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Dried Up! An analysis of Great Salt Lake Water Balance from 2004 - 2024

Rosenlund, Gabriel LU (2025) In Student thesis series INES NGEK01 20251
Dept of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science
Abstract
This thesis aims to investigate the water balance, seasonality, and to speculate about the future of Great Salt Lake, Utah, and more specifically the south part of Great Salt Lake, during a study period ranging from 2004 to 2024. The reason this is important is because the lake is a keystone in the western United States and serves as an important food source for millions of migratory birds as well as a habitat for wildlife in nearby wetlands. Additionally, the lake serves as an economic keystone as it is a source of thousands of jobs because of brine cyst farming, and mineral extraction etc.
It was found that the lake volume is declining during the study period. This was determined to be because of a lessening of lake input and more... (More)
This thesis aims to investigate the water balance, seasonality, and to speculate about the future of Great Salt Lake, Utah, and more specifically the south part of Great Salt Lake, during a study period ranging from 2004 to 2024. The reason this is important is because the lake is a keystone in the western United States and serves as an important food source for millions of migratory birds as well as a habitat for wildlife in nearby wetlands. Additionally, the lake serves as an economic keystone as it is a source of thousands of jobs because of brine cyst farming, and mineral extraction etc.
It was found that the lake volume is declining during the study period. This was determined to be because of a lessening of lake input and more specifically stream discharge as precipitation and evaporation did not show a significant decrease or increase. The seasonality of Great Salt Lake was found to have a wet season in spring, a dry season in summer and an intermediate period during autumn and winter. Additionally, the wet season is becoming dryer and shorter compared to past years which has likely been linked to an increase in temperatures and/or water diversions (which was not analysed in this thesis) potentially leading to a lessening of the snowpack which is an important source of water for Great Salt Lake. This is possibly because of increasing temperatures which lets the atmosphere hold more water which in turn leads to less precipitation and longer dry seasons. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Rosenlund, Gabriel LU
supervisor
organization
course
NGEK01 20251
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Great Salt Lake, Terminal Lake, Water Balance
publication/series
Student thesis series INES
report number
708
language
English
id
9202345
date added to LUP
2025-06-19 14:42:17
date last changed
2025-06-19 14:42:17
@misc{9202345,
  abstract     = {{This thesis aims to investigate the water balance, seasonality, and to speculate about the future of Great Salt Lake, Utah, and more specifically the south part of Great Salt Lake, during a study period ranging from 2004 to 2024. The reason this is important is because the lake is a keystone in the western United States and serves as an important food source for millions of migratory birds as well as a habitat for wildlife in nearby wetlands. Additionally, the lake serves as an economic keystone as it is a source of thousands of jobs because of brine cyst farming, and mineral extraction etc. 
It was found that the lake volume is declining during the study period. This was determined to be because of a lessening of lake input and more specifically stream discharge as precipitation and evaporation did not show a significant decrease or increase. The seasonality of Great Salt Lake was found to have a wet season in spring, a dry season in summer and an intermediate period during autumn and winter. Additionally, the wet season is becoming dryer and shorter compared to past years which has likely been linked to an increase in temperatures and/or water diversions (which was not analysed in this thesis) potentially leading to a lessening of the snowpack which is an important source of water for Great Salt Lake. This is possibly because of increasing temperatures which lets the atmosphere hold more water which in turn leads to less precipitation and longer dry seasons.}},
  author       = {{Rosenlund, Gabriel}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  series       = {{Student thesis series INES}},
  title        = {{Dried Up! An analysis of Great Salt Lake Water Balance from 2004 - 2024}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}