Governor Spencer Cox has named Hannah Freeze as the next Great Salt Lake Commissioner, an increasingly important position that carries out policies designed to save the lake.
Freeze, who recently served as the deputy commissioner, takes over immediately. She previously oversaw the state's agriculture water optimization program for Utah's Department of Agriculture & Food, which offers funding and persuades farmers and ranchers — the state's largest water users — to switch to newer technologies that grow crops with less water.
Freeze's appointment was supported by Senate President J. Stuart Adams, R-Layton, and House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, who were consulted on the hiring.
Freeze takes over from Brian Steed, who left the position for a leadership role at Utah State University. As Great Salt Lake Commissioner, she works to secure water for the lake and enforces policies to protect it. Under Utah law, she has the power to override other governmental decisions that could threaten the lake.
The Great Salt Lake has dropped to historic lows in recent years, impacted by water diversions, drought and impacts from a changing climate. The shrinking lake presents and ecological catastrophe for the state in the form of reduced snowpack that impacts drinking water supplies, toxic dust storms (arsenic and other toxic minerals are naturally occurring in the lake bed) and other harms to public health and wildlife, not to mention Utah's economy.
Read Ben Winslow's full report at fox13now.com.
This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aims to inform readers across the state.
