The Youth-Led Fight to Save the Great Salt Lake

The state of Utah is prosperous in the natural resources that flow throughout its entire environment. It is home to millions of families who flourish because of the abundance our ecosystem provides. My family has lived here for 3 generations, and I am very proud of the fact that I am a born and raised Utahn. Throughout my childhood I have had the privilege of experiencing “the greatest snow on Earth” and exploring the otherworldly red rocks in the southern part of the state. I thought of Utah as a flourishing state, but now the weight of knowing that I probably will not have much of a future living in Salt Lake City sits heavy on my chest and shoulders.

Beneath layers of poisonous propaganda, the Great Salt Lake is dying, and they are not doing enough to protect it. During the most recent legislative session, I went to the State Capitol Building to lobby and witnessed what action our government was taking in regards to the Great Salt Lake. After watching this disgraceful inaction taking place, I have absolutely no faith in my local government saving our Great Salt Lake. I have no faith that they will listen to and protect the people they represent, and save our future by protecting the most vital contributor to Utah’s prosperous natural environment.

Repeatedly Utah’s government has created and passed legislation that they claim will be beneficial to the Great Salt Lake, but ultimately will give industries much more power to commit harm. For example, HB 60 is a bill that was passed this previous legislative session that limits who can protest water diversions by now requiring the public to prove they will suffer “particularized injury.” This means that people will have to show injury that will transpire on an individual level, and will not be able to justify their objection to new water diversions that will harm communities as a whole, like toxic dust (Utah Rivers Council, 2026). 

The toxic dust contains arsenic, lead, cobalt, copper, and mercury which are neurotoxic metals embedded into the lakebed sediment of the Great Salt Lake. Right now the Great Salt Lake is at only 36% capacity, so naturally there are over a thousand square miles of lakebed exposed to the wind that picks up those carcinogens and blows the toxic dust above the Salt Lake Valley where millions of people live. It is only days after a rainstorm that I and other Utahns notice how clearly we can see the mountains on the other side of the valley. Over the weeks we forget how drastically different our air is after the rain clears out the hazy dust. It looms over my head everyday thinking of how everyone living in Salt Lake City is breathing in toxic dust, and our government does not act as if that is an immediate problem to address. Especially after the Environmental Protection Agency and our local government have just dramatically rolled back regulations on our air quality by considering only current conditions of illness caused by air pollution (Richardson, 2026).

By knowing these few factors that play into our everyday lives while living in Salt Lake City, I have become restless. I cannot stand the fact that our government is not doing enough to protect our families and natural resources. I cannot stand that there are only a few more years left until the Great Salt Lake is projected to dry up and become a natural catastrophe. I cannot stand that our government feeds misinformation to the public that they are doing what they can to protect us and our future. I have seen the impact of environmental neglect play out before, and worry that history will repeat itself.

My grandma is a downwinder. She lived in a small town down wind of nuclear weapons testing which exposed her town to radiation. I am fortunate enough to know her story, and to know that the government only compensated her $50,000 for losing family members, friends, and going through two types of cancer. I have no faith that our government is working to protect us, and I have no faith that there will be any justification for the health impacts Utahns are and will face with this catastrophe at our door step.

I am trying to figure out how to deal with my dread for the future of Salt Lake City, and my fears for the wellbeing of the ones I love who live here. In this state of constant despair I look towards faith. Faith is believing in something that can’t be proven, and putting actions to that belief. I have faith. I have faith in the people of Salt Lake City, in the grassroots organizers and people who advocate to protect the future of the Great Salt Lake. I have faith in the ability of the people of Utah to work together to speak out and advocate for our futures.

This year is the second annual Earth Action Rally being held at the Utah State Capitol Building. This is the second year that I am organizing this event, fueled and inspired by the faith that I have in our people’s ability to come together to create change. Since last year, EARTHDAY.ORG and the mobilizeU Coordinator, Lee Franklin, have supported me throughout the whole process of organizing these events in Salt Lake City. It is an honor to learn how to organize and facilitate the opportunity to bring the community together and advocate for our environment. I am fortunate enough to be in a position to organize such an event, and am so grateful that this is the role I play in the movement to advocate for Salt Lake City’s future. 

The event will include speakers addressing concerns about our local environment such as the state of the Great Salt Lake, nuclear energy, data centers, and our air quality. I have faith that we can come together, educate ourselves, and advocate for protection of our natural resources and the health of the people that live in Salt Lake City. I have faith that we can come together, educate ourselves, and advocate for the protection of our natural resources and the health of the people who live in Salt Lake City. Our Power, Our Planet is a reminder that real change begins with collective action. From grassroots organizers to local communities, we hold the power to shape the future of our environment and demand accountability for the world we depend on.