The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-06-06
SAY GREAT SALT
LAKE is DOOMED
Will Have Entirely Disappeared
in twenty-five Years.
is ON A STEADY DECLINE
FACTS AND FIGURES GIVEN By
THOSE STUDYING SUBJECT.

TT the level Of Great salt lake con-
tinues TO recede at the present rate
for twenty-five years. all that will
be left of the great inland sea that once
covered this entire valley viii be vast
desert of salt and sand. with possibly q
small pool OF brine somewhere in its
salty waste. fed by the little water that
reaches the lake from tributary
streams.
This is the conclusion drawn by some
who have made a careful study Of the
history Of Utah's famous sea The de-
duction is based upon a careful com
pilatien Of records extending back forty
years All Of these show conclusively
that the lake has been on a steady de-
cline for the past thirty-hve years, with
a material increase in this rate during
the past three years.
Although there have been temporary
rises and falls OF about q foot each year
in thirty-five, the level has been stead
. lily falling at the rate OF more than a
/ foot in every three years In twenty
five years at this ratio the level viii
be forty feet below its present stand
ard, which would leave practically all
of the lake bottom dry. as the water in
the north arm. which is considered the
deepest portion of the sea, is not more
than forty feet.
Continues to Fall.
For years the action of the lake has
been carefully watched with the vain
hope that the water would once more
regain its old level Though there have
/ been seasons of unusual precipitation
since the decline commenced, The lake
has continued to disappear. After q
/ period Of the heaviest rains an Observa-
ton has shown fail instead OF rise.
Apparently the precipitation has lit
tie effect in raising the water On the
other hand the waters Of the streams
that have fed the great sea are being
turned away each year in greater guam
/ titles for irrigation purposes Under
the present plans for greater irrigation
5 facilities, more water viii doubtless be
taken from the lake. The result is
shown by the fall
The steady decline OF the lake which.
/ it is believed, will leave it a mighty bed
/ of precipitated salt within a quarter Of
q century, is shown by a chart ludI-
eating the action OF the level for forty
/ years past The first record was made
! in 1868. At that time the water was
} practically two feet above the zero
( point There was no irrigation IN Utah
/ then During the following four wears
T the ecIgitation was greatly alrel-e-t1ls-
normal.
Lake Highest in 1858.
The level went up at the rate of from
I two to nearly four feet a year until
4 1868, when it stood at the highest level
( on record-thirteen and a half feet
{ above zero. II the next five years ths
I level dropped seven feet six inches.
l There was again an increase in the pre-
cipitatiOn and the lake went up until
; in 1879 ii registered twelve and a half
/ feet above zero.
Since that time it has been on a
steady decline, with but one rise Of any
I consequence. This began in 1883 and
+ reached its greatest height in 1856.
/ when the level stood at nine feet above
zero. The precipitation preceding this
{ rise was but one inch less than that
/ preceding the rise TO twelve and a half
D feet yet the difference in the two wa
{ ter levels was three and a half feet
It is noticeable that it was about this
time that irrigation was begun in the
state on rather an extensive scale The
effect Of the increased precipitation was
apparently cOunteracted by the diver
sion Of the waters from the feed
streams.
The records also show that in 1875
( there commenced a series of yearly
rises and falls of the level. the water
going up and down from six inches 10
one foot each year A comparative
chart Of the lake level and the rain
fan shows that these yearly huctua-
lions varied in accordance with the
/ yearly precipitation. Since 1915 these
fuctua lions have occurred each season
until 1900
Rapid Recession Of Waters.
Again the chart shows that since the
rise Of 1S66-the third rise of any mag
nitude on record-there has been
+ rapid recession of the waters regard
+ less Of the increases in annual precipi-
tatiOn, some Of which have eQuaied
/ that preceding the last big rise. In
3 fact. the rain map shows the average
precipitation to have been normal since
then with the exception of a, year here
and there. Nevertheless, the level OF
the lake has continued to go down
Z From 1886 TO 1900 this decline was at
the rate Of One-haIf foot per year. In
/ 1891, when the precipitation was the
/ same as in 1886, the lake was six feet
( lower than IL was on the latter date
Ia 1900 the greatest fall on record
/ occurred. The level went down nearly
! four feet in the year. Yet an obServa-
ton Of the rain chart shows that Tor
{ five years preceding this time the rain
fall was above the normal. At the
{ close of 1900 the lake stood one foot
! below zero. In 1901 il stood one foot
two inches below; in 1902 it reached
( three feet six inches below.
At the present time, when the lake
/ stands at the highest point Of its year
/ scale, according to q comparison OF
/ the records, it is two feet six inches
: below zero and still falling. This year
3 the annual rise brought il up q 1907,
{ vet it is two feet below the mark reg
/ istered at this season last year, ana me
/ precipitation this season has been Tar
] greater than II was last
Cause Of the Drying Up
Two reasons have been assigned FOR
B this recession of the waters. One IS
deficiency in precipitation. and the
( other is Irrigation. Those VINO hoiq 70
been a decrease in the precipitation Tor
/ a cycle of years. and that when new
! cycle of increased. rainfall comes on
the lake viii return TO its old standard
However. the rain chart shows that IN
times OF unusual precipitation there
have been unusual falls Of the leVel,
( and they have been permanent ones.
AS a consequences the opinion is now
becoming general that another cause