Sovereign Lands and Great Salt Lake

Laura AultSovereign Lands Program Manager

Division of Forestry, Fire and State LandsThe Living Lake - Charles Uibel

What are Sovereign Lands?

• Lakebeds and riverbeds of waters considered navigable at time of statehood (1896).

• Boundary is generally considered below the ordinary high water mark.

• 1.5 million acres of lake and river bed.• ~2,500 miles of shoreline.• Managed under the Public Trust Doctrine.

Charles Uibel

Elements of PTD in Utah Law

• Title 65A-2-1 – The division shall administer state lands under comprehensive land

management programs using multiple-use sustained yield principles.• R652-2-200. Sovereign Land Management Objectives.

– The state of Utah recognizes and declares that the beds of navigable waters within the state are owned by the state and are among the basic resources of the state, and that there exists, and has existed since statehood, a public trust over and upon the beds of these waters. It is also recognized that the public health, interest, safety, and welfare require that all uses on, beneath or above the beds of navigable lakes and streams of the state be regulated, so that the protection of navigation, fish and wildlife habitat, aquatic beauty, public recreation, and water quality will be given due consideration and balanced against the navigational or economic necessity or justification for, or benefit to be derived from, any proposed use.

Great Salt Lake Ownership• The State of Utah claims fee title ownership to

the bed of the Great Salt Lake (GSL) below the surveyed meander line, which has an elevation range of 4,202 feet to 4,212 feet amsl.

• The meander line was established by a series of surveys over a period of years throughout the late 1700’s and 1800’s.

• The State of Utah’s ownership claim to the bed of the GSL below the official surveyed meander line was finally adjudicated in 1971 with the U.S. Supreme Court case Utah v. United States.

Great Salt Lake

• A unique and complex ecosystem of regional and hemispherical importance.

• Great Salt Lake is managed by FFSL under the Great Salt Lake Comprehensive Management and Mineral Leasing Plan.

• Sustainable use of GSL’s natural resources will ensure that the ecological health (e.g., water quality, shoreline condition, salinity, aquatic organisms, wildlife, wetlands), scenic attributes, extractive industries (e.g., minerals, brine shrimp, microorganisms), and recreation opportunities (e.g., bird watching, hunting, sailing) will be maintained into the future.

• FFSL coordinates with other state, federal and local entities to ensure that the management of these resources will provide lasting benefit to the Public Trust.

GSL Management Responsibilities• 65A-10-8. Great Salt Lake -- Management responsibilities of the division. • The division has the following powers and duties: • (1) Prepare and maintain a comprehensive plan for the lake which recognizes the following policies: • (a) develop strategies to deal with a fluctuating lake level; • (b) encourage development of the lake in a manner which will preserve the lake, encourage availability of brines to lake extraction industries,

protect wildlife, and protect recreational facilities; • (c) maintain the lake's flood plain as a hazard zone; • (d) promote water quality management for the lake and its tributary streams; • (e) promote the development of lake brines, minerals, chemicals, and petro-chemicals to aid the state's economy; • (f) encourage the use of appropriate areas for extraction of brine, minerals, chemicals, and petro-chemicals; • (g) maintain the lake and the marshes as important to the waterfowl flyway system; • (h) encourage the development of an integrated industrial complex; • (i) promote and maintain recreation areas on and surrounding the lake; • (j) encourage safe boating use of the lake; • (k) maintain and protect state, federal, and private marshlands, rookeries, and wildlife refuges;• (l) provide public access to the lake for recreation, hunting, and fishing. • (2) Employ personnel and purchase equipment and supplies which the Legislature authorizes through appropriations for the purposes of this

chapter. • (3) Initiate studies of the lake and its related resources. • (4) Publish scientific and technical information concerning the lake. • (5) Define the lake's flood plain. • (6) Qualify for, accept, and administer grants, gifts, or other funds from the federal government and other sources, for carrying out any

functions under this chapter. • (7) Determine the need for public works and utilities for the lake area. • (8) Implement the comprehensive plan through state and local entities or agencies. • (9) Coordinate the activities of the various divisions within the Department of Natural Resources with respect to the lake. • (10) Perform all other acts reasonably necessary to carry out the purposes and provisions of this chapter. • (11) Retain and encourage the continued activity of the Great Salt Lake technical team.

A Sample of Great Salt Lake Planning• 1965• 1976• 1983• 2000• 2013

Plan Objectives

The Plan Goals

A. The Saving of Fresh WaterB. The Preservation of the LakeC. The Reclaiming of LandD. Encourage High Quality Recreation FacilitiesE. Encourage the Chemical Industries to Establish Themselves

1976 Plan Goals#1 – Prepare, adopt and maintain a general, comprehensive plan of the lake and its environs; to insure a continuing planning process; and to keep Lake plans and programs responsive to current and future needs.#2 – To preserve, insofar as reasonable, the Great Salt Lake’s basic identity as a usable and unique natural body of saline water.#3 – To encourage, promote, and protect the harmonious and compatible development of recreation, industry, wildlife aesthetic and other multiple uses of the Lake and its environs.#4 – To encourage acceptable standards of health and safety of persons and property in the waters of the Great Salt Lake and on adjacent shores.

1976 Plan Elements

• Minerals• Wildlife• Recreation• Tourism• Transportation• Hydrology

1983 Contingency Plan

• Recognized the fluctuating lake level (~20ft.).• Extreme lows and highs impact industry,

recreation and agriculture.• Anticipated a lake level near 4203 in 1983.• Short term solution – pump water to the West

Desert.• Long term solutions – develop the Bear River,

create fresh water evaporation ponds in Box Elder Co., or develop a high-volume pump storage/seasonal peaking power project in Puddle Valley.

2000 Comprehensive Management Plan

• NEPA like process• More specifically articulated DNR’s and FFSL’s

management objectives for the resources of GSL.

• Reconciled the diverse mandates of the division of DNR.

• The plan was implemented thru 2013.

Great Salt Lake Agency Involvement

AGENCY PERMITTING ANDCOMPLIANCE MANAGEMENT RESEARCH

Utah Department of Natural Resources

Division of Forestry, Fire, and State Lands X X X

Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining X

Division of State Parks X XDivision of Water Rights X

Division of Wildlife Resources X XDivision of Water Resources X

Utah Geological Survey X

Utah Department of Environmental Quality

Division of Water Quality X X XDivision of Air Quality X

Utah Department of Community and Culture State Historic Preservation Office X X X

Federal agencies

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers XU.S. Geologic Survey XNational Park Service X

Natural Resources Conservation Service X

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service X XBureau of Land Management X

Lake Level Matrix

• Comprehensive view of how all GSL resources are impacted at a range of lake levels

• Management Zones– High: 4205 – 4213+– Medium: 4198 – 4204 – Low: 4188 – 4194

Management Objectives

Questions?