Setting records.

The Great Salt Lake hit its lowest recorded levels today. At this moment, the lake and its globally important ecosystem is teetering on a knife edge. Squeezed between the twin pressures of human development and climate change, the lake is now officially disappearing. Last time we saw such a low lake level was in the 1960s, and the levels rebounded quickly. This time, we’re just getting started. It’s only July, and the lake will continue dropping through the summer and fall. We expect (we expect!) to lose another foot or so before irrigation lets up and snow starts to fall sometime in November. Because the lake is so shallow, every inch of water translates to many square miles of lost surface area and exposed shoreline, and major habitat loss for birds such as these American Avocets.

On a personal note, it’s getting harder for me to take photos like these, because every day the water’s edge recedes further away from my access points, and the intervening mudflat is seriously treacherous. Each time I visit, it’s a new landscape. I wonder how long I will have any access at all.

I decided that this summer, I will focus my bird photography on the lake. I hope to capture and document some of the beauty of the place, and to raise awareness amongst the locals and my own social circles, including bird lovers and photographers, about the situation. I hope you enjoy my photos of the Great Salt Lake. I hope they help you frame your own perception of the lake as a place of great beauty, a treasure beyond compare. I hope you will be compelled to raise your voice for the Great Salt Lake in some way.

American Avocets feed at the Great Salt Lake at sunset. This photo was taken in spring at a location that is now completely dry.