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Great Salt Lake

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Grebe Survey Summary

  • Max Adults: 845
  • Year: 1974
  • Most Recent Adults: 53?
  • Year: 2011
  • Survey Type: Shore; Boat; Air
  • Most Common Threats Reported: Water level too low; water level too high; wind/wave inundation; egg predation; human/development/boat disturbance; aircraft; nest abandonment; various/unspecified threats; water quality/contaminants/oil spills
Lake name:
Great Salt Lake
Location:
Utah
HydroLAKE ID:
67
Latitude:
41.410417
Longitude:
-112.831250
Surface area (km2):
6478.9
Basin type:
non-reservoir
Primary emergent vegetation:
Narrowleaf cattail (Thypha angustifolia) hardstem bullrush (Scirpus acutus) alkali bullrushes (Scirpus americanus and S. paludosus) saltgrass (Distichlis stricta) pondweed (Potamogeton spp.)
Primary vegetation for nesting:
hardstem bulrush cattail alkali bulrush sago pondweed
Management agency:
Utah Division of Wildlife Resources; Utah Department of Natural Resources; Utah Division of Water Resources; Utah State Parks; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; The Nature Conservancy
Region associations:
Jordan River; Bear River; Weber River; Great Salt Lake State Park; Great Basin
Ecoregion:
Great Basin
Designations:
State Park
Comments:
The largest saline lake in North America, the Great Salt Lake (GSL) may possibly dry up in the near future. It is a significant contributor to the regional economy and wetland functioning which could be under threat should it dry out. Millions of migrating birds stop at the GSL to refuel and rest. However, the GSL has diminished in size and water volume to its lowest since monitoring commenced in 1847. Water levels hit a record low during summer of 2022. It is the remnant of an ancient lake, Lake Bonneville. Water flows from the Jordan, Weber, and Bear Rivers, providing water to the Salt Lake City metropolitan area and surrounding agriculture fields before entering the GSL. Water flow is threatened by high water demand from a fast-growing metropolis and climate change effects, resulting in low water levels at the lake which exacerbates dry conditions and increases salinity. High salinity and dry lake beds can kill invertebrates that migrating birds depend on for food. Individual entries compiled for Great Salt Lake as a total for indexing purposes. See individual entries for more details.

Surveys (1)

Survey Citation:
Cavitt, J. F., S. L. Jones, N. M. Wilson, J. S Dieni, T. S. Zimmerman, R. H. Doster, and W. H. Howe. 2014. Atlas of breeding colonial waterbirds in the interior western United States. Research Report, U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Denver, Colorado.

  • Time period
    2009, 2011
  • Source
    Report
  • Both Western and Clarks?
    Y
Count Type Range Max Year
Max Adults 1 to 100 53 2009-2011
Most Recent Adults 1 to 100 53 2009-2011
Max Nests 1 to 100 presence 2009-2011
Most Recent Nests 1 to 100 presence 2009-2011
Max Chicks N/A N/A N/A
Most Recent Chicks N/A N/A N/A

Comments:

Each count is defined as "estimated total number breeding individuals" derived from nest counts (where practical). Author is unclear whether counts are cumulative across study period or estimate of yearly attendence.

Sources of Information

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