Utah has set itself a high-stakes deadline: restore the Great Salt Lake in time for the 2034 Winter Olympics; such a rescue has never been successfully achieved for a terminal saline lake. NBC News' Evan Bush reports that the state's plan to refill the shrinking lake in just eight years has drawn an unusually broad coalition, from Republican lawmakers and major business leaders to environmental groups and even President Trump, who recently urged supporters to "MAKE 'THE LAKE' GREAT AGAIN!"
The effort is anchored by a $100 million private fundraising drive led by Mitt Romney's son, Josh Romney, who said they're about a third of the way there. He expects the total price tag could ultimately be five times the goal amount. The scale of the challenge is daunting. Researchers say the lake, which hit a record low in 2022 and is again nearing dangerous levels, needs the equivalent of 400,000 Olympic swimming pools of extra water every year to have a decent shot at recovery by 2034—far more than Utah has managed so far; Bush reports the 2025 figure was closer to an extra 80,000 pools' worth.
Bush digs into the myriad solutions that are being implemented, from working with farmers to up the efficiency of their irrigation systems (agriculture has accounted for a majority of the water loss in recent years) to spending $30 million to acquire a bankrupt mining company that had been using about 40,000 pools' worth of water a year. Read the full story for much more, including why a successful effort could mean better snow for the 2034 Games.
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