Breaching the Great Salt Lake Causeway: An Economic Analysis

This study deals with analysis of the benefits and costs from the State of Utah's point of view of breaching the Southern Pacific Railroad causeway across the Great Salt Lake. A baseline position of economic activity was provided by the extractive companies located around the lake and used as a standard of comparison for potential levels of activity if the causeway were breached. The incremental receipts to the state (both direct and indirect) comprise the benefits of a breach. The net present value of these benefits plus the present value of expected change in state revenue due to the reduction in flood damages was then compared with the estimated cost of constructing the breach.