SALT LAKE CITY — Protesters showed up outside the Utah capitol building Tuesday morning calling for more action to save the Great Salt Lake.
People showed up very early and placed dozens of signs on the south lawn of the capitol. Security made them remove the signs but the message is loud and clear: Utah lawmakers need to do more to save the great Salt Lake before it’s too late.
Krista Parry is a PR and marketing pro who spent nearly two decades working for the Park City Mountain Resort.
“I love to ski. The greatest snow on earth is what Utah is known for," Parry said. "But if we don’t save our great Salt Lake we may not have skiing at all.”
She now devotes her energy and expertise to this volunteer organization. They only formed last September and she says they already have nearly 600 members.
Parry acknowledges the fact that Utah House Speaker Brad Wilson convened a special summit on the Great Salt Lake earlier this month.
But she and her group want to bring extra attention to the issue now, since they have 45 days until all state lawmakers will be here during the session.
“There have been some bills out there but they’re kind of baby steps and, again, right now because of the dire need of where we are, we need huge actions taken." said Parry. "So our goal is to bring awareness, to tell the legislators that Utahns care about the great Salt Lake and that we need to take measures that will save it.”
The Great Salt Lake is at its lowest level in 60 years and Parry says it will take 2 million acre-feet of water annually going back in to the Lake to keep it from drying up.
If that happens many scientists agree that toxic clouds of dust from the bottom of the lake would create tremendous health hazards for all of us living along the Wasatch Front.
“So that’s why it’s so important that we do this now because we don’t have more time," said Parry. "We should’ve done this 10 years ago but now is the time we need to start taking action.“
Brad Wilson says he will try to bring all the different stake holders on this issue to the table later this year and try to come up with solutions.
In the meantime Krista Parry says she and her group will be out here every day to try and be that squeaky wheel.
