Groups form coalition in effort to replenish the Bonneville Salt Flats

An effort to save the historic Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah is under way with a salt replenishment program to permanently preserve the land.

The national landmark is an essential piece of American motorsports heritage, as scores of world land-speed records have been set on the unique formation.

The densely packed expanse of land is the dried remnants of a huge prehistoric lake. The area is so flat, the curvature of the earth is actually visible.

The Bonneville Salt Flats has suffered slow erosion from an adjoining salt-mining operation. Originally 96,000 acres in size, it has been reduced to about 30,000 acres.

Between 1963 and 1982, about 11 million tons of salt was withdrawn. By the mid '90s, the historic raceway had lost more than 18 inches of salt crust.

The Bonneville Salt Flats has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is designated an Area of Critical Environmental Concern.

The Save the Salt Coalition comprises organizations such as the Specialty Equipment Market Association, the Bonneville Nationals and the Utah Salt Flats Racing Association.

The coalition intends to protect the Bonneville Salt Flats while permitting continued mining. One possible fix is to pump brine water back onto the salt flats during the winter and spring, when water naturally covers the basin. The brine water will evaporate in the summer, leaving the salt flats thicker and harder and replenishing the underground aquifer supporting the salt crust.

A five-year test program launched in 1997 proved that the solution would work. The coalition hopes to find an equivalent, permanent program to save the flats.

Visit www.savethesalt.org to learn more about the Bonneville Salt Flats and the preservation effort.

By Michelle Koueiter