The lakes of the Great Basin states, such as Lake Abert, Goose Lake, and the Great Salt Lake, are foundational to the integrity of their surrounding ecosystems and their states’ economies. However, alarmingly declining water levels in these bodies of water are both derailing the seasonal migratory patterns of native bird populations and threatening the survival of keystone species in these ecosystems. The Saline Lake Ecosystems in the Great Basin States Program Act of 2020, introduced by Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and U.S. Senator Mitt Romney, aims to better understand the wildlife composition of the Great Basin ecosystems in order to optimize protection efforts from future environmental stressors. The act’s publicized goal is “to authorize the Director of the United States Geological Survey to establish a regional program to assess, monitor, and benefit the hydrology of saline lakes in the Great Basin and the migratory birds and other wildlife dependent on those habitats, and for other purposes.”
“We have to protect these ecosystems, but we can’t do that without sufficient data. This legislation will help us secure the studies and science we need to put long-term plans into action and ensure our saline lakes ecosystem remains healthy for generations to come.”
Essentially, the Saline Lake Ecosystems in the Great Basin States Program Act of 2020 is an investment to protect the Great Basin states from future environmental and economical damage. Not only will this act encourage much-needed scientific research in the Great Basin ecosystems, but it will also highlight the pressing issue of increasingly evident water scarcity in the Great Basin states and allocate the necessary resources to better understand and respond to this emergent change.