Ski season suffers as Great Salt Lake water levels fall

This ski season has been less than ideal, but the lack of snow is a small component of a bigger problem: the overall water supply of Utah.

While many may not realize it, Utahns can inadvertently harm their favorite winter sport by leaving their water sprinklers on for too long.

Ben Abbott, an ecologist and BYU professor, has been involved in local water issues surrounding the Great Salt Lake for the past decade.

Founder of the non-profit Grow the Flow, Abbott has been raising awareness about this issue. He was also involved in a new film, The Lake, which was featured at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. This film followed Abbott and others as they organized efforts to restore the Great Salt Lake.

He explained that Utah is facing serious challenges as the Great Salt Lake continues to decline.

Everything that we care about is at stake here, Abbott said. So thats why I pivoted both my research work and public education and advocacy work toward the Great Salt Lake.

How exactly does Abbott suggest that the lake could be restored? He explained that the problem lies in the overconsumption of water.

While most water consumption goes towards irrigating crops, the second biggest water consumer is peoples lawns. For this reason, Abbott is optimistic and said that there is a viable pathway forward.

You know, it's estimated that on average we overwater our lawns by about a factor of two, Abbott said. So that means that without even changing our landscaping, we could hit that 50% reduction in consumptive water use target.

However, Abbott emphasized that time is of the essence.

The issue is there is a very, very short fuse on this, and the lake is within just a few years of collapse, he said. And already more than half of the lake's natural area is gone, and about two-thirds of its natural water volume is gone. And so we need to move really quickly and pull off something that hasn't been done anywhere in the world.

So, how exactly does the lake connect to the snowpack deficit that Utah is experiencing this year?

Abbott made it clear that it was a multifactorial thing.

You've got climate change, you've got natural weather variability and you've got the decline of the Great Salt Lake. Add those together, and statistically, we're going to have more bad water years like this, Abbott said.

He continued by explaining that many believe that the lake depends on the weather such as the runoff from mountain snow but they do not consider that the lake also influences the weather.

So, as the lake has gotten smaller, we've lost a local source of water vapor, Abbott said.

He said natural runoffs are projected to decrease by 10% to 30% by the end of the century.

This is probably the beginning of that signal, Abbott said. We're starting to see in real time what it looks like when we don't have reliable weather. And that's a real challenge for farmers and cities, and of course, animals, plants and microbes in the environment."

Another issue comes from the dried-up lake. Abbott described that with 1,000 square miles of exposed lake beds, it has become a major source of dust.

Not only does the dust release harmful toxins into the air, but it also affects the snowpack.

That dust can be deposited on the snow and then cause the snow to melt out earlier than it would otherwise. So if you've ever been up skiing or hiking in the mountains in the springtime and you see that that dirty snow, dirty brown snow, that's some of that dust coming from the lake, and that can have a really big impact on our water resources. Abbott said.

Reflecting on Utahs changing weather conditions, Erik Davis, a Provo, Utah resident, shared how he has witnessed Utah warm up since he was a young boy.

He reflected on trick-or-treating with snow up to his knees and skiing up Cottonwood Canyon and Snowbird until June.

Ive lived here since 1968, when I was two years old, Davis said. Its always been dry, but its gotten, it seems more dry and its gotten definitely warmer.

BYU student Henry Gubler also voiced his frustrations as one who looked forward to this ski season.

Explaining that he kept waiting and waiting for the perfect time to go, he realized that time was going to just run out without him using his ski pass. Finally taking the opportunity to go night skiing with some friends, he reflected on his experience.

The conditions haven't been great. They were not great that night, Gubler said.

He had been happy to ski, but he had hoped that the conditions would have been better.

Utahs climate has been changing, but according to Abbott, there is still time to mitigate the negative effects. As Utahns become increasingly frustrated over the ski season, the power may be in their hands to get it back.