(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Bonneville Salt Flats, comprised of mostly sodium chloride that forms a hard, white salt crust and home to numerous land speed records, are covered in nine inches of water, forming a shallow lake on Friday, Jan. 27, 2023. With nowhere for the rain and snow melt to go, precipitation slowly evaporates throughout the year to restore the flat's delicate salt layer.
Leia Larsen is a sixth generation Utahn and a water and land use reporter reporter for The Salt Lake Tribune. She has covered environment, energy and political issues throughout the West. When she’s not chasing the news, Leia can be found exploring the Wasatch Mountains, sleeping in the desert or rooting around her garden.