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West Shores High School principal Richard Pimentel slips on a cowboy hat before stepping outside. It is a nod to fashion as a response to the region’s harsh desert sun. The school sits about halfway up the western side of California’s Salton Sea. Modern buildings, concrete patios and walkways and an artificial turf sports field stand in stark contrast to the desert community that surrounds the campus. Tumbleweed and sand are common fixtures of the town’s yards. “We are about 30 miles from anywhere,” Pimentel said.

Riverside County officials on Thursday unveiled a possible $400-million remedy for some of what ails the shrinking Salton Sea: record-high salinity levels, die-offs of fish, fewer birds and an immense “bathtub ring” of smelly playa prone to toxic dust storms. The so-called North Lake Vision proposed by Riverside County Supervisor Manuel Perez calls for creation of an in-lake barrier, or dam, on the north end of the sea that would be filled with enhanced flows from the White Water River to create what he described as “a 4,200-acre healthy lake within a much larger not-so-healthy one.”

“The people in Western Chula Vista and National City are getting ice age, prehistoric water that is incredibly good,” said Michael Garrod, the engineering manager at the Sweetwater Authority during a tour of the Richard A. Reynolds Groundwater Desalination Facility. “It’s 16,000-year-old water that hasn’t been touched by man’s hands. No pesticides. Nothing in it.”

Here’s a sample of the staggering amount of rain that fell across San Diego County from late Monday to early Wednesday. Most of the rain came on Tuesday. Forecasters say San Diego isn’t likely to get more rain for the next 7-10 days.

Despite this two-day rain storm that’s wrapping up, overall, we’ve had a very dry fall and winter.  Jeff Stephenson, a principal water resources specialist for the San Diego County Water Authority, spoke with Morning Extra about the impact the recent rain will have and how the water supply for 2018 is looking. Visit WaterSmartSD.org for information about low-water landscaping classes, rebate offers, a home water-use calculator and other resources.