Dissolved-mineral inflow to Great Salt Lake and chemical characteristics of the salt lake brine. Part II: Technical report

Abstract

During the 1960 and 1961 water years an annual load of about 2 million tons of dissolved minerals was contributed to the Great Salt Lake area by surficial sources. Almost 60 percent of this load was sodium and chloride. Of the six units contributing to the lake area, three - the Bear River, the Jordan River, and the unit comprising drains and sewage canals – contributed about three-fourths of the runoff and of the load. The water type of these tributaries ranged from bicarbonate in the headwaters to sulfate and chloride near the mouths; the dissolved-solids concentrations were higher in the downstream reaches than in the headwaters.