Utah Rivers Council

Founded in 1994, the Utah Rivers Council works to protect Utah’s rivers and clean water sources for today’s citizens and future generations and to sustain healthy, natural ecosystems. We implement our mission through grassroots organizing, direct advocacy, research, education and community leadership. We are leading the fight to protect the Great Salt Lake and the Bear River from new water development.

For over 30 years, we have been successful in advocating for sensible water policy. In 1998 we drafted Utah’s first and only water conservation legislation, the Utah Water Conservation Plan Act. We have a history of partnering with diverse constituencies to protect the West’s most precious resources including farmers, ranchers and Native American Tribe members. Through these partnerships, we have protected many of Utah’s iconic rivers from inundation including the Diamond Fork River in 1997, the Bear River in 2002 and the shores of the Jordan River in 2009. Since our inception, we have offered a collection of popular and effective water conservation programs that encourage Utah residents to reduce their water use and become good stewards of our most precious resource–our water. With these programs, we are raising the bar for water conservation in Utah. 

In 2025, the Utah Rivers Council launched the Great Salt Lake Waterkeeper and joined the Waterkeeper Alliance. This is a global network of over 300 water advocacy groups in 47 countries that fight together for clean water, responsible water use, and commonsense conservation. By joining this global network, we hope to bring international attention to the Great Salt Lake crisis and pressure Utah into implementing policy solutions that will restore the Great Salt Lake to 1,600 square miles of surface area, like those outlined in our 4,200 Project.

The goal of the 4,200 Project is to implement policy solutions to get water to the Great Salt Lake by restoring it to a sustainable level and creating an engaged network of passionate advocates. This campaign centers around the 4,200 Project Guidebook, a 144-page whitepaper detailing the dozen legislative tools available to us to raise the water levels of the Great Salt Lake. The 4,200 Project Guidebook serves as a ‘one stop shop’ for our proposed solutions to educate and empower the public, elected officials, and other stakeholders to get involved in the effort to save the Great Salt Lake. This campaign also includes the 4,200 Project Pledge, a call to action that outlines five different opportunities to get involved in the fight to raise the Great Salt Lake and an interactive website that can be accessed at www.4200gsl.org. 

Your support of the Utah Rivers Council and Great Salt Lake Waterkeeper advances our campaigns to protect our precious aquatic ecosystems, help implement water conservation programs, and increase public awareness of critical threats facing Utah’s rivers.

Our Utah Rivers Council members and donors are key to our success and we are grateful for your support.

Great Salt Lake, image by Mark Seawell