The last ones – fruitlessly waiting for better times on dry land – were removed last year. It’s like being on a cliff,” says Baxter, who has studied lake microorganisms for a quarter-of-a-century and is director of the Great Salt Lake Institute at Westminster College.īehind her, the small marina looks more like a large puddle without boats. “It’s amazing how quickly the situation has worsened in the last two years. Last November, a record low of 4,188 feet above sea level was recorded. The effects of climate change and population pressure from neighboring Salt Lake City – which has 1.2 million residents, a number expected to double by 2050 – are also contributing to the collapse of the ecosystem. The lake has lost 73% of its water and 60% of its surface area, as a result of agricultural irrigation that is incompatible with the mega-drought that has plagued the Western United States for nearly two decades. And, amidst this majestic vista, you can almost hear the tick-tock of an environmental time bomb.

Sergio Gomesīaxter is surrounded by the majestic 12,000-foot-high snow-capped mountains of the Wasatch Range. Biologist Bonnie Baxter, director of the Great Salt Lake Institute, with the Great Salt Lake in the background. Where a famous resort from the early-20th century once stood – before it was engulfed in flames – stands a sad imitation: an abandoned building that now serves as a symbol of a unique ecosystem’s decline.

In mid-March, you can see sand, mud and dead birds. It is the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere and the eight-largest in the world. Biologist Bonnie Baxter points in the distance, to where the southern shores of Utah’s Great Salt Lake used to reach.

Spiral jetty 2016