Dwindling water levels of lakes throughout the West have revealed historic and even morbid findings in recent years due to dry weather conditions and lack of water. And the Great Salt Lake is no exception.
The unprecedented, record-low water levels of Utah's saline lake have made one of the most recognizable pieces of land art become more and more visible. But that visibility comes with a price.
In 1970, artist Robert Smithson crafted the 1,500 ft. Spiral Jetty with the help of local crews. In a feat that is hard for me to fathom in my head, Smithson and the crews piled several thousand tons of basalt rocks and dirt sourced from the lake’s shore into the lake itself, creating a symmetrical swirl of rocks and water.
Unlike the dry, dirt ground the Spiral Jetty sits upon today, Smithson built the spiral on — and with — water. The land art is no stranger to changing water levels, and it was built with that in mind. But it has been largely visible and above water for more than 20 years due to drought.
When considering the precarious future of the lake, whose water could be gone in as soon as five years, an interesting question comes to mind — what is the Spiral Jetty without its natural, larger companion, the Great Salt Lake?
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