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Letter: What’s more important: The Great Salt Lake or sending hay to China?

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) An unusual sight emerges from the shallow waters of the Great Salt Lake as a “reef” pops into view between Saltair and Antelope Island on the south end of the lake on Saturday, July 10, 2021, as extreme drought conditions impact the lake.

The scientific community is very clear that the Great Salt Lake is in trouble. If it doesn’t receive more water from the rivers that feed it, it will keep shrinking and eventually will stop producing the brine shrimp that sustain an important industry as well as the millions of birds that feed off of them.

I’ve also been reading about the high levels of arsenic in the soil that is being exposed and the potential of the dying Great Salt Lake becoming a “toxic dust pan”.

On the other hand, we are using much of the water that used to go to the Salt Lake to grow hay that we export to China and other countries in Asia.

I have a question: Do we want a dead lake and a toxic dust pan or do we want to keep sending hay to China?

Sabine Weil, Holladay

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