USGS scientists check breach on glass-calm Great Salt Lake in surreal light.
Michael (Mike) L. Freeman
Hydrologic Technicians are the backbone of the USGS mission of collecting reliable water data. Mike is a senior technician providing guidance to the Salt Lake Field Office. He also teaches and mentors many.
Science and Products
Great Salt Lake Elevations and Areal Extent
Great Salt Lake is unique among lakes in the Western Hemisphere because of its size and salt content. It occupies a low part of the desert area of western Utah and is a terminal lake with no outlet to the sea. It varies considerably in size, depending on its surface elevation. At an elevation of 4,200 feet above sea level, the approximate historical average, it covers about 1, 700 square miles and...
General Information, Facts, News, Publications and Partners
The western part of the conterminous United States is often thought of as being a desert without any large bodies of water. In the desert area of western Utah, however, lies Great Salt Lake, which in 1986, at its highest level, covered approximately 2,300 square miles and contained 30 million acre-feet of water (an acre-foot is the amount of water necessary to cover 1 acre of land with water 1...
Streamflow Information Program
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) operates and maintains a national network of about 8,000 streamgages (2018) to provide long-term, accurate, and unbiased streamflow information (often called discharge) to meet the multiple needs of many diverse users. Streamflow information is fundamental to national and local economic well-being, protection of life and property, and efficient and effective...
Great Salt Lake - Fifty years of change through satellite images
The completion of the Railroad Causeway in 1959 divided the Great Salt Lake in half. Because all of the freshwater inflows enter the southern part of the lake, the north arm became much more saline than the south; well defined in the satellite images. Several years of greater than normal precipitation resulted in a large increase in the lake’s area during the early 1980's and the creation of a new...
Deep Brine Layer
In 1959, a solid-fill railroad causeway was constructed across the middle of the Great Salt Lake. The construction of the causeway divided the lake into two parts; the north (Gunnison Bay) and the south (Gilbert Bay). By 2013, water flowed from one side to the other through only two culverts near the center of the causeway. In December 2013, concern about the structural integrity of the culverts...
Great Salt Lake, USGS boat at work
USGS scientists check breach on glass-calm Great Salt Lake in surreal light.
Great Salt Lake Receding
Receding Great Salt Lake as seen from causeway
Receding Great Salt Lake as seen from causeway
Kane Springs, San Juan County, Utah Fall 2015
Collecting sample in tall grass at Kane Springs, San Juan County, Utah, Fall 2015.
Collecting sample in tall grass at Kane Springs, San Juan County, Utah, Fall 2015.
South Salt Wash, Emery County, Utah, Fall 2015
South Salt Wash, Emery County, Utah.
South Salt Wash, Emery County, Utah.
2015 Great Salt Lake Breach at Lakeside, Utah
For the first time since it was opened in 1984, water has stopped flowing through the Great Salt Lake causeway breach, an area that allows water to travel between the southern and northern parts of the lake.
For the first time since it was opened in 1984, water has stopped flowing through the Great Salt Lake causeway breach, an area that allows water to travel between the southern and northern parts of the lake.
Great Salt Lake Breach at Lakeside, Utah
A gage to measure lake water levels stands dry in the lake bed of the Great Salt Lake. For the first time since it was opened in 1984, water has stopped flowing through the Great Salt Lake causeway breach, an area that allows water to travel between the southern and northern parts of the lake.
A gage to measure lake water levels stands dry in the lake bed of the Great Salt Lake. For the first time since it was opened in 1984, water has stopped flowing through the Great Salt Lake causeway breach, an area that allows water to travel between the southern and northern parts of the lake.
GSL3.JPG
Looking southeast across the Great Salt Lake from the causeway east of Lakeside, Utah.
Looking southeast across the Great Salt Lake from the causeway east of Lakeside, Utah.
Sampling on Muddy Creek
Hydrologic technician wades stream to collect a water-quality sample on Muddy Creek near Tomsich Butte, eastern Utah.
Hydrologic technician wades stream to collect a water-quality sample on Muddy Creek near Tomsich Butte, eastern Utah.
Great Salt Lake ADCP measurement at Bear River Bay causeway bridge
USGS scientist makes ADCP measurement from canoe where the Bear River enters Great Salt Lake
USGS scientist makes ADCP measurement from canoe where the Bear River enters Great Salt Lake
Great Salt Lake, declining water level
Great Salt Lake, declining water level
Great Salt Lake, declining water level
USGS Employee Measuring Discharge At USGS Gage 10010020, Utah
USGS employee Steve Gerner measuring discharge with water temperature at 21.9 degrees F, at USGS gage 10010020 Great Salt Lake Breach at Lakeside, UT
USGS employee Steve Gerner measuring discharge with water temperature at 21.9 degrees F, at USGS gage 10010020 Great Salt Lake Breach at Lakeside, UT
Farmington Bay Outflow
Different shades of green define the different algae-rich waters
Different shades of green define the different algae-rich waters
2011 Great Salt Lake Breach at Lakeside, Utah
Water flowing through the Great Salt Lake breach in 2011, when lake levels were high due to above average snowfall in the Wasatch and Uinta Mountains. The Great Salt Lake breach is an area that allows water to travel between the southern and northern parts of the lake.
Water flowing through the Great Salt Lake breach in 2011, when lake levels were high due to above average snowfall in the Wasatch and Uinta Mountains. The Great Salt Lake breach is an area that allows water to travel between the southern and northern parts of the lake.
