‘On a razor’s edge’: migratory birds rely on this salt lake – but it’s dying

Irrigation for grazing and evaporation due to global heating is draining Oregon's Lake Abert. Now environmentalists and ranchers are looking for common ground on how to save it

The water level in Oregon's remote, salty Lake Abert fell to unusually low levels in July 2013. As it did, the salt concentrations became too high even for the few species adapted to its saline waters. Tiny brine shrimp and alkali flies died en masse. By September, so much water had been lost that the salts precipitated into a shimmering white crust of triangular crystals.

Daily counts of shorebirds had reached 350,000 in July - a higher density than is found even at the Great Salt Lake - but after the lake dried out and remained empty the following summer, bird counts dropped by 90%.