The problem: Utah law is ambiguous when it comes to the health of the Great Salt Lake and the beneficial use of water. As it stands, water that ends up in the lake is looked at or classified as unused or wasted — something leftover from a farming operation or city that was not put to beneficial use, says Rep. Casey Snider, R-Paradise.
The solution: Rep. Snider wants to “color” the water saved for the Great Salt Lake.
If you can imagine taking a red marker for every drop of water intended to stay in the lake and mark that savings, it would not only paint a telling visual picture but a concrete portrayal of what is actually happening in the Great Salt Lake drainage.
While no such marker exists for the Great Salt Lake, top lawmakers want to change that with a proposal due to be unveiled that seeks to protect water destined for the Great Salt Lake.
“So when I hear from constituents, when I hear from the public, we’re going to save the lake by getting it water — that’s critical,” he said. “But we also have to make sure that the water that we are sending to the lake stays there for the purposes for which it was intended.”