Drone footage taken at the Salton Sea, California’s largest inland lake, shows the dramatic effects of the state’s worst drought since 1977.
Its receding shoreline has caused an ecological crisis as exposed silt is carried into surrounding areas.
A vision for a “Lithium Valley” around the Salton Sea does appear to be on its way to reality.
The potential of the sea as a vast untapped and sustainable reserve of lithium for a world increasingly focused toward renewable — and rechargeable — sources of power got a shot in the arm last week.
Once again, the chest beating for a sea-to-sea pipeline to “fix” the Salton Sea has begun. Here are a few facts are often ignored.
The Coachella Canal shows that it is possible to transport water long distances without pumping. That canal transports Colorado River water 122 miles to the Coachella Valley, all by gravity. It was completed in 1948, before current environmental regulations. According to the CVWD, this canal delivers about 280,000 acre-feet per year of water.
Regarding the Salton Sea, Henny Youngman might say, “Take the pending disaster of the Salton Sea, please.”
Many in this Valley have never been to the big salty lake. Some of us of us love it, its bizarre creation, and its lumpy history. Photographers come from afar to grab images of the now fading graffiti that marked so many of the ruins bordering the western side of the sea. Not quite the site of an ancient civilization, that territory was home to lots of angry, broke, disoriented, and confident aerosol artists. It was a joy to see a free gallery of “edgy on the edge” of the big body of sometimes stinky water.
The story of Lithium Valley begins in earnest on Sept. 29, 2020. That’s the day when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill 1657, sponsored by Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia, creating a “Blue Ribbon Commission on Lithium Extraction in California.” That commission is now called the Lithium Valley Commission. What is this all about? Oh, just the fact that up to 40% of the world’s potential future lithium supply is located under and near the Salton Sea.
Coachella Valley-based architect Nikola Lakic knows how to fix the withering Salton Sea. Or, at least he says he does.
Lakic believes it’s possible to import water from Mexico’s Sea of Cortez — or, perhaps, from the Pacific Ocean off the California coast — through a multi-billion-dollar system of pipes. He would construct mangrove habitat for natural water filtration, send desalinated water to geothermal plants and, amid all this, restore California’s largest lake.
Tina Shields, the Water Department Manager of IID, speaks on the QSA, why it was implemented, and the contention between the state and IID as water was forced from agricultural communities to urban areas.
Along the dusty shoreline of the Salton Sea, you could blink and you’d miss it: the Ski Inn, the only bar around the east side of the lake for 40 miles.
Congressman Raul Ruiz, M.D. tells News Channel 3 exclusively that his office has sent letters to Fish and Wildlife Service and Imperial Irrigation District in regards to the Red Hill Bay Project at the Salton Sea.
The joint effort between IID and FWS broke ground in 2015, but has yet to be completed.
It was designed to create over 600 acres of shallow saline ponds by mixing water from the Salton Sea and the Alamo River. These new ponds would faciliate a new habitat for birds, while also preventing dust from emerging into the air.
Newly announced state funding for the Salton Sea is expected to maximize habitat outcomes and provide immediate economic relief to the community.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s $5.1 billion water infrastructure, drought response and climate resilience proposal, which he announced Monday as part of his $100 billion “California Comeback Plan,” includes $220 million for the Salton Sea.
At Tuesday’s Imperial County Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, District 1 Supervisor Jesus Eduardo Escobar wanted to know what is meant by providing immediate economic relief to the community and how this would occur. He also asked if the $220 million was part of the master plan and whether the funds would be used for restoration purposes.
