$3 Million Donation to Clear Great Salt Lake Phragmites: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Gives to Utah to Speed Removal of an Invader That Drinks Twice the Water of Native Plants
SALT LAKE CITY, Salt Lake County, Utah: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on October 29 committed $3 million to the Office of the Great Salt Lake Commissioner to accelerate the removal of water-intensive invasive phragmites that surround the Great Salt Lake. The funding will bolster critical habitat restoration, protect vulnerable shoreline wetlands and help sustain natural water inflows into the lake.
Governor Spencer J. Cox said the Great Salt Lake is fundamental to Utah's environment, economy and quality of life, and that protecting it will take individuals, institutions and industry working together. He thanked the Church for the contribution, noting that it directly expands the state's efforts to remove invasive phragmites, which consume twice as much water as native plants, choke out wetlands and degrade critical habitat for millions of migratory birds.
Phragmites (Phragmites australis) is an aggressive, non-native reed that grows in dense stands up to 15 feet tall. It consumes several thousand acre-feet of water each year, degrades vital habitat for millions of migratory birds, poses a significant wildfire risk and prevents water from reaching the lake.
Great Salt Lake Commissioner Hannah Freeze said phragmites has a significant impact on the hydrology of the Great Salt Lake, and that the donation allows the state to continue vital treatment schedules and align them with seasonal ecological windows for multi-phase mitigation, mechanical land clearing and long-term shoreline restoration.
The mitigation work will be overseen by the Office of the Great Salt Lake Commissioner and managed across multiple divisions within the Department of Natural Resources, including Forestry, Fire and State Lands; Wildlife Resources; Water Rights; and Water Resources, in coordination with local waterfowl management entities and conservation groups.
The Utah Legislature created the Office of the Great Salt Lake Commissioner in 2023; the commissioner is tasked with developing and maintaining a strategic plan and coordinating collaborative work among all agencies and interests in relation to the lake. In its statement on regional drought and the Great Salt Lake, the Church confirmed the 2026 donation of $3 million to support the state's phragmites control work, estimated to save thousands of acre-feet of water, alongside its donation and lease of nearly 30,000 acre-feet of water to the lake.
Source: Utah Governor's Office release via EIN Presswire, October 29, 2026
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：犹他州Magna附近的大盐湖湖岸。照片：Hermann Luyken，CC0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / The shore of the Great Salt Lake near Magna, Utah. Photo: Hermann Luyken, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
