The Great Salt Lake of Utahthe largest saltwater lake in the western hemisphere, and one of the most toxic, could be on the verge of disappearing in the next five years, exposing millions of people to harmful dust trapped in the drying lake bedaccording to scientists.

The urgent warning, issued in a Jan. 4 report by a team of 32 conservationists and conservationists, says the lake has lost 73 percent of its water and 60 percent of its surface area since 1850 and faces “unstoppable danger.”

Without emergency measures to add another 1.234 trillion liters of water to the lake annually, or enough water to fill nearly 500,000 Olympic-size swimming pools, could pass the tipping point by the end of 2024.

Utah’s Great Salt Lake: A Time Bomb​

The Great Salt Lake serves as habitat for about 10 million migratory birds and brings Utah about $2.5 billion a year in economic activity, but after drying up at record rates since 2020, it’s currently 18 feet below their levels natural averages, according to the report.

According to the report, Scientists and conservationists blame excessive water use by the region’s alfalfa and hay farms, who take 74% of the many trillion gallons of total water diverted from the lake to irrigate their sprawling farms. If the lake is to be saved, total water consumption must be reduced rapidly by 30-50%.

“The first law of ecology is ‘everything is connected. The collapse or recovery of the Great Salt Lake will have regional and even hemispheric repercussions. Losing it would be a global tragedy,” the report’s lead author Benjamin Abbott, associate professor of science of flora and fauna at Brigham Young University.

“We must rapidly reduce our water consumption or suffer the consequences. You cannot negotiate with nature,” he added.

Health risks

In addition to removing water needed for farms, homes, reservoirs, and the mining of critical minerals such as lithium and magnesium, the rapid drying up of the lake would also entail serious dangers for both the environment and human health.

The bottom of the lake contains toxic dust mixed with dangerous metals such as antimony, copper, zirconium and arsenic., which could be picked up and carried by gusts of wind to damage crops; degrade the soil; melt snow; and, if inhaled, increase the risks of diseases such as asthma, bronchitis, heart disease and cancer.

According to the report, the dust has already been recorded from Great Salt Lake in southern Utah and Wyoming.

Also the decrease of lake water it is increasing its salinity above safe levels for algae and the brine shrimp that sustain its massive food web, pushing the region’s ecosystem to the brink of total collapse.

However, scientists say all hope is not lost. The Great Salt Lake is fed by the Weber, Jordan and Bear riverswhich in turn get their snowfall water from the Wasatch Mountains east and north of Salt Lake City.

Above-average snowfall in the mountains this winter means that a significant amount of water could be used to replenish the lake. For that to happen, the report’s authors say, politicians will need to declare emergency measures to prevent water from being diverted for other purposes.

“We have to pull emergency levers to get the water from our above-average snowpack into the lake,” Abbott said. “There’s already been some really encouraging progress, with major bills passed last year that will encourage long-term conservation. We need to add an emergency bailout to the mix.”

The most toxic lake in the world evaporates and the health risks are as enormous as they are devastating