Great Salt Lake Highs and lows

2 Yr. Water Level daily averages for previous 730 days
Current Level
real time measurements for previous 31 days

Updated March 6, 2013

June 16 through July 9, 2011 highest level since July 22, 2002 and largest single year gain ever measured

 

2011 (see graph above)  tracks higher than any year except 1984 which was the highest gain year recorded previously.  The 2011 track passed 1984 on June 16.  This date also recorded a total elevation gain of 4.9 feet which surpasses 1984 total gain of 4.75 feet and 1983's 4.70 feet.  Compare it with 1986, 1997 and 2005 which are the next three highest gain years.

The weather patterns appeared to change midway through 2010 for the better, and the track moved upward and stayed upward for longer than in any other net loss year.  The graph line for 2010 was significantly better (with a net loss of only 0.7) than any other net loss year except for 1996. 1996 is our most neutral year with no gain but no significant loss either; its net loss was 0.1.

 

 

LOWS HIGHS
4191.35 historic low  1963    
    4211.85 historic high   1986
4197.5 recent low  Oct. 11, 1994     
    4204.2 recent high   June 15, 1999
    4198.1 daily March 18 2003 
4197.5 daily passed June 8, 2003    
4195.0 daily Nov. 30, 2003              
4196.4 daily April 4 2004
4193.9 Oct. 16 thru Oct. 20 , 2004     
    4197.4 daily May 25 through
daily June 28, 2005
4195.4   Oct. 15 thru Dec. 17, 2005    
    4198.2 May 9, 2006
4196.3 October 6, 2006    
    4197.9 April 10, 2007
 4195.0 December 5, 2007    
    4196.2 April  9, 2008
4193.9 Oct. 24 thru  Dec. 25, 2008    
    4196.1 July 1 thru 8, 2009
4194.2 October 12, 2009    
    4195.8  June 16, 2010
4193.6 October 24, 2010    
    4198.5  June 18 - July 9, 2011
4196.3 September 22, 2012    
    4198.9 highest since
July 9, 2002
March 7,2012
4195.9 November 8, 2012    

 

The graph below shows long term lake elevations from data taken since 1980.  Click here to view a short video of satellite views of changing lake elevations.

 

Bry Pratt developed this graph with both lake volume and surface area.

Below is a composite of Sunspot Activity, El Nino - La Nina temps and Long Term Lake Levels over the past three decades.  Anyone see a pattern?  Is there improvement coming? 

 

This graph shows lake levels from 1847 to present

Industries Effect on the Lake
Both GSL Minerals and Mag Corp (AMAX) have evaporation ponds that border the lake.  Both companies are pumping vast amounts of water from the lake and into these evaporation ponds at the current time.  So this does not help the recreation uses of the lake when the water is already low.
 
Currents and Water Sources
There are three currents on the Great Salt Lake.  These currents are generated by the three rivers that flow into the lake along with the Goggins Drainage. These currents are named for these rivers.  The most dominant current flowing into the lake is the Bear River current.  This current is fed from water flow out of Bear River Bay and the Weber/Ogden rivers.  This current flows west between Freemont Island and Promontory Point and then along the causeway where part of it flows into the north arm of the lake and the other part flows around Carrington Bay.
 
The other dominant current of the Great Salt Lake is the Jordan River Current.  This current flows northwest from Farmington Bay near the Antelope Island Marina.  This current then flows along the southwest shore of Freemont Island before curving down along Hat Island, Carrington Island, and down Stansbury Island before turning east and then northeast along Eardley Spit.
 
The third, less dominant current is the one that most sailors on Great Salt Lake observe.  This is the Goggins Current and it runs southwest outside the marina and on the south end of the GSLYC race course.
 
The Bear River current provides 80% of the river flow to the Great Salt Lake (60% from Bear River and 20% from Weber/Ogden).
 
The Jordan River current provides 20% of the river flow to the Great Salt Lake.
 
The Goggins Current provides very little water to the Great Salt Lake. 

Recent Historical Levels

The Great Salt Lake reached a record high of 4211.85 feet MSL in 1986.  Since then, it had a downward trend through 1994 (reaching 4197.5 feet MSL on October 11, 1994) followed by an upward trend through 1999. The trend from 1999 through 2004 was downward, but it appears that a new upward trend began in 2005 and carried on into 2006 before resuming a downward trend. Historically, trends appear to average about seven years before reversing.

The Great Salt Lake 1994 to 1999 upward trend reached 4204.2 feet MSL measured at its maximum level on June 15, 1999 (a gain of about 7 feet).  Then,  the recent drought related downward trend began.  Over the next five years the lake dropped about 10 feet.

