“Every use is going to have some sort of impact upon it. In simple terms, it changes how water can flow through the crust, Bernau said. Jeremiah Bernau, a geologist working on the study with the Utah Geological Survey, said the mining company has already been pouring salt and it’s unclear if that’s the answer.Ī 2016 study found that the areas most susceptible to thinning were places where races are organized. Intrepid Potash did not respond to questions from The Associated Press.

The mining company uses a process called solar evaporation mining, pumping water into the ground to dissolve minerals and then transporting it through canals to ponds where evaporation leaves behind a valuable potassium salt called potash. (Rick Bowmer | Associated Press) Intrepid Potash pumps brine in to a canal at the Bonneville Salt Flats on Monday, Aug. Bureau of Land Management, which oversees the area and is required by federal law to balance multiple uses and preserve it now and into the future. But rather than point fingers that direction, he and other racers blame the U.S. His organization, the Salt Flats Racing Association, is convinced the potash mining company that extracts minerals from the flats is the primary reason that the aquifer is being depleted. The salt is thinning as climate change drags the West into its third decade of drought, yet it’s unclear how that affects the seasonal flood patterns the landscape relies on to maintain its size and footprint.įrustration is boiling over for Dennis Sullivan, a car-builder and racer who set a land speed record in his 1927 Model T street roadster. Under a $1 million research project spearheaded by the Utah Geological Survey, scientists are gathering data to understand the effects climate change, racing, repaving the salt and operating the mine on leased federal land have on preserving the Salt Flats.

Researchers are seeking to pinpoint why the salt is fading and what can be done to stop it. But officials are funding a new study as they try to find a solution. In Utah, after three decades of studies examining the salt flats, nothing has slowed the deterioration. The glistening white salt of the world famous area is shrinking near the Utah-Nevada line. (Rick Bowmer | Associated Press) State geologist collects water samples in the Bonneville Salt Flats Tuesday, Sept.

Utah salt flats driftin