A coalition of environmental groups is asking a judge to keep a lawsuit over the Great Salt Lake alive.
In a filing in West Jordan’s 3rd District Court, lawyers for Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, American Bird Conservancy, Center for Biological Diversity, the Sierra Club and Utah Rivers Council ask a judge to reject state efforts to dismiss the lawsuit.
Lawyers for the state of Utah have asked Judge Laura Scott to dismiss the lawsuit, pointing to efforts already under way to save the lake. Lawmakers have spent more than $1 billion and passed a series of bills on water conservation designed to prop up the lake.
In the court filing shared with FOX 13 News, lawyers for the environmental group plaintiffs argue the state simply has not done enough to save the Great Salt Lake.
“Even so, Defendants ask the Court to stand idly by because the Utah Legislature has taken some steps to purportedly benefit the Lake. Yet the efforts Defendants cite—commendable as many of them may be—are inadequate to ensure protection of the public trust in the Great Salt Lake, as noted by the State’s own experts. None of the efforts highlighted by Defendants in their briefs include any cuts to diversions, and none has achieved any significant reduction in water use—or meaningful increase in water reaching the Lake,” they wrote.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs argue judicial oversight is “essential” in this case “as the legislative and executive branches cannot be expected to police themselves, nor have they.”
function onSignUp() { const token = grecaptcha.getResponse(); if (!token) { alert("Please verify the reCAPTCHA!"); } else { axios .post( "https://8c0ug47jei.execute-api.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/dev/newsletter/checkCaptcha", { token, env: "PROD", } ) .then(({ data: { message } }) => { console.log(message); if (message === "Human
