PROVO, Utah — Dr. Ben Abbott was out for a mountain bike ride when he saw the dust storm.
He pulled out his phone and took video of Saturday's storm that blew into the Provo-Orem area. Buildings were obscured in the dust being carried by strong winds.
"It was rush hour, so you just saw tons of cars blanketed in dust," he said.
Dr. Abbott, a Brigham Young University ecology professor who also heads the environmental group "Grow the Flow," shared with FOX 13 News pictures and video of the storm that picked up dust right off the Great Salt Lake. The University of Utah's Department of Atmospheric Sciences said the storm originated from the Utah-Idaho border with winds blowing north to south.
"That air moved across the Great Salt Lake at 35 miles per hour, picked up dust and moved it all the way through Salt Lake County and into Utah County significantly reducing visibility in those areas," said Dr. Kevin Perry, who researches the impacts of Great Salt Lake dust.
Watch video from inside a Great Salt Lake dust storm below:
Such an event is unique. But it's unknown how frequently Great Salt Lake dust makes its way into Utah County because of a lack of dust monitors around the lake.
"Right now, because of the lack of monitoring infrastructure, we can’t say this is any specific event. Except for when we have a smoking gun," Dr. Abbott said, motioning to a hazy horizon during an interview from an outlook in Provo Canyon. "When we can see it coming off the lake and blowing into the valley."
Utah's Department of Environmental Quality has received some funding to expand the number of dust monitors around the Great Salt Lake, in an effort to better understand and respond to dust events. The agency is working to roll them out in communities that are considered "dust hot spots."
"There are many sources of dust this time of the year including potentially the Great Salt Lake. It is hard to attribute the dust that blew into Utah County to a single source with our current monitoring network," Utah DEQ Executive Director Tim Davis told FOX 13 News. "The good news is that we are actively working on expanding that dust monitoring network so we can provide the public with the best possible information in the future."
Utah DEQ Executive Director Tim Davis has pushed for dust monitoring and said it is being worked on. Dr. Abbott said he would like to see Utah County communities included in dust monitoring. Provo Mayor Michelle Kaufusi's office declined to comment on Saturday's dust event.
"To have an adequate monitoring network, we need to go all the way around the lake," Dr. Abbott said. "So whenever there’s a dust event headed toward the community, we can give them a warning."
More dust monitors planned for communities around Great Salt Lake:
Great Salt Lake dust has become an increasing problem as the lake continues to shrink. Winds carry particles off the exposed lake bed into surrounding communities. FOX 13 News has documented from its own cameras dust storms blowing into Salt Lake City, as well as communities in Davis and Weber counties. University of Utah scientists have noted some powerful dust storms showing up on weather satellites.
"The particles that are lifted of the Great Salt Lake will make it to all the surrounding communities," Dr. Perry said. "In Salt Lake County, Utah County or if it’s going to the other direction, can make it up to Logan pretty easily."
But it's what is in that dust that is the subject of research — and concern. Arsenic and other potentially hazardous minerals are naturally occurring in the lake bed, which used to be covered by water. Dr. Perry is currently researching the impacts of Great Salt Lake dust on people's health and the environment. But regardless of the chemicals, he said, dust alone can be hazardous to your health.
"The big particles only stay in the atmosphere for a few minutes to a few hours. The smaller particles, the ones that get deep inside your lungs? Stay inside the atmosphere for up to two weeks," he said.
For people who are sensitive to it, Dr. Perry encouraged them to wear N-95 masks when there's a lot of dust in the air. Utah State University researchers have taken to warn people about "dust season" in the state. But regular air quality monitors don't exactly cut it as they are not calibrated to pick up dust. For example, even in Saturday's dust storm it was a "green" air quality day in Utah County, Dr. Abbott said.
The Great Salt Lake has been shrinking largely as a result of water diversions, but also impacts from drought and climate change. The lake's decline is a public health and ecological problem with reduced snowpack that feeds into Utah's drinking water supply, harms to millions of migratory birds and other wildlife that rely on the massive water body and economic harm to the state as a result of minerals the come from it.
The potential for "toxic dust" has certainly alarmed the public. Political leaders in the state have passed dozens of bills and spent more than $1 billion on water conservation measures.
Last week, the Great Salt Lake dropped to a level low enough to trigger forced conservation measures under a new Utah law. House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, told the Great Salt Lake Collaborative (of which FOX 13 News is a member) he intends to put lake issues on the agenda in an upcoming special session of the Utah State Legislature.
Dr. Abbott said he was glad to see Speaker Schultz put the lake on a special session, but added it is going to take more to help the Great Salt Lake.
"We need an executive order that’s going to get water to the lake, that’s going to provide financial support for farmers so they can make short term changes. Long term? This has to be all hands on deck," he said. "I see op-eds and comments on social media saying it’s all the farmers, all the cities, all the data centers. We all need to cut our water consumption between a third and a half to get to a sustainable level for Great Salt Lake."
This article is published through the Great Salt Lake Collaborative, a solutions journalism initiative that partners news, education and media organizations to help inform people about the plight of the Great Salt Lake—and what can be done to make a difference before it is too late. Read all of our stories at greatsaltlakenews.org.
