The vast expanse of the Bonneville Salt Flats, located in northwest Utah, captivate the imaginations of indigenous peoples, explorers, scientists and land speed racers, yet beneath the shimmering white sea of salt lies an unfolding environmental disaster. For decades, the Salt Flats have been shrinking . Scientific research has confirmed that the shift to a drier and more extreme climate is not the only culprit. In large part, the disaster at the end of the tunnel is largely a human-made problem — specifically, the intense pumping of water from underground aquifers. Potash mining is an industrial process that is sapping the very lifeblood of this unique ecosystem.
Potash mining, vital for fertilizer production, has been silently but steadily drying up the landscape, and there is significant evidence that these underground aquifers are being depleted at an alarming rate. Water that would normally keep the Salt Flats intact is brought to the surface and put in a canal to evaporate, and then the potash is collected. Once this process is done, a different pump from a freshwater aquifer is used to clean out the ponds and is then pumped directly to the Salt Flats. Both the freshwater and the saline water aquifers that are a vital part of the Utah ecosystem are being drained at an alarming rate. The result? The salt crust that made this landscape famous for racers and film is thinner than ever , and parts have already disappeared. This is an environmental crisis, but one that doesn’t stop at the Salt Flats — it extends to the larger Utah ecosystem.