Situated on leased federal land and adjacent private land, the trenches collect the briny ground water, which is then pumped to solar evaporation ponds and separated into its various components.Ĭonstruction of the interstate also may have modified the aquifer, creating another conduit for salt-laden ground water, according to BLM geologist Steve Brooks. Much of the salt, they say, appears to be dissolving and seeping from the area by way of trenches used in the potash operation. “There is no time to waste,” Zeller said.įederal geologists say the problem, in a nutshell, is that man has interfered with the hidden movement of water in the shallow aquifers that underlie the plain. Geologists estimate the salt loss at 1.6 million tons per year. Measurements taken since 1960 show that the crust has thinned from 7 feet to 5 feet at its thickest point and mere inches in some locations, according to the BLM. The Utah congressional delegation is seeking $1.3 million in federal funds to study the problem and identify solutions.īut the salt is going fast. The prospect that this famous geologic anomaly may someday be known as the Bonneville Mud Flats has spawned an unusual alliance among environmentalists, hot-rod enthusiasts and state tourism officials, who estimate that racing events here generate $2.9 million a year for the local economy. Interstate 8O, which cuts across the southern edge of the Salt Flats, also may be a factor. The water is replaced by rains that percolate through the flats and carry the salt into the ground. Although scientific data on the salt loss is far from complete, federal officials say the problem appears to stem principally from a nearby mine, which pumps salt-laden ground water to produce potash, an ingredient in fertilizers. The culprit, experts generally agree, is man. Geologists studying the phenomenon say the salt is vanishing at the rate of about 1% a year and that the flats could be gone within decades. Since 1926, when surveyors first mapped the area, the flats have shrunk from 96,000 acres to an estimated 25,000 acres today, according to the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management.
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