Without question, Utah is facing the worst drought I have ever seen in my lifetime. In fact, much of the western United States is dealing with severe drought conditions as well.
One of the many problems Utah is experiencing with regards to the drought is the receding waters of the Great Salt Lake. Water is evaporating from the salty inland sea faster than rivers can replace it.
It has recently been reported the Great Salt Lake is at an all-time historic low level and it just keeps dropping day by day.
The Great Salt Lake is a vital piece of northern Utah’s economy as well as ecology, but both of those are in some kind of jeopardy as the lake continues to shrink.
Tourism is a big part of what the Great Salt Lake brings to the local economy, particularly people visiting Antelope Island State Park.
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In fact, Utah State Park data shows between June 2020 and July 2021 approximately 1,050,052 people visited Antelope Island State Park. For comparison, roughly 282,145 people visited the island in 2011.
That’s a huge increase for sure, but one that, unfortunately, has unintended consequences attached to it.
With the increase in visitation also comes an increase in people not respecting the law and nature, particularly the exposed Great Salt Lake lake bed.
I witnessed one such situation a couple months back while driving across the Antelope Island causeway where a group of teenagers decided to toss the law, as well as common sense, out the window and go for a joy-ride on the lake bed.
In this particular situation, as you can see, the off-roading expedition didn’t end very well for the driver and passengers of the vehicle.
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The soft mud of the Great Salt Lake lake bed quickly grabbed the vehicle’s tires, forcing the vehicle to only dig itself in further and further until it was deemed the SUV wasn’t going anywhere.
Three tow trucks were called to the scene where one of them eventually was able to pull the vehicle out of the mud and back onto the causeway.
While briefly talking to the law enforcement officer at the scene, it was mentioned to me this kind of thing is becoming more and more common on the causeway and adjoining lake bed.
Driving on the exposed Great Salt Lake lake bed without a permit is, in fact, against the law.
I am not certain what situations would allow a permit to be issued, but from what I gather, taking a joy-ride on the lake bed isn’t one of them.
Unfortunately, this problem is becoming far too common with the receding lake leaving miles and miles of exposed mudflats to tempt a high-spirited teenager or adult looking for a little fun at nature’s expense.
It’s just one more consequence of our impending drought that could easily be avoided if we both follow the law and use a little common sense as well.
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