What’s Happening to Utah’s Great Salt Lake?

(CBS News) – As the picture above shows, Great Salt Lake appears to be shrinking. Once covering 2,300 square miles, the lake is now just about a third that size. Its not only climate change and the west’s historic drought but the diversion of water away from the lake is a huge culprit of the shrinking size. The lake’s water is used not only for the lawns of Utah’s growing population, but 70% of the water goes to agriculture and there is also mineral extraction taking away the water, not only salt but also magnesium and ltihium.
Scientists are now warning that the lake is on track to disappear in the next five years unless measures are taken. Read more.