UTAH DROUGHT
Great Salt Lake getting a bump from Weber River water diversion
May 11, 2023, 8:00 PM
Water from the Weber River is diverted through a spillway and into Willard Bay on Thursday, May 11, 2023. (Lindsay Aerts, KSL NewsRadio)
(Lindsay Aerts, KSL NewsRadio)
OGDEN, Utah — The Great Salt Lake is getting a little boost from a new water diversion coming from the Weber River.
The influx is also meant to help mitigate flooding in western Weber County.
On Thursday, the Weber River Conservancy District sent that added water (coming to Willard Bay from the Weber River) barreling through a spillway and out the backside of the bay where it will flow into the Great Salt Lake.
WATER RELEASE: The Great Salt Lake is getting a little shot in the arm thanks to a water diversion taking water from the Weber River and releasing it out the back side of Willard Bay.
The Weber Basin Water Conservancy district flipped that switch today.@kslnewsradio pic.twitter.com/qByl30LUWb
— Lindsay Aerts (@LindsayOnAir) May 11, 2023
Water managers with the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District said the release contains enough water to raise the lake a few inches. But in total, their northern Utah system has contributed to about half of the lake’s four-foot rise.
(Water from the Weber River is diverted through this spillway into Willard Bay, and will eventually be deposited into the Great Salt Lake.)
Water diversion also means flood relief
The release will also bring added relief to areas in the western part of Weber County, which has been flooding for weeks. House Majority leader Mike Shultz, R- Hooper, is one of the state lawmakers who represents that area. He said diverting this water will prevent a flooding “disaster.”
“One-thousand [cubic feet per second] of water has been diverted out of western Weber County … now you can imagine [if] an additional 25% of water [was] being forced out onto western Weber County, I mean it’d be a total disaster,” Shultz said.
The Weber and Ogden rivers converge at what’s called the Slaterville Diversion. The water is being diverted there, out of the Weber River and up into Willard Bay.
In the video below, KSL NewsRadio reporter Lindsay Aerts speaks with a Weber Basin water manager who explains today’s water release from the Weber River.
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