Great Salt Lake dust is costing Salt Lake County residents, including those in Millcreek, an estimated $115.79 million a year in health impacts, according to a University of Utah report released Tuesday, Sept. 15.

The report, "Options and Costs for Great Salt Lake Dust Control," was produced by University of Utah researchers and the Wilkes Center for Climate Science & Policy. The Utah Division of Water Resources commissioned the study as input for the Great Salt Lake Basin Integrated Plan.

At the lake's current elevation of 4,192 feet, researchers estimate the dust causes about six premature deaths, 17,052 work-loss days and nearly 17,748 school absences each year in Salt Lake County alone. If the lake drops to 4,183 feet, annual health costs would climb to $133.67 million. Raising the lake to its minimum healthy elevation of 4,198 feet would cut those costs to $73.39 million, according to ABC4.

The stakes compound over time. Through 2060, maintaining current lake conditions would result in $5.79 billion in cumulative health costs. Restoring the lake to its minimum healthy elevation would reduce that figure to $3.71 billion.

More than 800 square miles of lakebed have been exposed to wind erosion. Researchers identified 70 square miles as "active dust hotspots" that could expand to 187 square miles if groundwater levels keep declining or protective surface crusts break down.

Tooele County residents face the highest average modeled dust exposure, followed by Salt Lake County. The report also found that certain groups bear disproportionate risk, including some racial and ethnic minorities, foreign-born residents and people without health insurance.

"We have an opportunity to be strategic about how we address Great Salt Lake dust," said Kevin Perry, a University of Utah atmospheric sciences professor and the report's lead author. "That means using better data to identify the highest-risk areas, protecting communities that face the greatest exposure, stabilizing the lake wherever we can."

Engineered dust controls explored in the report include surface wetting, flooding, vegetation management, chemical suppressants and gravel. Projected costs for treating the 70 square miles of active hotspots range from $3.2 billion to more than $31 billion, according to Phys.org. If hotspots expand to 187 square miles, those costs could nearly triple.

The report concludes that stabilizing lake levels and targeted engineered controls should be treated as complementary strategies, not alternatives. Laura Vernon, Great Salt Lake Basin Planner at the Utah Division of Water Resources, said the state commissioned the research to support informed policy decisions. She called delivering water to the lake "the single most cost-effective way to suppress dust and prevent billions in taxpayer-funded mitigation."

Under a healthy-lake scenario, average dust exposure across northern Utah would drop 15% compared with a very-low-lake scenario. Reductions would exceed 50% for communities closest to the lake.

Millcreek residents have already mobilized over dust concerns.

Hundreds of residents packed Millcreek City Hall on Jan. 28 to oppose a proposed gravel mine in Parley's Canyon over air-quality fears. Mayor Cheri Jackson said at that meeting, "These are not hypotheticals … I visibly see the dust coming out of the canyon. This is not just a one time or a couple of times a year thing, it's something we live with daily."

That fight was about canyon dust, not lakebed dust. But the new report puts a dollar figure on what blows in from the west. The Basin Integrated Plan, which will incorporate the findings, is still being finalized.