Great Salt Lake will benefit from 10,000 additional acre-feet of water thanks to a partnership between the National Audubon Society and The Nature Conservancy—as co-managers of the Great Salt Lake Watershed Enhancement Trust—in partnership with Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, and the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands.
“Delivering new water to Great Salt Lake is essential to preserve the health of the lake and Utah communities, as well as protect the habitats for millions of birds that rely on it,” said Marcelle Shoop, Executive Director of the Trust and National Audubon Society’s Saline Lakes Director. “We are grateful for the vision and commitment of many partners, for this innovative late season water release to diversify benefits to the lake and its wetlands, as well as the Jordan River. We look forward to future opportunities to repeat these efforts in years to come.” Read more.
This past April, more than 300 participants gathered at over 200 wetland sites across 11 states in the Intermountain West, armed with binoculars and spotting scopes, joined together for one purpose: to survey shorebirds. Facing inclement weather and an overwhelming sense of urgency to time their effort to capture peak migration perfectly, the data collected will contribute to a much larger effort—the Intermountain West Shorebird Surveys.