EPA’s Eye in the Sky: Spiral Jetty, Utah, USA

The Robert Smithson’s 1,500-foot-long earthwork ‘Spiral Jetty’ on the shore of Great Salt Lake, Utah.

Constructed in 1970, the work remained submerged until 2002, when a mega-drought began to afflict the region.

Utah’s Great Salt Lake has lost 50 percent of its volume since the arrival of Mormon pioneers in 1847. Two decades of drought are not the only reason for the lake’s shrinking shoreline above average temperatures, and water diversion for agriculture and drinking water, are also to blame.

EPA-EFE/JIM LO SCALZO