Debate swirls around California’s largest inland lake, the Salton Sea, which sits at the heart of a major farm-to-city water transfer that allowed the state to stay within its allocation of the Colorado River.

Now, as a 2017 deadline looms for the Imperial Irrigation District to end its obligation to put water directly into the sea to keep it alive, the question of the sea’s existence is becoming more pressing. As the sea shrinks, it poses an environmental catastrophe as a dry lake bed would expose residents to windborne contaminants and reduce habitat for the 400 bird species that use it for food and as nesting grounds.

Is the state obligated to restore the sea and follow through on a 2007 plan that carried an $8.9 billion price tag?

To hear more on this important topic, register for our Executive Briefing this Wednesday in Sacramento.