Background The twenty-mile Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) causeway across the Great Salt Lake separates the lake into a North Arm and South Arm of different salinities. Between 2011 and 2013, UPRR applied for and received a federal Clean Water Act Section 404 permit from the U. S. Army Corps of Engineer (USACE) to close two …
Read MoreThe first numeric water quality standard for selenium for Great Salt Lake was established in State rule (UAC R317-2-14) in November, 2008 and was approved by US Environmental Protection Agency Region 8 on December 12, 2011. This selenium water quality standard of 12.5 mg/kg is a tissue-based standard based on the complete egg/embryo of aquatic-dependent …
Read MoreSummary of Utah Division of Water Quality 2010 Great Salt Lake Shorebird Egg Monitoring: Selenium Concentrations and Embryo Abnormalities In March 2010, the Division of Water Quality (DWQ) contracted with Dr. John Cavitt, from the Avian Ecology Laboratory at Weber State University, to collect and analyze shorebird eggs for selenium. The eggs were collected as …
Read MoreRoutine water-quality data collection helps the Division of Water Quality (DWQ) take appropriate actions to protect Great Salt Lake’s (GSL) beneficial uses. DWQ’s GSL monitoring program is designed to detect potential changes in water quality conditions, support the development of numeric and narrative water quality standards, guide discharge permitting decisions, and assess beneficial use attainment …
Read MoreGeneral Permitting Program The Division of Water Quality (DWQ) requires and issues Utah Pollution Discharge Elimination System (UPDES) permits to all entities that discharge pollutants from a point source to waters of the state, including discharges of domestic and industrial wastewater along with more diffuse sources like stormwater. For domestic and industrial dischargers, these permits …
Read MoreRead about water quality standards in regards to the Great Salt Lake.
Read MoreRead about the Great Salt Lake Water Quality Strategy.
Read MoreLearn about Water Quality’s Great Salt Lake strategy, standards, permitting, and monitoring.
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Executive Director’s Office