Brian Steed may have one of the toughest jobs in Utah government: he is tasked with saving the Great Salt Lake.
"The challenges facing the Great Salt Lake are real," Steed said at the beginning of his Senate confirmation hearing on Monday for the position of"Great Salt Lake Commissioner."
The lake's decline has set off alarm bells on Utah's Capitol Hill. Lawmakers have advanced bills aimed at water conservation and protecting the lake, spending roughly $1 billion over the past two years. This year, the Utah State Legislature approved the creation of a commissioner who will be a central point-person to coordinate state agencies, environmental groups and other stakeholders with a mission to help the lake.
Steed told FOX 13 News afterward that included different viewpoints on the lake from environmentalists to agriculture. "I'm hoping he brings a real plan that actually addresses these things," Sen. Nate Blouin, D-Salt Lake City, told FOX 13 News."We’ve had kind of a haphazard approach. Again, I'm not 100% sure that we needed this position, but I think there’s a lot of things he can do."
The Great Salt Lake Commissioner is a very powerful position that has the authority to override state agencies if they make decisions that are deemed harmful to the lake. Steed was chosen for the job by Governor Spencer Cox, House Speaker Brad Wilson and Senate President J. Stuart Adams.
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