About this Report
A new collaborative report, led by University of Utah Professor of Atmospheric Sciences Kevin Perry, provides policymakers, agency leaders, and the public with the most comprehensive assessment to date of potential dust control options for the Great Salt Lake, as declining water levels continue to expose vast areas of lakebed to wind erosion. This study was released February 12, 2026.
The study, supported by the Wilkes Center for Climate Science & Policy in collaboration with the Great Salt Lake Commissioner’s Office, Utah Division of Water Resources, and Department of Environmental Quality considers a wide-range of options to engineer dust control measures for the exposed lakebed—along with their costs, water requirements, and environmental tradeoffs. The study will inform and strengthen ongoing work being done on the Great Salt Lake Basin Integrated Plan.
Dust from Great Salt Lake poses a credible and growing public health risk, with potential regulatory, economic, and ecological consequences if left unmanaged.
Evaluating Dust Control Options
The study examines twelve potential dust control measures, ranging from water-dependent approaches such as shallow flooding and brine caps to non-water methods like gravel cover and artificial surface roughness. Each option is assessed for effectiveness, cost, water demand, maintenance needs, and ecological impacts.
Key insights include:
- The most effective dust control measures generally require significant water and long-term investment.
- Non-water alternatives can play an important role where water is limited but often provide fewer ecological benefits.
- Best practice may be a portfolio approach, blending water-based and non-water-based dust control measures to balance effectiveness, cost, and water use. No single solution is appropriate for all areas of the lakebed; site-specific and adaptive strategies are essential.
- Water availability is the dominant constraint shaping what mitigation strategies are feasible.
- Restoring lake inflows is the most promising long-term strategy, with dust suppression as a co-benefit—but it requires basin-wide water conservation.
- Monitoring comes first— without robust monitoring, Utah risks either over-investing prematurely or under-reacting until federal mandates force action.
- Inaction is not cost-free—delaying response increases the likelihood of federal intervention, economic losses, and higher public-health costs.
