Three months ago, we told you the Great Salt Lake was disappearing — and what Utah stood to lose. Today, we ask the harder question: Is anyone actually saving it?
In June, "Deseret Voices" Episode 37 laid out the stakes: toxic dust, billions in health costs, and an ecosystem on the brink. Since then, the lake has dropped even closer to its all-time low — losing 800,000 acre-feet per year despite near-normal precipitation. A new commissioner has been appointed. A president has promised a billion dollars. And only a fraction has arrived.
In this follow-up episode, host Jane Clayson Johnson sits down with three people at the center of the response:
▸ Sen. John Curtis — Utah's Republican senator, who is navigating the gap between a presidential promise and a congressional check, while making the case that saving the lake is an economic imperative as much as an environmental one.
▸ Hannah Freeze — Utah's new Great Salt Lake commissioner, appointed July 2026. A farmer's daughter turned quarterback of the state's multi-agency rescue effort, she brings a five-point federal spending plan and a pilot program where 90 farmers voluntarily lease water to the lake.
▸ Ben Abbott — The BYU ecologist who returned to “Deseret Voices” with a blunt update: only 26% of the lake is still functioning, saving a saline lake is something no country has ever done, and the restoration goal will require a 40% reduction in water consumption.
In this episode, you'll hear:
Where Trump's $1 billion Great Salt Lake promise actually stands — and why Congress hasn't written the check.
The difference between stabilizing the lake (250,000 acre-feet) and restoring it (1 million acre-feet per year).
How Alpine City, Utah, voluntarily cut water use 12% in a single year — with no mandate.
Why Utah's farmers wrote their own water-leasing legislation instead of waiting for regulation.
What Iran's Lake Urmia — where the government promised restoration five times before the lake disappeared — tells us about Utah's odds.
The 30 to 70 annual dust events now coming off the exposed lakebed, and the $1 million air-quality monitoring network going live this fall.
Whether the Endangered Species Act or EPA protections could trigger a forced federal response.
Ben Abbott's candid assessment that saving the lake is "a long shot" — and Sen. Curtis' pioneer-ancestors rebuttal.
This conversation is about more than a lake. It's about whether a community can live within its means, protect the vulnerable, and do something no one else in the world has managed — before time runs out.
If you haven't listened to Episode 37, start there: https://www.deseret.com/video/2026/06/26/deseret-voices-episode-37-the-real-cost-of-losing-the-great-salt-lake/
October 15th, 2026, 09:00 am
Deseret Voices
Is the Great Salt Lake Past the Point of No Return?
00:00
48m
Published October 15th, 2026, 09:00 am
Description
Three months ago, we told you the Great Salt Lake was disappearing — and what Utah stood to lose. Today, we ask the harder question: Is anyone actually saving it?
In June, "Deseret Voices" Episode 37 laid out the stakes: toxic dust, billions in health costs, and an ecosystem on the brink. Since then, the lake has dropped even closer to its all-time low — losing 800,000 acre-feet per year despite near-normal precipitation. A new commissioner has been appointed. A president has promised a billion dollars. And only a fraction has arrived.
In this follow-up episode, host Jane Clayson Johnson sits down with three people at the center of the response:
▸ Sen. John Curtis — Utah's Republican senator, who is navigating the gap between a presidential promise and a congressional check, while making the case that saving the lake is an economic imperative as much as an environmental one.
▸ Hannah Freeze — Utah's new Great Salt Lake commissioner, appointed July 2026. A farmer's daughter turned quarterback of the state's multi-agency rescue effort, she brings a five-point federal spending plan and a pilot program where 90 farmers voluntarily lease water to the lake.
▸ Ben Abbott — The BYU ecologist who returned to “Deseret Voices” with a blunt update: only 26% of the lake is still functioning, saving a saline lake is something no country has ever done, and the restoration goal will require a 40% reduction in water consumption.
In this episode, you'll hear:
Where Trump's $1 billion Great Salt Lake promise actually stands — and why Congress hasn't written the check.
The difference between stabilizing the lake (250,000 acre-feet) and restoring it (1 million acre-feet per year).
How Alpine City, Utah, voluntarily cut water use 12% in a single year — with no mandate.
Why Utah's farmers wrote their own water-leasing legislation instead of waiting for regulation.
What Iran's Lake Urmia — where the government promised restoration five times before the lake disappeared — tells us about Utah's odds.
The 30 to 70 annual dust events now coming off the exposed lakebed, and the $1 million air-quality monitoring network going live this fall.
Whether the Endangered Species Act or EPA protections could trigger a forced federal response.
Ben Abbott's candid assessment that saving the lake is "a long shot" — and Sen. Curtis' pioneer-ancestors rebuttal.
This conversation is about more than a lake. It's about whether a community can live within its means, protect the vulnerable, and do something no one else in the world has managed — before time runs out.
If you haven't listened to Episode 37, start there: https://www.deseret.com/video/2026/06/26/deseret-voices-episode-37-the-real-cost-of-losing-the-great-salt-lake/
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Deseret Voices
Welcome to Deseret Voices, a weekly podcast from the Deseret News (https://deseret.com) that brings depth, nuance and respect to conversations about today’s complex topics and current events. Join our hosts, award-winning journalists McKay Coppins and Jane Clayson Johnson, every Thursday as they go beyond news headlines by talking with newsmakers and thought leaders to find common ground and uncover unique perspectives on today’s critical issues in politics, faith, sports, and more.
