SALT LAKE CITY — A pair of bills introduced on Utah's Capitol Hill would pay tribute to the brine shrimp and create a special license plate to raise money for wetland habitat preservation.
Rep. Rosemary Lesser, D-Ogden, filed House Bill 137 that designates the brine shrimp as the official "Utah State Crustacean." Brine shrimp live in the Great Salt Lake and are a lucrative industry. Rep. Lesser tried last year to get the bill passed, but it did not advance.
Sen. Jen Plumb, D-Salt Lake City, has filed Senate Bill 92, which creates a special Great Salt Lake license plate. The money from purchase of the plates would go to the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire & State Lands' sovereign lands account for watershed and ecosystem protection.
These bills are among the most light-hearted of a serious issue. The Great Salt Lake has hit a historic low and the ecological impacts of that could be catastrophic for northern Utah. Dust storms from an exposed lake bed are already blowing into areas around the lake, bringing with them naturally-occurring toxins. There are also significant harms to snowpack, wetlands, animals and public health.
Public polling has shown overwhelming support for measures to save the lake. It has united environmentalists and politicians on efforts to reverse the Great Salt Lake's declines.
House Republican leaders have said saving the Great Salt Lake is among their top priorities in the upcoming legislative session. Speaker Brad Wilson has personally pushed legislation to help the lake.
Millions of dollars are expected to be spent and a series of bills will be considered on water conservation measures. Lawmakers are favoring bills to offer incentives to agriculture producers — the state's largest users of water — to get them to switch to new technologies that allow them to grow crops with less water. There will also be spending on turf incentives and more money to try to get water directly into the lake.
On Tuesday, a bill was introduced to require golf courses in Utah to publicly disclose how many gallons of water they use a year to water fairways, greens and driving ranges.
This article is published through the Great Salt Lake Collaborative, a solutions journalism initiative that partners news, education and media organizations to help inform people about the plight of the Great Salt Lake—and what can be done to make a difference before it is too late. Read all of our stories at greatsaltlakenews.org.
