Rep. Celeste Maloy secures initial $10M in Utah’s bid for $1 billion in Great Salt Lake funding

Utah Rep. Celeste Maloy secured $10 million to create a new Great Salt Lake Watershed Recovery Program in a spending bill which received congressional committee approval Wednesday.

This is the first step, Maloy says, toward obtaining the $1 billion requested by President Donald Trump in April after he discussed the Great Salt Lake at length with Utah Gov. Spencer Cox in February.

“I don’t think we’re going to get a billion dollars in one year. We’re going to get a billion dollars over a series of years,” Maloy told the Deseret News after the 3rd District Republican primary debate Monday.

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As the only Utahn on the House Appropriations Committee — and as vice chair of the Subcommittee on Interior and Environment — Maloy is in a unique position to make Trump’s request a reality.

But $1 billion is a big ask.

In May, Maloy told the Deseret News editorial board she is working to get as much money as she can for the Great Salt Lake by focusing her fellow lawmakers on long-term water sustainability across the West.

“I’m doing what I can right now to help my colleagues from other states understand why this is so important to Utah, and even to the president of the United States that he would put that big of an emphasis in his budget,” she said.

Federal dollars should go to interventions with regional, or national impact, Maloy said after Monday’s debate. This includes mitigating toxic dust blowing off of the lake bed and removing invasive plant species.

What would the new program do?

The Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies spending bill was approved by a 35-27 vote on Wednesday. It directs $10 million to “support the long-term sustainability of the Great Salt Lake watershed.”

It instructs the Department of Interior to submit a report within 180 days outlining plans for the lake, specific accomplishments for a successful program, the federal investment needed to do it, and a timeline.

A separate report would detail the watershed activities as they are started and associated costs. Projects could include vegetation management, meadow restoration, plant removal and drainage improvements.

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The bill would create a new position within the Department of Interior to oversee disbursement of funds related to near-term conservation and restoration efforts, primarily increasing water flows into the Great Salt Lake.

Maloy previously said she is working on specific language instructing agencies how they will be expected to use the funds. And the bill will include additional planning and coordination requirements to guide future decisions.

Partnerships between the state and the White House will be important to getting the Great Salt Lake the resources it needs, Gov. Cox told the Deseret News in a statement. The governor praised Maloy, while crediting the president for “this initial investment.”

“President Trump’s commitment to the Great Salt Lake helped elevate this issue nationally, and we’re encouraged to see funding included in this year’s appropriations bill,” Cox said. “Protecting the Great Salt Lake will require sustained effort over many years.”

Will Congress get it passed?

While the appropriations process is just beginning, Utah’s delegation has its work cut out for it to get Great Salt Lake money across the finish line. The House must pass spending bills before they receive Senate amendments.

Every dollar spent on a new program has to be taken from somewhere else, according to Maloy, and there is only a brief time in which the president’s recommendations can be incorporated into the overall budget.

But Trump’s endorsement carries its own momentum.

“We’re having collaboration, the likes of which I have not seen before on water issues in the West, and that gives me hope,” Maloy told the Deseret News editorial board.

“We’ve never had a president of the United States, to my knowledge, say we want to make sure that we’re taking care of the Great Salt Lake — and we have that right now.”

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Any solution requires coordination between federal, state and local policymakers, according to Maloy. Most water law is state law, but Utah will need help from Washington, D.C., to craft a long-term plan, she said.

In a statement to the Deseret News, Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, said “Restoring and protecting the Great Salt Lake is a long-term effort that will require partnership between state, federal, and local leaders.”

“We look forward to continuing to work with Congresswoman Maloy, Utah’s congressional delegation and the administration to secure resources and advance meaningful solutions for the lake now and in the years ahead.”

High-profile committees on board

Protecting the Great Salt Lake has long been the sole responsibility of the state, Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, told the Deseret News. But that looks like it is about to change with greater national recognition.

Adams noted the importance of Trump’s decision to highlight the lake in his budget recommendations after speaking with Cox, but pointed to Maloy’s “leadership” for translating it into the appropriations process.

“For a natural resource that has historically received little federal attention and remains one of the only major natural water resources in the country without dedicated federal funding, today’s investment represents significant progress,” Adams said.

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Candidates for the 1st Congressional District, Rep. Blake Moore and state lawmaker Karianne Lisonbee, also participated in a debate on Monday, where they were asked how they would help deliver federal funds to the lake.

Moore, a member of Republican caucus leadership who sits on the Ways and Means Committee, said he had a private meeting with Trump’s Director of Management and Budget, Russell Vought, about this exact issue.

Moore committed to work closely with Vought to ensure the subcommittee spending bill clearly explains how the money will be used, ranging from eliminating invasive Phragmites and increasing conservation infrastructure.

Lisonbee expressed concern about the price tag, questioning how $1 billion in federal funding would hurt taxpayers and whether it would be the most effective approach, since most remedies exist at the state level.

‘The only one’

Ultimately, Maloy hopes that the federal funding that is allocated for the Great Salt Lake this year is used to support the state in achieving its goals, and providing helpful resources, instead of taking the project out of local hands.

As Maloy defends her record in a race against former lawmaker Phil Lyman, she has framed her exclusive committee roles in the U.S. House as making her Utah’s best bet at getting help for the Great Salt Lake.

“This is an issue that matters the most in Utah. I’m the only Utahn on appropriations,” Maloy said in May. “So it’s going to take a lot of work on my part, but I’m really the only one in a position to do it right now.”

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