SALT LAKE CITY — One year ago, the Great Salt Lake was three feet lower than it is right now. Every inch of that growth is good for our climate and our air quality.
I went out with my kayak last year at the beginning of July when the lake hit its annual high. And now, it's already a little higher than that, so I went back.
I went out to exactly the same spot, right by The Great Saltair. And there, the lake extends a bit higher than it did in July 2023 — and for April, that's extraordinary, because it's not going to hit its height until early summer.
Last summer, I walked 0.37 of a mile to the edge of the lake.
On Monday's stroll, I got there in 0.27 of a mile. So after reaching the water, I decided to wade out to the spot where the water began last July for a visual comparison. Here's my point of view at 0.37 (again, where the waterline was last July) looking at the current lake's edge.
So it is pretty amazing that at the beginning of spring, the lake is this much farther out than it was at its height last year.
Although if it were at historically normal levels, I'd be swimming right now. If I went to the same spot in 1986, it would be 18 feet deep.
In the spring of 2020, it would be 9 feet deeper than it is right now.
We're currently just one foot away from reaching the lake's 10-year high, which is a glass-half-full (or perhaps, LAKE half full?) way of saying it's still "half-empty," but improving.
