00:00memories of the great salt lake full of water as a kid the lake was full basically i mean i
00:06don't remember having to walk way out at all have been replaced with miles of dry lake bed and dust
00:13the largest saltwater lake in the western hemisphere a lifeline for millions of migrating
00:18birds that feed on brine shrimp is shrinking once we have no water we're done as the water level
00:24drops and the lake shrinks more of this lake bed is exposed containing arsenic and other heavy metals
00:30strong winds here can carry that in the direction of more than two million people we still have more
00:36than 800 square miles of exposed lake bed that blows when we have strong wind professor kevin
00:41perry says too much water is being diverted upstream for drinking farming and industry before it can
00:48reach the great salt lake right now we are diverting your 30 percent more water than what is sustainable
00:54for the lake utah's push to use less water is paying off especially after one of the worst snow packs
01:01on
01:01record every lake in the western u.s is at a record low except for great salt lake because of
01:07the
01:07conservation efforts state leaders have set a goal to raise the lake seven feet to a level considered
01:13healthy in time for the 2034 winter games the olympics are useful because they give us a target
01:19date the last thing that anybody wants to see is global coverage about how the great salt lake is an
01:26ecological disaster it will not be cheap or easy perry says the effort will likely cost billions of
01:33dollars and demand deep cuts in water use he's hopeful it can be a blueprint for the western u.s
01:40preparing for a hotter and drier future it's not a problem that's being caused by climate change it's
01:47not a problem that's being driven by mega droughts it's really being driven by the depletion of water
01:54upstream it is possible to save the lake for accuweather i'm bill waddell
