Utah (1983: Doomsday)

Following the nuclear strike of Salt Lake City, Utah and much of the former United States was decimated.

History of Utah, Pre-Doomsday
Settled initially by Mormons, Utah gradually became a population center often serving as a mid-point rest between the population centers of the Great Plains and the west coast. Vying for statehood initially as the State of Deseret, Utah was consistently declined statehood by the US government until January 4, 1896.

History of Utah, Post-Doomsday
See also, History of Utah for a more in depth study of Utah's history.

The relative isolation of Utah due to the nuclear wastelands to the east and south and the growing Lakes Bonneville and Lahontan (in Utah and Nevada, respectively) have helped protect the Utahans from discovery by otherwise belligerent groups. Contact was made by the Municipal States of the Pacific in 2009. Delegations from Deseret were en route by this time to ANZC.

Geography
Because the Great Salt Lake is one of the lower points of the Great Basin, it is actually an endorheic or pluvial lake. With the change in the climate brought on by the nuclear blast, removing the doldrums of the Equator and pushing the monsoon climate further north, the Great Salt Lake has begun to rise from its height in 1983 of 4,212. It is expected that with an increase over the prior 2.9 million acre-feet per year flowing into the Great Salt Lake, the level will continue to rise until a new outlet is breached.

Because of this growth, the citizens of Utah have constructed three dikes in the southwest corner of the Cache Valley, just north of Lehi and northwest of Delta. These dikes effectively protect the habitable centers of Utah from increasing flood. It is expected that the new Mormon Sea will crest around 4700 or 4800 feet. The Curlew Sluice has been cut and graded to this end, using the drainage of Raft River as its drainage into the Columbia River basin. Ongoing efforts are underway to lower the level of the sea to 4600 feet, if possible, however the volume of earth to be moved is prohibitive.

A future-accurate map of Utah has been made by the government of Fillmore. This has lead to some confusion in those citizens moving northward, as they often expect the Mormon Sea to be filled to the brim -- however, this is not the case, nor will it likely be for some 50 years, if rainfall continues as it has since Doomsday.