This Dying Lake Could Be the Site of California’s Next ‘Gold’ Rush
The Salton Sea, once a resort destination and now largely overlooked, could be the site of California‘s next gold rush – this time involving lithium.
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Salton Sea Lithium Deposits Could Help Ev Transition, Support Economically Devastated Area
/in Media Coverage, San Diego County /by Mike Lee /PBSby Stephanie Sy and Lena I. JacksonThe demand for electric vehicles is surging in the U.S., sparked in part by the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act and the subsidies it offers. But a looming supply shortage of lithium threatens to stall the EV transition.
How California’s Salton Sea Went From Vacation Destination to Toxic Nightmare
/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Gayle Falkenthal /Gristby Zoya TeirsteinIn the spring of 1905, the Colorado River, bursting with seasonal rain, topped an irrigation canal and flooded the site of a dried lake bed in Southern California. The flooding, which continued for two years before engineers sealed up the busted channel, created an unexpected gem in the middle of the arid California landscape: the Salton Sea. In the decades that followed, vacationers, water skiers, and speed boat enthusiasts flocked to the body of water. The Beach Boys and the Marx Brothers docked their boats at the North Shore Beach and Yacht Club, which opened in 1959. At the time, it seemed like the Salton Sea, and the vibrant communities that had sprung up around it, would be there for centuries to come.
California Lithium Tax Would Delay Shipments to Automakers, Executives Warn
/in Media Coverage, San Diego County /by Mike Lee /Reutersby Ernest ScheyderA proposed flat-rate tax on lithium produced in California’s Salton Sea region will delay deliveries of the electric vehicle battery metal to General Motors Co and Stellantis NV and may push some mining companies to exit the state entirely, industry executives told Reuters.
The brewing tension comes as America’s largest state is trying to position itself as a leader in the green energy revolution and as supplies of lithium have failed to match surging demand amid the push to phase out gasoline-powered vehicles.
The Salton Sea Could Produce the World’s Greenest Lithium, if New Extraction Technologies Work
/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /CNBCby Katie BrighamAbout 40 miles north of the California-Mexico border lies the shrinking, landlocked lake known as the Salton Sea. Once the epicenter of a thriving resort community, water contamination and decades of drought have contributed to a collapse of the lake’s once vibrant ecosystem, and given rise to ghost towns.
But amidst this environmental disaster, the California Energy Commission estimates that there’s enough lithium here to meet all of the United States’ projected future demand, and 40% of the entire world’s demand.
Opinion: Will Salton Sea Lithium Dreams Come True? It Will Be Years Before We Know
/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /Desert Sunby Desert Sun Editorial BoardThe underground chemical stew beneath the Salton Sea is believed to hold enough lithium to power millions of cars and homes with green energy. But only if — a big if — enough of that scalding “geothermal brine” can be brought to the surface and the lithium sifted out.
That’s an incredibly complex process. And it’s just about as hard for those who live around the sea to separate reality from dreams when it comes to the impact of all that lithium.
In the best case, we’ve heard over the years, a lithium boom could generate billions of dollars; bring thousands of badly needed jobs for those living near the sea; spur an environmental revival; and give clean energy to a region, the state and beyond.
Will California’s Desert be Transformed Into Lithium Valley?
/in Home Headline, Media Coverage, San Diego County /by Kimberlyn Velasquez /CalMattersby Julie CartCalifornia’s desert is littered with remnants of broken dreams — hidden ghost towns, abandoned mines and rusty remains of someone’s Big Idea. But nothing looms larger on an abandoned landscape than the Salton Sea, which languishes in an overlooked corner of the state.
California’s Salton Sea Offers Chance for US Battery Supply Chain, Despite Financial, Policy Challenges
/in Home Headline, Media Coverage, San Diego County /by Mike Lee /Utility Diveby Kavya BalaramanDeveloping a lithium industry in California’s Salton Sea, an area that experts think could supply more than a third of lithium demand in the world today, could help set up a multi-billion dollar domestic supply chain for electric vehicle batteries, according to a new report from New Energy Nexus.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
