Great Salt Lake is a terminal lake, which means there is no outlet. Consequently, minerals, effluent and chemical pollutants are collected and concentrated in the lake.

As we continue to grow as a population living along its shores, more and more discharges flow downstream into the lake. For instance, storm water runoff from roads and hard surfaces, and increased nutrient loading from agricultural operations and waste water treatment facilities enter the lake daily. And yet, the effects on the lake’s aquatic ecosystem are not well understood.

Most recently, USGS has identified a growing list of “emerging contaminants” entering the lake that reflect the practices of all of these people. These contaminants are not filtered out in the waste water treatment process and consist of organic compounds like pesticides and solvents, an array of pharmaceuticals, and endocrine disruptors such as hormone compounds.

The presence of these contaminants is being detected in the waters and sediments of the lake, but their effects on aquatic organisms and the beneficial uses of the Great Salt Lake Ecosystem are virtually unknown at this point.

Permitted discharges to the lake and watersheds are managed by approval of discharge permits through the Division of Water Quality. Numeric water quality standards have not been established for Great Salt Lake at this time. Instead, a narrative standard is used. (It should be noted however, that there is a process currently underway to develop a numeric standard for selenium in the open waters of the lake.)

By using a narrative standard, as stated in the 1999 Great Salt Lake Draft Comprehensive Management Plan, “the general policy is that, to the extent feasible, no pollutants (discharges) should be delivered to the lake in amounts that result in concentrations greater than those already present in the lake.”

It is FRIENDS’ analysis that using a narrative standard for managing discharges into this hemispherically important ecosystem is risky business. And that the State should develop numeric standards for all regulated discharges into the lake and should work toward comprehensive watershed-based restoration and protection for Great Salt Lake.