Two months after an emergency warning of “unprecedented” danger to Utah’s public health, environment and economy if the Great Salt Lake does not receive a “dramatic” influx of water by 2024, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints donated the equivalent of a reservoir’s worth of water to the iconic lake.
The permanent donation of 5,700 water shares was announced Wednesday in a news release by the Utah Department of Natural Resources.
“We’ve been working on this for a long time and I’m so excited to finally make it public,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said in a tweet. “We are so grateful to the church for their generosity and stewardship. Together with the state’s $1B investment and massive policy changes, the future of the lake has never been more secure!”
Recent warnings have predicted the Great Salt Lake could disappear within five years, creating an ecological catastrophe.
“The Great Salt Lake and the ecosystem that depends on it are so important. The church wants to be part of the solution because we all have a responsibility to care for and be good stewards of the natural resources that God has given to us. We invite others to join with us to help,” Bishop W. Christopher Waddell, first counselor in the Presiding Bishopric of the church, said in the news release.
You can read more about the Church’s historic donation on Church News.