Harvard Studies Great Salt Lake’s Future

Why this is here: Professor Rebecca Henderson and her team made five trips to Salt Lake City and interviewed around 50 people—including state leaders and specialists—to create the Harvard Business School case study.

In late April, Grow the Flow, a Utah-based advocacy group, presented a new case study at Harvard Business School to raise awareness about the declining Great Salt Lake. The group, along with University of Utah law professors, met with members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Harvard’s law and divinity schools, and philanthropists to discuss the lake’s fate. Professor Rebecca Henderson and her associate spent a year interviewing roughly 50 stakeholders in Utah to create the case study, which will soon be available to roughly 1,000 business schools.

The case study frames the lake’s decline as a complex dilemma with significant economic and public health consequences extending beyond Utah. Henderson noted Utah’s unique social cohesion and bipartisan support as potential strengths in addressing the crisis, but emphasized the need for swift action. Students responding to the case study highlighted the importance of a sense of responsibility to future generations.

While the study is expected to reach a wide audience, solutions to the lake’s decline remain complex and require sustained effort. The group hopes to expand the network of support for the lake beyond Utah's borders. They plan to continue sharing the story and building partnerships to address this ecological crisis.