The Great Basin of Deseret

Blessed with (struggle), chosen to endure.

When the seas recede and the rains return;

It is our children who will till the land and rebuild

Something about being forged in the heat of standing so close to god.

Climate

Inhospitably hot overall, with amplified extremes. Summers are brutal, with temperatures ranging from 110–130°F (43–54°C) in the valleys. High elevations become frigid easily, though there is no snowpack to encourage the cold to linger. Rainfall is inconsistent, and arrives with enough force to wipe towns from the map.

 

Hydrology

Deep aquifers (e.g., Snake Valley or Pahranagat Valley).

Highland oases and surviving deep aquifers (such as Snake Valley or Pahranagat Valley) support a network of semi-autonomous valleys owned by regional patriarchs. The dried remains of ancient lakebeds such as Bonneville and Lahontan are deeply pitted from salt and mineral extraction

The Great Basin is at too high of an elevation to be flooded by sea level rise, but without yearly melt from glaciers or the Sierra Nevada snowpack, once-critical rivers such as the Truckee, Humboldt, and Sevier now exist more as roads than as water sources.

Salt flats and playas (like Bonneville Salt Flats or the Black Rock Desert) may fill into shallow seasonal lakes after rare rainstorms. Ancient lakebeds (e.g., Lake Lahontan or Lake Bonneville) might see temporary reflooding, but not sustained water.

Ecology

Desertification dominates and dust storms are common. Existing flora like sagebrush, creosote, and saltbush persist in stressed forms, while invasive species such as brome choke out native life and fuel seasons of wildfire.

The treeline has retreated to the refugia of the isolated highlands, where cooler climate and occasional precipitation supports native piñon pine and juniper trees, as well as sacred groves of imported cedar of Lebanon.

Habitation

Following the dissolution of the United States, the Remnants of the Latter-day Saints founded the Covenant of Deseret as a theocratic state ruling over the great basin. Their administrative seat is New Cumorah, a massive arcological citadel embedded into the Ruby Mountains. This citadel is constructed to endure extreme heat, toxic dust storms, and resource scarcity.   Much of the rest of the region is abandoned or lawless, traversed only by nomads, raiders, or messianic sects. They live near geothermal springs and in old mines.   Arcologies, bunker cities, or vertical farms may be attempted by groups like the state of Deseret or tech cults.       The State of Deseret likely thrives as a harsh theocratic power, using control of water and geothermal energy to dominate.   The Great Salt Lake is a toxic salt-and-metal slurry, where winds blow arsenic, mercury, and alkaline dust across the Wasatch Front.