Researchers Discover Freshwater Reservoir Under Great Salt Lake

University of Utah study finds deep, freshwater-saturated sediments that could help mitigate dust pollution from the drying lake.

Mar. 30, 2026 at 9:42pm

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A highly textured, geometric abstract painting in earthy tones of brown, green, and blue, depicting sweeping arcs, concentric circles, and precise botanical spirals that conceptually represent the complex subsurface hydrology and aquifer structures beneath the Great Salt Lake.An abstract visualization of the freshwater reservoir discovered deep beneath the Great Salt Lake, offering a potential solution to the region's growing dust pollution crisis.Farmington Today

Geophysicists at the University of Utah have used airborne electromagnetic surveys to locate a deep, freshwater reservoir beneath Farmington Bay in the Great Salt Lake. The discovery of this freshwater-saturated sediment layer, reaching depths of 10,000 to 13,000 feet, could have major implications for mitigating the growing dust pollution problem caused by the declining lake levels.

Why it matters

The Great Salt Lake has been rapidly shrinking in recent years, exposing large areas of dried lakebed that have become a major source of toxic dust pollution blowing into nearby population centers. This freshwater reservoir discovery offers a potential solution to help wet down and stabilize these dust hotspots, without significantly impacting the overall freshwater system.

The details

The researchers used helicopter-mounted electromagnetic equipment to conduct airborne surveys over Farmington Bay and the northern part of Antelope Island. Analysis of the data showed that fresh water saturates the sediments beneath the lake's hypersaline surface to significant depths. This freshwater reservoir is not a pure underground mass of water, but rather a cluster of porous rocks filled with fresh water that could potentially be tapped and used to mitigate the dust pollution.

  • The airborne electromagnetic survey flights were conducted in February 2025.
  • The study results were published in the Nature-affiliated journal Scientific Reports in February 2026.

The players

Michael Zhdanov

A distinguished professor of geology and geophysics at the University of Utah and director of the Consortium for Electromagnetic Modeling and Inversion, who led the research team that discovered the freshwater reservoir.

Bill Johnson

A University of Utah hydrologist and co-author on the Great Salt Lake groundwater research papers, who cautions that more studies are needed to determine the best way to safely utilize the freshwater without disrupting the overall system.

University of Utah Department of Geology and Geophysics

The research department that led the larger project to understand the groundwater beneath the Great Salt Lake, funded by the Utah Department of Natural Resources.

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What they’re saying

“We were able to answer the question of how deep this potential reservoir is, and what its spatial extent is beneath the eastern lake margin. If you know how deep, you know how wide, you know the porous space, you can calculate the potential freshwater volume.”

— Michael Zhdanov, Distinguished Professor of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah

“There are beneficial effects of this groundwater that we need to understand before we go extracting more of it. A first-order objective is to understand whether we could use this fresh water to wet dust hotspots and douse them in a meaningful way without perturbing the freshwater system too much.”

— Bill Johnson, University of Utah Hydrologist

What’s next

The University of Utah researchers plan to seek additional funding to expand the airborne electromagnetic surveys across the entire 1,500-square-mile footprint of the Great Salt Lake. A comprehensive survey could help guide regional water resource planning and inform similar searches for freshwater beneath terminal lakes worldwide.

The takeaway

This discovery of a deep, freshwater reservoir beneath the Great Salt Lake offers a promising solution to the growing dust pollution problem caused by the lake's declining water levels. However, researchers caution that further studies are needed to fully understand the reservoir's characteristics and determine the best way to safely utilize the freshwater without disrupting the overall system.