About Us
Who We Are
The Great Salt Lake Project is a legal and policy center based at the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law’s Wallace Stegner Center for Land, Resources & the Environment. We work to ensure the future of Great Salt Lake through legal research, innovative policy design, and collaboration with state and local leaders and other partners across Utah and the West.
Our mission is to develop and accelerate legally sound, actionable solutions to bring water back to the lake. We are independent, nonpartisan, and grounded in the belief that urgent, lasting action is not only possible—but necessary—to save Great Salt Lake.
Why We Exist
Many in Utah, including leaders and the impacted public, are asking: How can we save Great Salt Lake? Utah has made important strides to restore Great Salt Lake: investing in scientific research, passing foundational legislation, and elevating the urgency of the lake when it reached its all-time low in 2022.
Despite this momentum, Great Salt Lake levels remain critically low. [let’s include a link to the lake level tracker here] And, until recently, no dedicated effort existed to focus on the legal dimensions of the crisis.
We launched the Great Salt Lake Project in January 2024 to meet that need. The key to saving the lake is simple. It is a one-ingredient recipe: just add water. How to do that, however, is politically, economically, and legally challenging.
By highlighting the legal and policy pathways to restoring the lake, the Great Salt Lake Project brings together law, policy, and people to turn analysis into action.
Leadership
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Brig is a professor of law at University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law and a co-founder of the Great Salt Lake Project. He has also taught as a professor at BYU Law and the University of Houston Law Center and as a lecturer at Duke Law School. Daniels is a graduate from Duke University (PhD), Stanford University (JD), and the University of Utah (MPA and BS). He teaches a wide range of environmental law courses.
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Beth is an Assistant Professor of Law (Research) at the University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law, a Senior Fellow at the Wallace Stegner Center, and a co-founder of the Great Salt Lake Project. She teaches environmental law courses, including Water Law, Air Pollution Law & Policy, and Great Salt Lake Policy Accelerator Clinics. Her scholarship focuses on water security, water law reform, air pollution, Tribal environmental law, and developing legal and policy solutions to secure the future of Great Salt Lake. Beth graduated from BYU Law School.
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Norman K. Johnson was appointed Chief of the Natural Resources Division of the Utah Attorney General's Office in 2002 and served until 2022. He advised all Utah Department of Natural Resources agencies, concentrating on water issues. He represented the State Engineer in administrative and judicial proceedings, worked extensively on Colorado River matters, helped negotiate the settlement of federal reserved water right claims, and argued cases before the Utah Supreme Court. He earned his J.D. from the S. J. Quinney College of Law in 1982.
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Bill Prince has more than 40 years of experience with all aspects of natural resources development. His practice has included both domestic and international mining transactions and has embraced mineral acquisition and financing, technical and legal due diligence, natural resources-related environmental and compliance matters, permitting, development and use rights for Federal, Indian and state lands, public lands issues, and natural resources and environmental litigation and administrative hearings. Bill was the first managing partner in the Salt Lake City office of Dorsey & Whitney LLP and recently retired as a senior partner. Among other professional activities, he served as Board Member and President of the Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law (formerly, Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation), Chair of the American Bar Association Hard Minerals Committee, Section on Natural Resources, Energy and Environmental Law, Chair of the Utah State Bar Section of Energy, Natural Resources and Environmental Law and co-founder and Executive Committee member of the International Mining Professionals Society. He received his J.D. from the University of Utah, S. J. Quinney College of Law in 1978.
Our Approach
- We work at the intersection of law, policy, and action. Our approach is interdisciplinary, collaborative, and forward-looking:
- We conduct legal analysis grounded in practical applicability
- We develop and advance actionable policy solutions to restore and protect Great Salt Lake
- We collaborate with state and municipal leaders to complement state and local lake rescue efforts
- We partner with law students, nonprofit and business leaders, researchers, and pro bono attorneys to grow the bench of future water law and policy leaders
- We partner with business and nonprofit leaders, researchers, and other stakeholders to combine efforts for maximum impact for the lake
- We prioritize solutions that are bold, sustainable, and feasible within Utah’s legal and political landscape
Interested in Partnering?
We welcome collaboration with policymakers. Whether you’re a city official looking to update water ordinances, a state policymaker in need of research support, or a stakeholder with an idea—we’d love to hear from you.
Your donation will help us create practical, actionable, and legally-sound advice for policymakers who are working with us to save the Great Salt Lake.
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