Great Salt Lake basin — interactive map of alfalfa water use

1986

Save the Lake

Farms — up to 665K AF/yr
Upgrade Irrigation Convert flood → sprinkler
93–125K AF/yr
Lease 20% Voluntary water leasing
100–200K AF/yr
Shorten the Season Irrigate early, release late-season water
200–340K AF/yr
Industry — already in motion
Mineral Extraction Already secured — the US Magnesium buyout + Compass’s 121K AF donation are retiring these withdrawals.
~165K AF/yr
Water returned: 0 AF/yr / 800,000 AF/yr needed
Farms can return up to 665K AF/yr — about 83% of the 800K the lake needs. The rest isn't a bigger ask on farms; it's other sectors pulling their own levers.
Beyond this map
Cities — the basin's biggest untapped pool; no firm savings number yet.
Conserve as demand grows — every gallon saved on the Wasatch Front pushes back the $2B+ Bear River diversion (~86K AF/yr off the lake; conservation has already delayed its need to ~2050).
Efficiency, with an asterisk — lining ditches & sprinklers can cut the return flow downstream users depend on.
Levers need governance — leasing programs & canal-share reform are what let this water actually move.

Irrigation Method

Flood 5.0-5.5 AF/ac/yr
Sprinkler 3.0-3.5 AF/ac/yr
Dry Crop rain-fed only
1986 Shoreline ghost pulse
1986 Historic 4,212 ft peak
Current Lake ~4,192 ft (2016 LiDAR)
Rivers natural flow
Canals diversion infrastructure
Watershed everything that drains to the lake
Data centers incoming water demand
US Magnesium #2 mineral extractor — rights bought back
acres