I have the perfect solution for the current water woes of the Great Salt Lake: Let the lake dry up!
Oh, I can already hear the howls of consternation from the snowflakes in the Wilderness Society, Sierra Club, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance over my common-sense proposal, but you should hear me out.
As the GSL dries up, we can pave over the lakebed!
Let’s get one of those groups like the one proposing all those cool islands in Utah Lake to develop a master plan for our salty headache. New jobs would open up in the concrete and asphalt-paving industries as we build a marvelous metropolis on this smelly eyesore. The dangers of arsenic-choked skies eliminated, jobs created, future land for millions of new arrivals, money in the pockets of real-estate tycoons…What’s not to like?
Once this plan is implemented, we can ignore the need to conserve water. Tiger Woods can build his dream golf course. Estates can have acres of lush lawns and their owners need not feel guilty. Farmers can export our water in the form of alfalfa to China, Saudi Arabia, and other points around the globe without the stigma of being un-American. Heck, we can invite Coca Cola, Pepsi, Nestle, and other big water guzzlers in to bottle our water for export around the world!
There’s still time to get this in front of the Legislature. Legislators could push this through in a matter of days, as they have courageously done with the transgender and school voucher laws, if they act decisively. There is no time to waste on studies and testimony from so-called experts.
Let’s pull together to fix the problem of the GSL once and for all!
Michael J. McAinsh, Salt Lake City
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