Editor’s note: This article is published through the Great Salt Lake Collaborative, a solutions journalism initiative that partners news, education and media organizations to help inform people about the plight of the Great Salt Lake — and what can be done to make a difference before it is too late. Read all of our stories at greatsaltlakenews.org.

SALT LAKE CITY — The long wait for new, specialty Great Salt Lake license plates is almost over.

The state needed 500 applicants to start moving forward with the final design, production and distribution of the new plates.

The state Legislature passed a bill creating the plates in March 2023.

Jason Gardner, director of policy, planning and public affairs with the Utah State Tax Commission, told KSL NewsRadio that the threshold had been exceeded and that people could see the licenses hit bumpers as soon as January 2025.

“They’re well on their way,” Gardner said. “They’re expecting to have it reviewed and ready for production [in] early 2025…I’m being told January or February.”

Gardner said all that’s left to do before the plates are sent out to applicants is for the preliminary design to pass a state design review board, and for a professional graphic designer to make the finishing touches and send it off to the Utah Department of Corrections.

The UDC will produce the plates and send them to applicants.

How the license plates will help Great Salt Lake

The proceeds from the plates are meant to directly help protect Great Salt Lake.

Under the legislation, the revenue is, “to be deposited into the Sovereign Lands Management Account to enhance preservation of the Great Salt Lake watershed and ecosystem,” the law reads.

Great Salt Lake’s water levels have seen some improvement since the bill was signed into law. The lake reached between 4,195.1 and 4,195.2 feet, which was its highest mark since 2017.

However, the abnormally hot and dry summer has caused the lake to lose more water than it normally does. Levels on the lake’s south arm currently sit at 4,192.1 feet, a full three feet lower than this spring’s peak.

The current levels are about 6 feet below the lake’s target healthy level of 4,198 feet, a mark the lake has not hit since 2012.