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IID Testifies on Colorado River Status and Impacts to State Assembly

/in , , /by /KYMAby Faith Rodriguez

Representatives of the Imperial Irrigation District (IID) and the Colorado Board of California testified on Tuesday at an informational hearing about how Southern California is preparing for climate impacts to water supplies and the river’s status.

IID Board Vice President and California’s Colorado River Commissioner JB Hamby and IID Water Department Manager Tina Shields testified before the California State Assembly’s Water, Parks, and Wildlife standing committee.

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Environmentalists Sound the Alarm on Salton Sea as Oasis is Left in the Dust

/in , /by /ABC Newsby Lindsey Griswold, Jon Schlosberg, Seiji Yamashita, and Ivan Pereira

More than a century ago, an accidental oasis in the California desert created a popular residential and vacation spot for families.

But over the last few decades, environmental experts say climate change and drought in the Salton Sea have led to a destination that’s been plagued with dust bowls, receding waters and other hazards.

Congressman Ruiz Praises $8 Million Investment Towards Imperial Dam

/in , /by /KYMAby Faith Rodriquez

An $8.2 million award for the Colorado River Basin’s Imperial Dam was announced on Wednesday.

Congressman Raul Ruiz joined Senator Alex Padilla and Deputy Secretary of the Interior Tommy Beaudreau.

Including Senior Advisor to the President and White House Infrastructure Implementation Coordinator Mitch Landrieu and Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton to announce the award.

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Opinion: Western Water Crisis Solutions Inevitably End With a Lot Less for California Farms

/in , /by /CalMattersby Jim Newton

A modest proposal for western water: Turn off the spigot to the Imperial Valley and let the farms go fallow. In return, provide a water future for Arizona, Nevada and Southern California.

Sure, there would be a price to pay. California’s Imperial Valley, which sits in the southeastern corner of the state, bordered by Arizona and Mexico, produces alfalfa, lettuce, corn and sugar beets, among other crops.

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Salton Sea Partnership Calls on Newsom to Commit to Measurable Progress at Salton Sea

/in , /by /Imperial Valley Press

In response to comments by California Governor Gavin Newsom, touring the Salton Sea on Monday, March 20 with California Natural Resources Agency Secretary Wade Crowfoot, according to a press release from the Salton Sea Partnership, the Salton Sea Partnership issued the following statement:

“The governor’s visit to the Salton Sea is heartening, and we’re encouraged by Secretary Crowfoot’s commitment to fill the position vacated in August by Salton Sea Management Program head Arturo Delgado in a matter of days.

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Multiagency Deal Aims to Address Salton Sea

/in , , /by /Calexico Chronicle by Mike Salorio

The cavalry is coming, so to speak, in the form of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which entered into a feasibility study agreement with local and state government agencies to find shovel-ready solutions for saving the Salton Sea.

The significance of the collaboration was highlighted at a signing ceremony held at the North Shores Beach and Yacht Club near Mecca on Friday, Dec. 16, where the Salton Sea Authority, California Natural Resources Agency, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers entered into the Imperial Streams Salton Sea Feasibility Cost-Share Agreement, which will develop and propose solutions to save the ever-receding Salton Sea.

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Army Corps Study of Salton Sea Could Yield Billions for Long-Term Restoration

/in , , /by /The Desert Sunby Janet Wilson

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has agreed to review both short-term and long-term options for restoring the Salton Sea, which could ultimately net billions for major public works to restore the crashing ecosystem of California’s largest water body. First up, the federal agency will, by March 1 of next year, complete streamlined federal environmental reviews of projects that are part of the state Salton Sea Management Program’s 10-year plan that is supposed to be completed by 2028, including some that are underway.

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Opinion: Keeping the Salton Sea from Becoming a Toxic Dust Bowl Must Be an Environmental Priority

/in , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board

It’s been seven years since the Little Hoover Commission — a state watchdog agency — warned of disaster ahead because of deteriorating conditions at the Salton Sea. This intensely salty 300-plus-square-mile lake in Imperial and Riverside counties was created by Colorado River flooding in 1905-1907, which filled up the below-sea-level Salton Trough.

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IID Approves Possible $250 Million Salton Sea Deal With Feds, State

/in , , /by /The Desert Sunby Janet Wilson

Southern California’s powerful Imperial Irrigation District voted late Tuesday 3-2 to ink an agreement with federal and state officials that could yield as much as $250 million for Salton Sea restoration projects in exchange for not using another 250,000 acre-feet of Colorado River water. An acre-foot is enough to supply about two households.

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Drying California Lake to Get $250M in US Drought Funding

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Kathleen Ronayne

The federal government said Monday it will spend $250 million over four years on environmental cleanup and restoration work around a drying Southern California lake that’s fed by the depleted Colorado River. The future of the Salton Sea, and who is financially responsible for it, has been a key issue in discussions over how to prevent a crisis in the Colorado River.

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