The Department of Natural Resources and Energy published a report
in January 1983 titled, Recommendations for a Great Salt Lake Contingency Plan for
Influencing High and Low Levels of the Great Salt Lake. The contingency plan was
prepared within parameters of the December 16, 1976, Comprehensive Plan for Managing
the Great Salt Lake. The contingency plan of the Department of Natural Resources
and Energy contained recommendations to meet the then legislative mandate for maintaining
the level of the lake below 4202 feet of elevation (Utah Code Annotated, 1953, as
amended in 1979 Title 65-8a-7).
At the time, the news media and others made light of the law that required
the lake to be maintained below elevation 4202. The contingency plan, however,
focused on the concern from industry that resulted in recommendations to the
governor that something needed to be done to protect important investments and
resources near the lake. In retrospect, it is interesting to note that the
contingency plan was not prepared because of the abnormal high precipitation and
flooding that occurred in September 1982. The plan was prepared because the lake
since 1963 had been rising at an alarming rate and was predicted to reach
elevation 4202 feet by 1983.
As early as 1976, the Great Salt Lake Technical Team started looking at the
rising lake level. Ideas like pumping lake water into the West Desert, diking,
and upstream development were being discussed.
The 1983 contingency plan basically gave a brief history of lake fluctuations
and analyzed what it called the three most likely trends for future lake levels.
They were:
- Most likely lake level trend: elevation 4207 feet by the year 2025.
- Most likely low lake level trend: elevation 4189 feet by the year 2010.
- Most extreme, yet possible, high lake level trend: elevation 4210 feet by the year 1998.
The third trend, elevation 4210 feet by the year 1998, viewed as the most
extreme, was actually quite close in elevation but not accurate in timing. The
lake reached elevation 4211.85 by June 5, 1986.
The plan also assembled information about alternatives that had been
previously studied, such as pumping water from the lake into the West Desert, breaching the
Southern Pacific Railroad Causeway, diking low areas around the lake, and
storing/developing water upstream to the Great Salt Lake before it enters the lake.
The contingency plan was the first report to recommend pumping water into the
West Desert as the best short-term solution to lake flooding. It further
suggested that long-term solutions might include development of the Bear River,
creation of fresh water ponds in the north end of Bear River Bay, or possible
development of a peak power project in Puddle Valley.
The plan concluded, ". . . there are presently insufficient data on which
to base firm action recommendations," and urged that additional feasibility
analyses be completed.
This conclusion led to donations from private capital to begin a feasibility
analysis of pumping water from the Great Salt Lake into the West Desert.
