LAYTON, Utah — A new irrigation system in Layton hopes to send water from miles away to the drying Great Salt Lake.
The plan is for an 18-inch pipe to carry water to a 300 acre pasture in the Kays Creek area, which will then eventually make it to the lake.
“The old system was just earth and ditches, so it wasn't very efficient, it didn't water the property correctly," said Mike Kolendrianos, Great Salt Lake Lake Shoreland Preserve Manager. "This technology is 100 years old that we've been using. So anywhere that they can improve this, this means just more water will stay in the environment, make its way down to the lake.”
Kolendrianos estimates the new irrigation system will save about five percent more water each year.
“As this water goes across these pastures, it will soak in and then it will eventually make it to the freshwater zone of the Great Salt Lake also just through the ground,” he explained.
Freshwater wetlands near and at the eastern portion of the lake are some of the last remaining bird habitats around the Great Salt Lake following years of development and drought impacts.
“These zones provide really good habitat for the water fowl and the shore birds that utilize that," said Kolendrianos. "A lot of pond weed, just a lot of ducks and water fowl feed off that, that grow in these ponds. All kinds of different type of wetland, plants that produce seeds that the birds will feed off of.”
Whether it’s stopping toxic dust blowing off the dry lake bed, the economic benefits with tourism it provides, or the wildlife, officials say everyone should all care about filling up the lake, Kolendrianos believes the irrigation being installed is one tool that will help.
“It affects all of us, so it's important to keep water in that,” he said.
