Utah Confronts ‘Existential Threat’ of Vanishing Great Salt Lake

The clock is ticking to save the Intermountain West from an impending environmental disaster that could expose millions of people to dangerous sediments and collapse a keystone ecosystem.

The Great Salt Lake is on the brink of disappearing and turning into a bowl of toxic dust that could poison the air around Salt Lake City.

The lake—which has already shrunk by two-thirds—would be gone in five years without policy changes, scientists say, and making tectonic changes now is crucial to arresting the decline of water.

“It’s nothing less than an existential threat for people on the Wasatch front,” Utah Rep. ...