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Precipitation and the Great Salt Lake

Precipitation and the Great Salt Lake. Patrick Loury and Eliana Manangòn. Precipitation and Lake Level of the Great Salt Lake (GSL). Precipitation accounts for approximately 30% of the input to GSL (Lall and Mann, 1995)

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Precipitation and the Great Salt Lake

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  1. Precipitation and the Great Salt Lake Patrick Loury and Eliana Manangòn

  2. Precipitation and Lake Level of the Great Salt Lake (GSL) • Precipitation accounts for approximately 30% of the input to GSL (Lall and Mann, 1995) • This input has an important control on lake surface elevation (Stephens, 1990) • Since 1982, about 60% of elevation increase has resulted from greater than average precipitation and less than average evaporation rates • Snow is an important component of precipitation in the Great Basin, and accounts for about 85% of total precipitation input (Baskin, et al., 2002)

  3. Precipitation Breakdown By Watershed* • Four watersheds comprise the Great Basin: • West desert • Largest area, least precipitation • Utah Lake • One of the largest freshwater lakes in the Western U.S. • Weber River • Smallest area, most precipitation • Bear River • Contains the largest tributary contributing to GSL (Bear River) *Data from http://www.greatsaltlakeinfo.org/Background

  4. Historical Data* Average Value: 14.98 in Standard Deviation: 3.44 in Minimum Value: 9.06 in MaximumValue: 26.64 in *Data from http://www.prism.oregonstate.edu

  5. Precipitation Trend Over Time* • On a decadal scale, the average annual precipitation in SLC seems to be increasing • If this trend continues, the lake surface elevation will rise in response • However, the data is not certain: • Weak correlation • Relatively short time period for data collection • Large variability in data Precipitation (in) Note: For a full list of references, see handout *Data from http://www.prism.oregonstate.edu

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