(Credit: David McNew / Getty Images for Lumix) Tuesday's vote clears a key hurdle to constructing 3,700 acres around the heavily polluted New River at the south end of the lake, implementing what’s known as the Species Conservation Habitat plan. Location. "You haven't gotten it delivered, you haven't. As California’s largest lake, it stretches across almost 35 miles in a remote, below sea-level valley in the southeastern corner of the state. As California’s largest lake, it stretches across almost 35 miles in a remote, below sea-level valley in the southeastern corner of the state. Salt encrusted Red Hill Bay near the Imperial valley's Salton Sea on Feb. 25, 2019. Obsidian Butte sits on the Salton Sea's southern shoreline in near geothermal energy plants in this aerial photograph, October 19, 2019. Salton Sea, is the largest water rights holder on the Colorado River and a major advocate for Salton Sea restoration. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and IID are the two largest landowners around and in the sea, which was created in the early 20th century after a canal broke and sent Colorado River floodwaters rushing into an ancient, dry lakebed. Full view. He said that concern is part of what motivated IID to dig in its heels and formally nail down that the state would bear responsibility for Salton Sea restoration before allowing access. Another big factor, he said, was that California officials agreed to be responsible for restoring the sea in a 2003 multi-party agreement between them, federal officials, IID and other water districts. Whoever causes damage done by dust, Wilcox said, whether it contains contaminants or not, is who's responsible. Spring 2019. ... “It was assured that the state of California would handle the restoration of the Salton Sea … Microsoft may earn an Affiliate Commission if you purchase something through recommended links in this article. Posted on May 24, 2019 by Darren Simon. But it’s also agricultural runoff, mixed with naturally salty Colorado River irrigation water, that is keeping the sea afloat, so to speak. "I can't blame them. "Is the board really aware of what's needed to drive that to the finish line?" Evidence pointed to the Colorado River's floodplain and delta — that area that would now dump into the Sea of Cortez if the river freely flowed that far — being prone to meander in what Ross described as a "maze of constantly shifting distributary channels.". 2019 Annual Report on the Salton Sea Management Program Prepared for the State Water Resources Control Board (Order WR 2017-0134) March 2019 . DeLara is also head of the Salton Sea Action Committee and would-be developer of a 4,900 acre housing, commercial and recreational project at the sea's north end. September 13, 2019 By Michael Cohen. Farmers along the edge of the 350 square mile sea — twice as large as Lake Tahoe — have sued before and say they could sue again if state work harms their crops, or, conversely, if nothing is done to stop increasing air quality problems. Work goes on at the Red Hill Bay restoration project at the Salton Sea on Sept. 12, 2018. In an attempt to turn the desert into lush farmland more than a century ago, humans tried — and temporarily but dramatically failed  — to exert control over nature. In exchange, California will shoulder the maintenance and operations of the projects, and the state's taxpayers will cover the costs of any lawsuits or regulatory penalties if the work goes awry. I'm sure it is less enjoyable when the temperature are over 100. White pelicans, which used to mass here by the tens of thousands during winter months, fly over the Salton Sea near Calipatria on Jan. 1, 2019. The receding water level at the Salton Sea exposes an old boat ramp near Desert Shores, March 27, 2019. 2019 EEO Report; Public File Help ... from an environmental improvement fund to support efforts to restore the dying Salton Sea. It's been a long time coming. Last … Imperial Valley officials say they are close to finishing an important habitat restoration project at the Salton Sea. That's now been done, and Wilcox said he expects IID will resume work on hundreds of acres soon. Location. The sea — a lake, actually — was created by accident in 1905 when flooding from the Colorado River into irrigation canals eventually led a 40-mile stretch of desert known as the Salton Sink to fill with water, thus creating the lake. As the Salton Sea has dried up the water level no longer reaches her backyard dock in Desert Shores, March 27, 2019. ... you need to have drive as directors to really see through to the end these pilot projects. Cunningham, S (2016) Natural resource TIF to aid Fed’s $30M for Salton Sea restoration and revitalization. © 2021 www.desertsun.com. Share this article:Riverside County supervisors Tuesday approved the allocation of $350,000 from an environmental improvement fund to support efforts to restore the dying Salton Sea. Wilcox said Dessert should know that the high water mark at the sea needed to be legally re-set before dust suppression furrowing could resume. Revitalization News 35, September 15. Agenda for June 18, 2019 Board Meeting A dog on the streets of Desert Shores near the Salton Sea. Show full articles without "Continue Reading" button for {0} hours. In their paper, McNeece and Lynch surmised that much of the 1905 flooding came from the Gila River, a snowpack-fed river that originates in modern-day New Mexico before feeding into the Colorado River. The Salton Sea has gotten a bad rap over the years, most of it unwarranted. Since 2003, there has been $653 million in federal, state and local funds authorized