As Western Drought Recedes, the Great Salt Lake Is the Biggest It's Been in Years - WSJ

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After two decades of drought, the Great Salt Lake in 2022 fell to its lowest level on record, 4,188.5 feet, leaving some marina docks in the mud. About 200 boats, including the Abraxas, were hauled onto dry land. Researchers at Brigham Young University warned in January 2023 that “the lake as we know it” was on track to disappear in five years, putting $2.5 billion of economic activity from skiing to mineral extraction to brine-shrimp fishing at risk.

Then came an unexpected deluge of rain and snow in the winters of 2023 and 2024. The amount of land covered by the Great Salt Lake has since grown about 150 square miles—an area the size of Denver—and the overall water level has risen 6 feet. Similar aquatic comebacks are occurring across the West. The mountain snowpack that feeds the Colorado River, which provides water to 40 million people, is 107% of average this winter after hitting 153% in 2023, marking the wettest two-year period in more than a decade. Lake Mead, the Colorado River’s largest reservoir, has risen 30 feet from a record low. Lake Powell, the second biggest reservoir, has grown by 40 feet.

Last year, the West was hit with an unusually large number of so-called atmospheric rivers, which dump prodigious amounts of rain. In December 2022 and January 2023, California experienced nine back-to-back atmospheric rivers—the most during such a short period in 70 years of records, according to an analysis by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Then this past winter, heavy rain was driven by an El Niño climate pattern, which scientists say was turbocharged by the overall warming climate.

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One exception to the trend has been the Pacific Northwest, where rain has been lighter and drought has persisted in places. But across the West, water researchers caution that due to climate change, they still expect the long-term trend will be more frequent droughts and shrinking snowpacks. They have urged local officials to continue conservation efforts that began during the drought.

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[ret5hd]

1. "...and gawd said...

i’ll cut you some slack. Use it wisely.”

And they said “gawd said use it!!!”