Legislation introduced by Sen. Steve Padilla of San Diego to create the Salton Sea Conservancy moved forward this week with a unanimous vote in the state Senate.

Senate Bill 583 would create a new state agency to unify California’s efforts to expedite preservation, protect residents’ health, and foster ecological recovery of the shrinking sea.

“The environmental calamity at the Salton Sea is decades in the making,” said Padilla. “It is going to take unprecedented collaboration at all levels of governmental to adequately address this challenge.”