for Salton Sea mitigation and restoration projects. Associated with the summit will be several optional field trips to the Salton Sea on October 16. The state promised Salton Sea restoration back in 2003," he said. The Salton Sea shoreline slowly recedes away from the small community of Bombay Beach near Highway 86 on the sea's eastern shore in this aerial photograph, October 19, 2019. This petition is designed to represent all the people that support the Desert Shores Restoration Project and Restoration in general at the Salton Sea that are not able to attend the Salton Sea Authority Board Meeting on September 19th, 2019. The pieces are all in place for real action at the Salton Sea. This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Well-known Salton Sea origin story questioned by new research, suggesting it wasn't 'accidental', Like us on Facebook to see similar stories, FBI investigating explosion, graffiti at church known for anti-LGBT views, Madison Cawthorn: Republican representative accepts Biden as President. "It's a flop," Reyes said of the state's ten year plan. Tuesday's agreement clears a particularly thorny issue that stopped the larger wetlands projects in their tracks: Who's responsible if something goes wrong? "The species habitat conservation plan is permitted and ready to go." The state was supposed to implement an action plan in those 15 years, but failed to do it. IMPERIAL COUNTY, Calif. (KYMA, KECY), Restoration projects are finally coming to the Salton Sea and New River. Man made trenches help mitigate dust at the southern end of the Salton Sea, in this aerial photograph, October 19, 2019. In this report, we discuss the changing conditions in and around the Sea, their statewide importance, and the Legislature’s role in overseeing projects to reduce potential negative effects on public health and wildlife. We are focused on making continued progress to develop dust suppression and habitat projects to benefit communities around the Sea.”. The Salton Sea shoreline slowly recedes away from the small community of Bombay Beach near Highway 86 on the sea's eastern shore in this aerial photograph, October 19, 2019. But Salton Sea restoration threatens to undermine nature’s effort to reclaim the basin by once again smothering this new life in toxic waste for another generation. A turkey vulture at the Salton Sea, seen near the Red Hill Bay restoration project site on Sept. 12, 2018. The Salton Sea is a shallow and salty lake inland of Los Angeles and south of Palm Springs that was created by an overflow of the Colorado River in the early 20th century. However the two trips I have made in the winter have been e... Read all 374 reviews. “Today’s action by the IID board will help these important projects cross the finish line.". The names on this petition will be presented to the Board Members Of The Salton Sea Authority at the September 19th meeting and is a request for the Salton … … Overview; Projects; Expanded Course Description: This 5121L studio explores the nexus of land art, pattern generation, ecological restoration, dust mitigation, water policy, and social justice while choreographing the sublime on the corpse of the Salton Sea … Get in touch at molalde@gannett.com, and follow him on Twitter at @MarkOlalde. The program will monitor elements such as biological resources, hydrology, water quality and Supervisor Manuel Perez has proposed an Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District to generate funding, by tax increment, for sea restoration, mainly on the Riverside County side of the water body, most of which is in Imperial County. … Now we just need to move on to the next step.". Frustrations by local officials and residents have mounted along with the lack of progress on projects. These requirements are vague, strategically so. 82995 Hwy 111, Suite 200, Indio, CA 92201 A meeting on the proposal is set for 11 a.m. on Oct. 15 at the yacht club, 9115 Sea View Drive in Mecca. The next steps for the plan include finalizing the easement documents and seeking bids. The lake dropped more than a foot last year, and is growing ever saltier as it dwindles in size. Major Restoration Project at the Salton Sea to Move Forward. But that framing is too simplistic, new research suggests, arguing that the sea's formation was inevitable, regardless of the famous canal breach in 1905. By January 2020, the salinity of the Salton Sea was double that of the Atlantic Ocean. After decades of false starts and false hopes, progress might finally be within reach for California’s Salton Sea – the state’s largest and most maligned lake. May 7, 2019 May 8, 2019 MATTHEW RENDA. California agencies, the Salton Sea Authority, and the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Tribe completed a 60-acre wetlands project on the northern end of the sea. CA. Full view. The Imperial Irrigation District board of directors voted Tuesday to allow access across its lands for critically needed state wetlands projects at the Salton Sea, designed to tamp down dangerous dust storms and give threatened wildlife a boost. The Summit is a multi-disciplinary Salton Sea conference, intended to attract a broad range of interests, promote an exchange of ideas, and develop new opportunities and partnerships. The Salton Sea is California’s largest inland lake, located in Riverside and Imperial Counties. Under the transfer, the Imperial Irrigation District agreed to send up to 300,000 acre-feet of Colorado River water per year to Los Angeles and San Diego. “I hope that people don’t dismiss the Salton Sea as unimportant with this silly rationale that it’s