growth and demand of an area like Central Florida. If you don't let them move into your town and take their tax dollars, they'll simply move into the unincorporated areas down the road and give it to the county and STILL be an expense on your cities budget.

[@JoseRhodeIsland]

i did a GIS related project in Grad school about comparing maps of great salt lake over span of time and seeing the field conditions changing. I was seeing a pattern that there was a ton of new marshland popping up. Now i see why

[@Plasmon19]

One of the suggestions I've read about is pumping water from the pacific into the great salt lake. That's pretty insane.

[@robertwelch2843]

If any wants to know what this is going to look like once the lake is gone, just look into the history of the Aral Sea. RIP Salt Lake City

[@craigb8228]

Soon they'll find fossils and start mining.

[@Socalfishingkids]

Morton salt has a big responsibility in how the lakes shrinking. They drain water into shallow vats and let it dry. I know because I drive by it everytime I go shoot.

[@Socalfishingkids]

@D. W. you think so. Salt water don't grow crops so you tell me

[@Socalfishingkids]

@D. W. it's Morton and Geneva rock. If you think otherwise you are buying into their blame game.

[@bobbun9630]

@@Socalfishingkids I don't believe that anyone is suggesting that water is being drawn from the lake to water crops. Rather, fresh water that would normally flow into the lake is being diverted before it gets there. So even though salt water isn't being used to water crops, watering crops is still one of the lake's problems.

[@Socalfishingkids]

@Bobbun look at the tech sector there. Using billions of gallons to keep servers cool. The nsa headquarters itself uses billions of gallons. Now how much gets returned idk. It's not farmers doing it trust me. If you ever come by I can drive you around.

[@bobbun9630]

@@Socalfishingkids I was responding to a specific assertion you made: "Salt water don't grow crops so you tell me" Salt water doesn't need to grow crops for agriculture to be a significant factor in the falling level of the lake. Yes, data centers using evaporative cooling represent a significant amount of water usage in the area. I'm going to take it you may be affiliated with agriculture in some way, though, as you seem desperate to point the finger anywhere else despite it being no secret that agriculture is a major water user just about anywhere that irrigation is needed to grow crops. According to USU Extension, agriculture accounts for 87% of Utah's water usage, though of course not all that is in areas that drain into the Great Salt Lake.

[@Anglo-Saxon9]

It pisses me off that we build these huge cities in environments that can't sustain it.

[@XSpImmaLion]

Always important to reinforce - the lake doesn't care, the planet doesn't care, everything will remain fine for those... preservation, conservation, all these things are purely selfish human endeavors. The only thing that really happens in places like Great Salt Lake is if no action is taken, it'll dry up, and everyone who depends on it will have to move elsewhere, which is often a catastrophic event for all the people there. It'll be far more costly and far more disastrous for the country and for people to have to uproot and find some other place to live rather than just trying to change things to keep the lake going. Another reminder - everyone in the country pays for it, directly or indirectly - it's just a matter of how much. Conservation can be costly, but the lake drying up is exponentially worse, not only for the people living nearby which will pay the most and suffer the most, but for the entire country as a whole. And with Climate Change, this will obviously start happening everywhere over the years. That's what truly is at stake, it's just us, our survivability. Should we fail at efforts like this one, the planet will just keep going - without us. As it did in the past.

[@zippymufo9765]

Which is why the human race isn't necessary. The most noblest gesture we could make is to go extinct.

[@azurekuzma3598]

In the case of the Great Salt Lake, everyone around the WORLD will suffer. Those brine shrimp eggs harvested are used to create food for a large portion of aquaculture out of country. It literally helps feed the world. Sure, they'd find another source, but it would still be difficult.

[@montyjackson8156]

It will give folks the excuse to migrate to MO just like ole Joe Smith said.

[@RennieAsh]

Sometimes, I feel that a city is as big as it needs to be, but they always get bigger and what was, gets ruined

[@dustintacohands1107]

I swam in that lake and I smelled like a sewer the rest of the day felt like a idiot doing that

[@86GT11]

If it walks like a Relando Velasco and talks like a Rolando Velasco...

[@dustintacohands1107]

@@86GT11 ???

[@DAPTW810]

I have live close to the lake and is scary to see how much the lake has change, but no one that I talk about it seem to be alarm or trying to do something about it.

[@ohno7153]

Most of human nature is literally just not caring until the consequences is blaring right in front of their faces.