What Will It Take to Make Great Salt Lake Great Again?

Published April 13, 2026 at 2:59 PM MDT

Great Salt Lake normally doesn’t reach peak water level until late May. But after a record-low snowpack, the lake has already topped out, and experts warn it will likely brush up against its own record low. Could a sizable influx of federal dollars help save it?

Some observers may have balked when President Trump posted on social media earlier this year promising to “MAKE ‘THE LAKE’ GREAT AGAIN.” He backed it up in his budget proposal to Congress, requesting a billion dollars to ensure Great Salt Lake’s long-term sustainability. The challenge, says BYU ecologist Ben Abbott, will be turning that money into water that can actually help fill the lake. Abbott and biologist Bonnie Baxter join us to talk about how the lake is doing and where it’s headed after a dry winter, a warm spring, and an active legislative session.

GUESTS

Ben Abbott is an assistant professor of ecosystem ecology at Brigham Young University and executive director of Grow the Flow, an non-profit advocacy group.
Bonnie Baxter is a professor of biology at Westminster College and director of the Great Salt Lake Institute.

Broadcast April 16, 2026