there by mistake," McNeece said. More:Residents see zero progress at Salton Sea, but new officials say it’s time to turn the page, More: Salton Sea fish and birds that fed on them wiped out this winter. "The Salton Sea in south California was created in 1905 when spring flooding on the Colorado River breached a canal," NASA's website spells out. The shrinking of the Salton Sea is a longer-term trend that was exacerbated by the largest rural-urban water transfer in the U.S., finalized in 2003. She can be reached at janet.wilson@desertsun.com or @janetwilson66. The state promised Salton Sea restoration back in 2003," he said. Obsidian Butte sits on the Salton Sea's southern shoreline in near geothermal energy plants in this aerial photograph, October 19, 2019. The Summit is a multi-disciplinary Salton Sea conference, intended to attract a broad range of interests, promote an exchange of ideas, and develop new opportunities and partnerships. "That could be the state, that could be the federal government, or it could be a private landowner," he said. Contact. California isn't doing anything to stop it. “At its peak, the Salton Sea hosted a broad diversity of birds, and any habitat restoration that takes place here should serve that diversity.” According to the report, the most pronounced desertion has involved the American White Pelican, whose numbers reached about … Salt encrusted Red Hill Bay near the Imperial valley's Salton Sea on Feb. 25, 2019. IID refused to approve the 2019 Drought Contingency Plan for the Lower Colorado River Basin without assurances related to restoration of the Salton Sea.9 Although the Smaller-scale restoration projects at the Salton Sea are moving forward. SALTON SEA, Calif. - On Saturday morning three valley high school students set out on the Salton Sea, kayaking from one side to the other in an effort to raise awareness on the environmental plight and public health issues brought on by California's largest lake. Natural wetlands cover a portion of the Salton Sea's eastern shoreline just south of Bombay Beach, top center, in this aerial photograph, October 19, 2019. Chris Schoneman of the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge examines the water near the Red Hill Bay restoration project site on Sept. 12, 2018. IID refused to approve the 2019 Drought Contingency Plan for the Lower Colorado River Basin without assurances related to restoration of the Salton Sea.9Although the plan eventually was approved and enacted without … This recent photograph of the Salton Sea depicts a section of the southern shore with geothermal plants visible in the distance. "I feel a lot more optimistic now that we finally got this step done, which has been bedeviling us for some time," said Bruce Wilcox, Assistant Secretary of Natural Resources overseeing Salton Sea efforts. Ross recently published her research through the 2020 iteration of the Desert Symposium in a paper with a title that speaks for itself: "Formation of California’s Salton Sea in 1905–07 was not 'accidental.'". "If people had understood all this time that its formation was entirely natural, people would feel differently about it.”. (Credit: David McNew / Getty Images for Lumix) I'm sure it is less enjoyable when the temperature are over 100. Editorial: The Salton Sea is a disaster in the making. "Oh yeah, he does have a good case potentially," Wilcox said of DeLara. WESTMORLAND — The California Salton Sea Management Program began construction this week on a nearly 4,000-acre project to restore bird and fish habitat and improve conditions for local communities near the southern tip of the Salton Sea. The piece of history that's truly unusual, she said, is how much the Colorado River has been hemmed in by dams and levees ever since. Editor's note: This story has been corrected to state David Lynch's proper occupation. Natural wetlands cover portions of the Salton Sea's eastern shoreline just south of Bombay Beach in this aerial photograph, October 19, 2019. They were always supposed to be the glue behind the scenes as the lengthy process of the bigger projects took place. Some were hoping that this would help to accelerate a restoration project which would enable the state to obtain federal funding. In November 2019, an emergency was declared because of the "heavily polluted New River, which empties into the Salton Sea". Called the Species … More: Salton Sea fixes still lagging far behind schedule. A second paper written for the Desert Symposium — titled "On the origin and evolution of the Salton Sea" — made a similar argument and was penned by David Lynch, a geotechnical consultant, and Brian McNeece, who has been active in water rights issues in the Imperial Valley for several decades. Warning signs along an inlet warn people stay away from algae if it's visible in the water at the Salton Sea. Supervisor Manuel Perez has proposed an Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District to generate funding, by tax increment, for sea restoration, mainly on the Riverside County side of the water body, most of which is in Imperial County. “I’m very happy,” said IID general manager Henry Martinez, who worked closely with top resources officials to hammer out the agreement. Outbreaks like this occur during the winter in California and may result in the deaths of thousands of birds when they congregate at key water sources during migration, and the weather is cold and damp. White pelicans, which used to mass here by the tens of thousands during winter months, fly over the Salton Sea near Calipatria on Jan. 1, 2019. 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