Citizens from across Utah gathered at Capitol Hill on Saturday, Feb. 1, for one cause: to save the Great Salt Lake.
This annual rally brought together environmental groups, faith leaders and educators calling for action to protect the Great Salt Lake.
"This is an existential crisis for us. Will we be able to live here and have a healthy life if the lake dries up? The answer to that is no," Deeda Seed, a representative from the Center for Biological Diversity, said.
Some attendees traveled long distances. Some even returned to Utah just to stand in solidarity.
"My motivation for coming out here today was to see the solidarity around environmental justice and protection of the lake and protection of the population and people of this beautiful valley," Erika George, an out-of-state visitor, said.
The rally even had some creativity and costumes to draw attention to the lake's critical state.
Gypsy the mermaid, from Salty Sirens of Utah, said they make a splash every year to give back to their beautiful lake and be the voice for those who can’t speak for themselves.
“We don’t want everything to become mythical,” Gypsy said.
Mike Maxwell, Salt Lake chapter chair of Latter-day Saint Earth Stewardship, said the rally’s main message was that the Great Salt Lake crisis isn’t unsolvable.
"Everybody has to contribute," Maxwell said. "Working together and doing the right things to use water more responsibly and more with greater conservation, then we can solve the problem."
Protesters said this ultimately requires collective action from everyone.
While this rally is only held once a year, there will continue to be opportunities for citizens to get involved and become environmentally conscious about the Great Salt Lake.