Click the link to read the article on The Deseret News website (Carter Williams). Here’s an excerpt:
March 26, 2025
Water levels at the Great Salt Lake’s southern arm remain a foot below where they were this time last year as the gap between it and its northern arm shrinks. The state agency tasked with managing the massive body of water is hopeful for a good spring runoff from a “remarkably average” snowpack collection season that’s nearing an end.
“We are sitting … better than I would have expected (with) where we were a month ago,” Great Salt Lake Commissioner Brian Steed said as he provided an update on lake conditions to reporters on Tuesday. “We’ve just had … a ‘miracle’ March, and we’re happy to have that ‘miracle March’ and get water levels back up where they need to be.”
The Great Salt Lake’s southern arm is now up to 4,193.3 feet in elevation, per U.S. Geological Survey data; its northern arm is at 4,192.4 feet in elevation. While the southern arm is a foot below its level this time last year, the northern arm is up about 1½ feet because more water has flowed into it since last year. It’s expected to receive a boost from the basin’s snowpack, which is up to 18.6 inches of snow-water equivalent, about 95% of its annual median average, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service. At least one more storm is projected later this week, while long-range outlooks also favor a wet start to April, which could elevate the basin to its third straight above-normal season.
The conservation service estimates the lake will rise another 0.5 to 1.5 feet this spring, but several variables could factor into how much…On the other hand, the lake could also receive another boost from controlled releases. Utah’s reservoir system remains 82% full — about a percentage point higher than last year and well above normal before the spring snowmelt — which means there’s less water needed from spring runoff to refill the system.