I can see the future, and here it is.
Our Utah legislators, in their short-sighted focus on growth and profits, will let the Great Salt Lake dry up. This will cause the death of millions of migrating birds. It will destroy the brine shrimp industry. It will expose hundreds of square miles of toxin-laden beach sands that will be kicked into dust by strong winds. Public health will suffer. Asthma and related respiratory diseases will skyrocket. Lifespans will be shortened.
Utah will lose its attraction as an outdoors destination. Tourism will plummet. Global warming is already making our local weather hotter and drier, and the briny puddle of the once mighty Great Salt Lake will no longer fuel the snowfall that makes us a world-famous ski destination. Reduced spring runoff from the Wasatch will result in water shortages. Rationing? Yes. Intermediate water outages? Yes.
Outside companies will no longer be attracted to our state. In fact, existing companies will begin to flee. Forget economic growth; say hello to economic shrinkage.
As companies, their employees and people like me move away, real estate prices will fall. Who wants to come to — or live in — a water-insecure state where your kids’ lives are shortened by toxic dust? At some point your house will be worth a whole lot less than it is now, if you can even sell it.
You watch. Twenty years from now, you’ll call me Nostradamus.
Scott Bell, West Jordan
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