Great Salt Lake deputy commissioner details drought, $53 million grant RFP and proposed causeway legislation

Hannah Frias, deputy commissioner for the Great Salt Lake Commissioner's Office, told the Great Salt Lake Advisory Council on Sept. 10 that drought is intensifying across Utah while recent rains provided some local relief. "This is the current elevation of the lake as of yesterday: 4191.3 in the south arm," Frias said, providing the meeting an operational baseline for subsequent presentations. She added that recent statewide rains — "Up at my home in Tremonton, we got 1.2 inches" — were helpful but insufficient to change the longer-term drought outlook.

Frias summarized several administrative and programmatic items the commissioner's office is advancing. She said the office is pursuing agricultural water-leasing efforts and intends to convene lessons-learned sessions with producers and the Colorado River Authority to inform state leasing approaches. "We're wanting to do some lessons learned and learn from those folks about...what we can do to better engage agriculture," she said.

Grant and application details: Frias gave a funding announcement: "We have a $53,000,000 grant available, in partnership with the Great Salt Lake Watershed Enhancement Trust. That grant is currently open. We are accepting RFPs, and we will be accepting those until October 24." She urged applicants to contact the commissioner's office at greatsaltlake@utah.gov for questions and said staff and the Trust are available to provide application guidance.

Causeway berm legislation: Frias also flagged a pending special-session proposal on management of the causeway berm, which would give the Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands more flexibility in berm management across different lake elevations. She asked council members to direct technical questions to Ben Starman (Deputy Director, Forestry, Fire and State Lands).

Drought and planning context: Frias said drought maps show increasing coverage of extreme drought in recent weeks. She described coordinated work across agencies — Forestry, Fire and State Lands, the Trust, the Division of Water Resources and others — and emphasized that both funding windows and wetter years create opportunities to scale treatments and restoration.

Administrative items and next steps: the council was reminded that the $53 million RFP remains open through Oct. 24 and was invited to discuss agricultural-leasing proposals and other program details with the commissioner's staff. Frias and staff offered to assist potential applicants and encouraged communication to the shared inbox to expedite responses.

Ending: The commissioner's office did not request a formal council vote on these program updates; the presentation served as an operational briefing and notice of funding and regulatory discussions.