Highs and Lows

The lowest minimum of the downward trend from 1986 to 1994 was 4197.5 feet MSL measured October 11, 1994.  That low minimum was reached again on June 8, 2003 when the surface level was measured at 4197.4 feet MSL as it dropped to its wintertime low point.  In 2004, the maximum rise was 4196.4 feet MSL recorded on April 4.  The lake returned to 4197.4 feet MSL as the high of 2005 which was first reached on  May 25, 2005 and last measured June 28, 2005.

Daily average minimum for 2004 measured 4193.9 feet MSL and was 18 feet lower than the lake's historic high, but still 3 feet above the historic low.  This appears to be the low point for the most recent downward trend from 1999 through 2004. This low was reached again in 2008.

Recent Events

The cumulative loss of minimum surface level from 2003 to 2004 was less than a foot, while the cumulative loss for the five previous years had been from 2.3 to 2.6 feet.  Additionally, the snow pack for 2004-5 was much higher than average for the first time in seven years.  The lake began to rise about a month earlier than it had in recent years, and the rise continued into May and June, instead of March or April.  This could, according to long term data, indicate that an upward trend has begun.

The total rise for 2004 was 1.4 feet from November 30, 2003 to April 4, 2004. By May 2005, the lake had risen over 2 feet since October 30, 2004.  The ongoing rise in 2005 matched the total rise for 2004 in February, nearly seven weeks before the peak of April 4, 2004.  By April 4, 2005, an entirely different set of conditions were in place compared to 2004.  The lake had already risen nearly a foot more than the previous year's total, and a cool wet spring still left the majority of the above average snow pack in the mountains to continue filling the lake for many more weeks.  The surface elevation of the lake  equaled the previous year's elevation on that date and surpassed it a few days later.

The rise for spring of 2005 was nearly equal to that of 1998 (a year with similar snow pack for the dates) and the lake reached 4197.4 feet MSL at its maximum rise.  Continued cool, wet spring weather through April and May contributed to the lake's total rise for 2005 of 3.5 feet.  This was a gain of 1.8 feet over 2004 and is the first yearly high elevation gain since 1999.

The upward trend continued for 2005 and 2006.  The lake dropped to a low of 4195.4 feet MSL on October 15, fluctuated at or just above this level until December 17, and from that date continued to rise.  On October 30, 2004, the lake was at the lowest level measured since the late 1960s 4194.1 feet MSL.  The 2005 minimum low was 1.3 feet higher higher than that at  4195.4 feet  MSL.

By April 10, 2006, the lake had matched the previous year's high of 4197.4 feet MSL.  Snow pack water equivalency percentages for the Bear River drainage were at 107% on April 10, 2005 but were at 134% for 2006 on April 10.  The other two major drainages supplying the Great Salt Lake also had larger water percentages for 2006 than 2005.  The Provo - Jordan River drainages increased in 2006 to 142% from 134% in 2005 and the  Weber - Ogden River drainages increased to 138% in 2006 from 119% in 2005.  

The spring weather pattern for 2006 continued to be  wet, and some stations recorded snow pack. However, the weather turned very hot in May.  The stream flow was very high, but the temperature lead to evaporation at an equal rate.  Even with record snow packs, the lake reached its maximum high for 2006 of 4198.2 feet MSL on May 9, six weeks earlier than 2005 when cooler weather allowed for continued lake rise all through June.

The lake had a gain of 0.8 feet for 2006 over 2005 for its annual high point.  4198.2 feet MSL is the highest the lake has been since August 3, 2002.

As mentioned above, 1998 saw a rise of 3.3 feet with snow pack levels on April 10 of the Bear River drainage 111% , the  Weber - Ogden River drainages 122%, and Provo - Jordan River drainages 114%.  Only the increase in elevation of 4.75 feet during the flood year of 1984 was larger than the rises of 1998 (3.3), 1986 (3.4) and, 2005 (3.5).  

Click here to review past SNOWTEL precipitation data.

The level of the lake fluctuates, but at normal levels (4200 ft MSL) the average depth is 15 feet. The maximum depth is about 31 feet. In recent history the lake level has varied from 4191 to 4212 feet MSL. Long term fluctuations have a maximum of about 12 feet up or down before the trend is reversed, but the average trend difference is about 6 feet.  Seasonally, the lake's average fluxuation is about 2.5 feet over the course of a year.

There is a reef at the harbor mouth which extends along the shoreline toward Antelope Island. It is advisable to use the deep channel as marked to avoid running aground on the reef.  

Dredging has provided additional draft clearance the mouth of the marina.

It is advisable to get a navigation chart before venturing too far into the lake. These charts are available from the GSLYC.