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Lawmakers Make Wild Proposals

The Great Salt Lake is at record lows, partially because of drought but also largely because of water over harvesting.
The Great Salt Lake is at record lows, partially because of drought but also largely because of water over harvesting. Photo: Rick Bowmer (AP)

Speaking of the Great Salt Lake, the drought and record-low water levels have legislators considering a truly wacky idea to keep the body of water going. Utah lawmakers floated the idea of a pipeline from the Pacific Ocean to the landlocked state during a meeting in May.

“There’s a lot of water in the ocean, and we have very little in the Great Salt Lake,” Sen. David Hinkins (R), the commission’s co-chair, said during the meeting.

The Pacific Ocean is, at minimum, about 600 miles and a mountain range away from the Great Salt Lake. Though, experts previously told Gizmodo that the idea of a pipeline wasn’t totally surprising or out of the question.

The saline lake supports lots of Utah industries, including tourism, brine shrimp harvesting, and mineral extraction. So there are strong financial incentives for the state to try to preserve the lake.

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