Compass Minerals Makes Commitments to Support Great Salt Lake Conservation

Compass Minerals has executed a binding Voluntary Agreement with the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands (FFSL) outlining the company's water and land conservation commitments toward the long-term health of the Great Salt Lake.

"This Agreement is an example of the good we can accomplish when public and private come together to be a part of the solution," said Utah Governor Spencer J. Cox. "The donation from Compass Minerals will ensure that water delivered to the Great Salt Lake will remain in the lake. We look forward to the lasting benefit this will make toward the health and sustainability of the lake for generations to come."

Per the terms of the Agreement, Compass Minerals will donate non-production-related water rights totaling approximately 201,000 acre-feet annually to be used by the State of Utah for lake conservation and preservation. Additionally, the company will remit back to the State nearly 65,000 acres of leasehold, also currently not utilized for production, which will subsequently be set aside from future mineral leasing to be preserved in perpetuity for conservation and other beneficial uses according to FFSL's existing management authority. Finally, the Agreement outlines a progressive set of brine withdrawal caps for certain of Compass Minerals' consumptive water rights, based on annual lake elevation and informed by the Great Salt Lake strategic plan.

"The Great Salt Lake is a vital ecosystem and economic engine that we must all work to protect, and Compass Minerals stands with the many diverse stakeholders contributing toward the preservation of this globally significant resource," said Edward C. Dowling Jr., president and CEO. "Through this Voluntary Agreement, we commit to significant contributions toward lake health, while also ensuring future predictability in our water use allotment that supports sustainable production at our Ogden facility."

Compass Minerals' Ogden site has been operating on the Great Salt Lake for over 50 years. The solar evaporation site produces salt, sulfate of potash and magnesium chloride from the mineral-enriched brine which is packaged primarily for consumer deicing, agricultural use and water conditioning.

Read the full news release here.