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Oregon's Lake Abert, One of the Few "Closed Basin" Brine Lakes in the US, and Vital for Migratory Birds, is Running Dry
Between ever-increasing withdrawals from upstream water sources by humans and increasing temperatures due to ongoing climate change caused by guess-who, the lake has been basically dry numerous times in recent years. Check out the interactive satellite imagery showing the changes in the lake from 2002 to 2022.
[link:https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/mar/05/salt-lake-migrating-birds-lake-abert-us|
The water level in Oregon’s remote, salty Lake Abert fell to unusually low levels in July 2013. As it did, the salt concentrations became too high even for the few species adapted to its saline waters. Tiny brine shrimp and alkali flies died en masse. By September, so much water had been lost that the salts precipitated into a shimmering white crust of triangular crystals.
Daily counts of shorebirds had reached 350,000 in July – a higher density than is found even at the Great Salt Lake – but after the lake dried out and remained empty the following summer, bird counts dropped by 90%.
In 2014, 2015, 2021 and 2022, the lake remained largely dry, with bird numbers decimated. Last winter, an unusually wet season replenished some of the lake’s water but scientists warn that the overall trend is still one of decline and the factors that dried up the lake remain.
Most people have never heard of Lake Abert, but it is a critical stopping point for migratory birds that have evolved to live on inland saline waters. In the past decade, however, it dried up five times, provoking recriminations between conservationists and local ranchers, who use water from the lake’s tributaries to irrigate their land.
Daily counts of shorebirds had reached 350,000 in July – a higher density than is found even at the Great Salt Lake – but after the lake dried out and remained empty the following summer, bird counts dropped by 90%.
In 2014, 2015, 2021 and 2022, the lake remained largely dry, with bird numbers decimated. Last winter, an unusually wet season replenished some of the lake’s water but scientists warn that the overall trend is still one of decline and the factors that dried up the lake remain.
Most people have never heard of Lake Abert, but it is a critical stopping point for migratory birds that have evolved to live on inland saline waters. In the past decade, however, it dried up five times, provoking recriminations between conservationists and local ranchers, who use water from the lake’s tributaries to irrigate their land.
