Great Salt Lake tech team awards $400,000 to seven management-focused research projects
May 15, 2024 | Utah Great Salt Lake Advisory Council, Boards and Commissions, Organizations, Utah Executive Branch, Utah
This article was created by AI summarizing key points discussed. AI makes mistakes, so for full details and context, please refer to the video of the full meeting. Please report any errors so we can fix them. Report an error »
Marissa Weinberg, a program lead at Forestry, Fire and State Lands, announced that the Great Salt Lake tech team awarded $400,000 across seven grants chosen from 22 proposals requesting more than $1.5 million.
The awards prioritize projects that will directly inform lake management, Weinberg said, and recipients include a mix of university, federal, and nonprofit research efforts that target shorebird habitat, hydrodynamics, dust emissions and groundwater inputs.
The chosen projects are: Sageland Collaborative to continue the Intermountain West Shorebird Survey; two Utah State proposals (an adaptive physics-based model of flow through the causeway breach and a three-dimensional hydrodynamic model of mixing in the South Arm); a USGS decision-support tool to estimate PM10 dust emissions from exposed lake bed; a Division of Water Quality study of catastrophic die-off of submerged aquatic vegetation in Great Salt Lake wetlands; additional USGS investigations of lithium resources and groundwater inflow; and a University of Utah project to map lateral variability of groundwater input using electrical methods.
Weinberg said the selection was difficult given the number and quality of applications. "Out of 22, we awarded 7," she said, noting the committee had approximately $400,000 to allocate. Committee members and staff emphasized that future solicitations will aim for clearer, management-oriented deliverables so awarded work more directly supports near-term decisions.
Ben Wilkes, who leads the Salinity Advisory Committee updates for the tech team, added that the program will explore changes to the RFP and selection process and may move toward a procurement-like approach in coming cycles to hone in on key management questions and deliverables.
Awarded teams will receive final contracting and reporting instructions from Forestry, Fire and State Lands; Weinberg reminded grantees that invoices and final or interim reports are due by June 30 to close fiscal-year-2024 awards.
The awards prioritize projects that will directly inform lake management, Weinberg said, and recipients include a mix of university, federal, and nonprofit research efforts that target shorebird habitat, hydrodynamics, dust emissions and groundwater inputs.
The chosen projects are: Sageland Collaborative to continue the Intermountain West Shorebird Survey; two Utah State proposals (an adaptive physics-based model of flow through the causeway breach and a three-dimensional hydrodynamic model of mixing in the South Arm); a USGS decision-support tool to estimate PM10 dust emissions from exposed lake bed; a Division of Water Quality study of catastrophic die-off of submerged aquatic vegetation in Great Salt Lake wetlands; additional USGS investigations of lithium resources and groundwater inflow; and a University of Utah project to map lateral variability of groundwater input using electrical methods.
Weinberg said the selection was difficult given the number and quality of applications. "Out of 22, we awarded 7," she said, noting the committee had approximately $400,000 to allocate. Committee members and staff emphasized that future solicitations will aim for clearer, management-oriented deliverables so awarded work more directly supports near-term decisions.
Ben Wilkes, who leads the Salinity Advisory Committee updates for the tech team, added that the program will explore changes to the RFP and selection process and may move toward a procurement-like approach in coming cycles to hone in on key management questions and deliverables.
Awarded teams will receive final contracting and reporting instructions from Forestry, Fire and State Lands; Weinberg reminded grantees that invoices and final or interim reports are due by June 30 to close fiscal-year-2024 awards.
View the Full Meeting & All Its Details
This article offers just a summary. Unlock complete video, transcripts, and insights as a Founder Member.
✓
Watch full, unedited meeting videos
✓
Search every word spoken in unlimited transcripts
✓
AI summaries & real-time alerts (all government levels)
✓
Permanent access to expanding government content
30-day money-back guarantee
