Lee Zeldin toured the Great Salt Lake’s Farmington Bay on Saturday with Utah politicians and state officials, then backed President Donald Trump’s request for $1 billion to help restore the lake. The visit came as the water in parts of Farmington Bay sat only 2 to 3 inches deep through much of the boat tour, far below what officials described as a typical spring level.
Officials said a normal spring would bring about a foot of water to that part of the lake, while a healthy lake would have several feet there. Zeldin said the issue reaches far beyond Utah. “This is such an important issue, not just for all of you in Utah, but... this is a national issue. This is an international issue,” he said.
He was joined by Reps. Blake Moore, Celeste Maloy and Mike Kennedy, along with Utah Senate President Stuart Adams. Kennedy called Trump’s budget request “entirely merited,” and Moore said Congress trusts Utah to handle any federal money for the lake “with absolute respect and transparency and effectiveness.”
The tour took place after a winter in which Farmington Bay reached a peak of just 8.3 inches of snow water equivalent, underscoring the strain on the lake’s supply. Trump’s request is meant to enhance infrastructure, improve water flow and remove invasive species from the lake, which officials say has been running well below normal in Farmington Bay because of Utah’s record-low snowpack.
Zeldin also tied the effort to the 2034 Olympics, saying Gov. Spencer Cox has set a goal of restoring the lake’s elevation in time for the Games. “With the Olympics coming up in 2034, what an important goal that Gov. (Spencer) Cox has to make sure that the elevation is restored in time for the Olympics, when once again this region is going to be back on the world stage in such a special way,” he said.
The trip gave federal lawmakers a close look at the problem they are being asked to help solve, and the scale of the decline was hard to miss. John Curtis said, “It’s hard to be out there without realizing the beauty of the lake,” adding that it was “always valuable for somebody like that to see just how great we have it here.” Kennedy put the stakes more bluntly: “We do not want the Great Salt Lake to turn into the Salt Flats.”
