Article July 24, 1902 Issue

The Great Salt Lake

PROF. W. J. McGee of the government geological survey declares that the Great Salt Lake of Utah is vanishing, and that this most remarkable body of water will be completely dried up in fifty years, if not sooner, says the Washington Star. Already its waters show signs of receding, and it may not be more than twenty-five years before irrigated farms will be cultivated on what is now the bottom of this inland sea, whose waters are so salt that a body cannot sink in them.

The lake is about seventy-five miles long and half that at its greatest width, and is rather shallow, being in most places not over fifty feet deep, although a depth of possibly one hundred feet may obtain in certain places. The reason why it is so salt science says is simply because it has no outlet save through evaporation, and the streams during past ages have been carrying salt into it. These contributing streams are now being utilized for irrigating the lands around the lake, and before long immense reservoirs will be constructed in the mountains where these streams have their source, which will cut off the lake's feed entirely. When this is done the level of the lake will be lowered very fast.

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