West Desert/Great Salt Lake Pumping Station

 irrigation pumping station  Add category

Facility built around 1983 to pump excess water from the Great Salt Lake when the rising lake level caused damage along its perimeter (including some flooding in Salt Lake City in 1983).

The station pumped lake water westward into the Newfoundland Evaporation Basin, where it was allowed to evaporate. This effort---combined with a change in weather patterns---lowered the lake's level. When the lake level dropped sufficiently, the pumps were turned off. They have probably been idle since then but are kept ready for additional duty should the need arise.

The pumping station was built in 9-1/2 months at a cost of $71,700,000. Three pumps with 10 ft. diameter impellers are each powered by a 16 cylinder natural gas powered engine. Pump output reaches a combined 1.2-1.6 million gallons/minute into a 4.2 mile outlet canal."

Technical details of the pumps come from "Friends of the Great Salt Lake."