Science and Products
Great Salt Lake Elevations and Areal Extent
Great Salt Lake is unique among lakes in the Western Hemisphere because of its size and salt content. It occupies a low part of the desert area of western Utah and is a terminal lake with no outlet to the sea. It varies considerably in size, depending on its surface elevation. At an elevation of 4,200 feet above sea level, the approximate historical average, it covers about 1, 700 square miles and...
General Information, Facts, News, Publications and Partners
The western part of the conterminous United States is often thought of as being a desert without any large bodies of water. In the desert area of western Utah, however, lies Great Salt Lake, which in 1986, at its highest level, covered approximately 2,300 square miles and contained 30 million acre-feet of water (an acre-foot is the amount of water necessary to cover 1 acre of land with water 1...
Streamflow Information Program
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) operates and maintains a national network of about 8,000 streamgages (2018) to provide long-term, accurate, and unbiased streamflow information (often called discharge) to meet the multiple needs of many diverse users. Streamflow information is fundamental to national and local economic well-being, protection of life and property, and efficient and effective...
Great Salt Lake - Fifty years of change through satellite images
The completion of the Railroad Causeway in 1959 divided the Great Salt Lake in half. Because all of the freshwater inflows enter the southern part of the lake, the north arm became much more saline than the south; well defined in the satellite images. Several years of greater than normal precipitation resulted in a large increase in the lake’s area during the early 1980's and the creation of a new...
Deep Brine Layer
In 1959, a solid-fill railroad causeway was constructed across the middle of the Great Salt Lake. The construction of the causeway divided the lake into two parts; the north (Gunnison Bay) and the south (Gilbert Bay). By 2013, water flowed from one side to the other through only two culverts near the center of the causeway. In December 2013, concern about the structural integrity of the culverts...
Great Salt Lake, USGS boat at work
USGS scientists check breach on glass-calm Great Salt Lake in surreal light.
USGS scientists check breach on glass-calm Great Salt Lake in surreal light.
Great Salt Lake Receding
Receding Great Salt Lake as seen from causeway
Receding Great Salt Lake as seen from causeway
Kane Springs, San Juan County, Utah Fall 2015
Collecting sample in tall grass at Kane Springs, San Juan County, Utah, Fall 2015.
Collecting sample in tall grass at Kane Springs, San Juan County, Utah, Fall 2015.
South Salt Wash, Emery County, Utah, Fall 2015
South Salt Wash, Emery County, Utah.
South Salt Wash, Emery County, Utah.
2015 Great Salt Lake Breach at Lakeside, Utah
For the first time since it was opened in 1984, water has stopped flowing through the Great Salt Lake causeway breach, an area that allows water to travel between the southern and northern parts of the lake.
For the first time since it was opened in 1984, water has stopped flowing through the Great Salt Lake causeway breach, an area that allows water to travel between the southern and northern parts of the lake.
Great Salt Lake Breach at Lakeside, Utah
A gage to measure lake water levels stands dry in the lake bed of the Great Salt Lake. For the first time since it was opened in 1984, water has stopped flowing through the Great Salt Lake causeway breach, an area that allows water to travel between the southern and northern parts of the lake.
A gage to measure lake water levels stands dry in the lake bed of the Great Salt Lake. For the first time since it was opened in 1984, water has stopped flowing through the Great Salt Lake causeway breach, an area that allows water to travel between the southern and northern parts of the lake.
GSL3.JPG
Looking southeast across the Great Salt Lake from the causeway east of Lakeside, Utah.
Looking southeast across the Great Salt Lake from the causeway east of Lakeside, Utah.
Sampling on Muddy Creek
Hydrologic technician wades stream to collect a water-quality sample on Muddy Creek near Tomsich Butte, eastern Utah.
Hydrologic technician wades stream to collect a water-quality sample on Muddy Creek near Tomsich Butte, eastern Utah.
Great Salt Lake ADCP measurement at Bear River Bay causeway bridge
USGS scientist makes ADCP measurement from canoe where the Bear River enters Great Salt Lake
USGS scientist makes ADCP measurement from canoe where the Bear River enters Great Salt Lake
Great Salt Lake, declining water level
Great Salt Lake, declining water level
Great Salt Lake, declining water level
USGS Employee Measuring Discharge At USGS Gage 10010020, Utah
USGS employee Steve Gerner measuring discharge with water temperature at 21.9 degrees F, at USGS gage 10010020 Great Salt Lake Breach at Lakeside, UT
USGS employee Steve Gerner measuring discharge with water temperature at 21.9 degrees F, at USGS gage 10010020 Great Salt Lake Breach at Lakeside, UT
Farmington Bay Outflow
Different shades of green define the different algae-rich waters
Different shades of green define the different algae-rich waters
2011 Great Salt Lake Breach at Lakeside, Utah
Water flowing through the Great Salt Lake breach in 2011, when lake levels were high due to above average snowfall in the Wasatch and Uinta Mountains. The Great Salt Lake breach is an area that allows water to travel between the southern and northern parts of the lake.
Water flowing through the Great Salt Lake breach in 2011, when lake levels were high due to above average snowfall in the Wasatch and Uinta Mountains. The Great Salt Lake breach is an area that allows water to travel between the southern and northern parts of the lake.