Essential workers at Imperial Irrigation District, are now living at their job site in order to stay protected from the coronavirus. According to IID, they will be housing 32 employees who are vital in providing Imperial County residents with water and energy.
The people of California’s Imperial Valley can be as unforgiving as the region’s harsh desert climate. It’s been 16 years since Bruce Kuhn cast the fateful vote to transfer tens of billions of gallons of Colorado River water from the valley’s sprawling farms to thirsty coastal cities, reshaping water politics in California and across the West.
Following recent reports that newly accessed geothermal power resources in California could also provide access to lithium as a valuable by-product, a pilot facility is now in development.
Resource developer Controlled Thermal Resources recently signed a power purchase agreement for 40MW of geothermal energy with Imperial Irrigation District, a water – and energy – provider in Southern California.
CTR is also now creating Hell’s Kitchen Co, facilities for lithium extraction and chemical processing at its geothermal plant at Imperial Valley’s shallow, saline Salton Sea. CTR has now partnered with technology provider Lilac Solutions, which has its own proprietary ion exchange technology, to open up a pilot plant to extract lithium from the run-off geothermal brine
For Luis Olmedo, environmental justice work must continue during a pandemic — especially in Imperial County.
The executive director of Comite Civico de Valle was on his way Tuesday morning to a county Air Pollution Control Board meeting, where he planned to watch on his phone outside and wait to enter the building until his organization’s agenda item came up. He was doing his part to help stop the spread of coronavirus by keeping his distance from others.
David Snydacker knew going in that California’s Imperial Valley was a “graveyard for lithium-extraction technologies.”
For years, companies had tried and failed to find a cost-effective way to pull the valuable mineral — a key ingredient in the batteries that power electric cars — from the naturally heated fluid deep beneath the Salton Sea. One of the most recent busts was Simbol Materials, a much-hyped startup that collapsed in 2015 shortly after Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc. offered to buy the firm for $325 million.
The Imperial Irrigation District Board of Directors tipped their proverbial hat to the region’s farmers Tuesday by saluting National Ag Day during their regular board meeting.
Local farmers and growers providing food products for the United States and the world have celebrated for the past 47 years.
National Ag Day is March 24.
The California Natural Resources Agency this week released its Salton Sea Management Program annual report, which trumpeted the first completed dust suppression project and set ambitious goals for upcoming mitigation efforts.
The report lays out an aggressive target of 3,800 acres on which the agency hopes to complete efforts to tamp down dust by the end of 2020 to catch up with its long-term benchmarks.
“We’re well-positioned and have identified a suite of projects that will help us accomplish that goal by the end of this year,” said Arturo Delgado, the agency’s assistant secretary for Salton Sea policy.
IMPERIAL — Representatives from Imperial Irrigation District and Imperial County took to the air Friday to get a keen view of California’s largest and most troubled lake.
Coordinated by Audubon California, the flights took off from Imperial County Airport Friday morning, flying over the perimeter of the Salton Sea. Passengers witnessed the decline of the receding lake and viewed the IID’s and the state’s dust mitigation projects and Audubon’s proposed new project, Bombay wetlands.
The San Diego County Water Authority’s Board of Directors visited the Imperial Valley January 30 for a day-long tour that highlighted areas critical to the agency’s Regional Conveyance System Study.
Imperial, California – The Imperial Irrigation District appeared before Imperial County Superior Court Judge Brooks Anderholt, Tuesday, to defend itself in a contempt-of-court lawsuit filed by farmer Mike Abatti. This is an extension of the litigation brought against the district by Abatti in 2013 that challenged IID’s Equitable Distribution Plan, and is currently on appeal before the Fourth District Court of Appeal.
In his latest legal challenge to IID’s water rights and operations, Abatti asked the trial court to find IID in contempt for violating the judge’s August 2017 order prohibiting the district from entering into any new industrial water supply contracts until it implements an EDP based on water history.
