As settlers continued to move to the area, irrigation was required to sustain life in the semi-arid climate. The Sevier River was the main source of water for irrigation for the area's farmers. Its flow was interrupted and retained in storage reservoirs to such an extent that the lake bed has been usually dry since the turn of the century. Mineral extraction from the brine at the south end of the lake has been attempted since 1985. Earthen dikes have been built to form 3,000 acres of first-phase solar evaporation ponds, and an eight-mile brine collection canal has been built, and salt deposited for competent pond floors in order to produce halite and potassium sulfate.

Jay M. Haymond