Fearing an imminent public health threat, the director of the
University of California, Irvine’s Salton Sea Initiative said the
State Water Resources Control Board should step in and regulate
the rate of water transferred from the Imperial Valley to coastal
California as part of the Quantification Settlement Agreement.
The Salton Sea Authority Board of Directors recently approved a
budget for fiscal year 2014-2015 that is larger than the previous
year’s budget but keeps member agency contributions mostly the
same.
If he can work the bugs out, Tom Sephton’s experimental project
will clean up the salty water at the Salton Sea using resources
from the area itself as a power source.
A plan to increase renewable energy production in and around the
Salton Sea — and have utilities help finance the ailing lake’s
ultimate restoration — was touted on Capitol Hill this week.
The Clinton Foundation’s public workshop will feature speakers
from environmental groups, public health advocates, state and
local agencies. It is the Clinton Foundation’s second workshop
devoted to the Salton Sea.
“The Army Corps of Engineers is budgeting $200,000 next year for
work relating to the Salton Sea, a step that local officials say
may clear the way for more federal government involvement in
projects aimed at protecting habitats and keeping dust down as
the lake recedes.”
From The Sacramento Bee, in Stephanie Taylor’s California
Sketches series:
“The North Shore Beach Yacht Club opened in the early 1960s,
attracting a glamorous crowd – Frank Sinatra, Jerry Lewis and the
Beach Boys. An hour southeast of Palm Springs, California’s
largest lake attracted thousands who came to fish, camp and
boat.”
Aquafornia’s Water Word of the Week from sister site Aquapedia, the Water Education
Foundation’s vetted, online water encyclopedia, is Salton Sea.
According to an excerpt from Aquapedia, “Southern California’s
Salton Sea—approximately 232 feet (70 m) below sea level—is the
by-product of a manmade accident.
“The Salton Sea Authority is supporting two proposed pieces of
legislation that could assist environmental restoration and
economic development efforts at the Salton Sea.”
“Tesla Motors should build its “gigafactory” next to the Salton
Sea so it can have easy access to lithium extracted from recycled
brine from geothermal plants.”
“It’s hard to be optimistic about the Salton Sea. After years of
political rhetoric and study after study, we can’t think of a
more frustrating issue in this region that has been debated so
thoroughly with so little progress. The state’s $8.9 billion
preferred plan issued in 2007 — and never enacted — landed with a
giant thud that crippled creative solutions.”
“Plans to develop renewable energy as a way to fund restoration
and conservation projects at the Salton Sea could be premature
without at least a preliminary plan on what the restoration will
look like, which in turn may depend on figuring out the funding
sources for those efforts.”
“Progress toward
an environmental solution at the declining Salton Sea may be
unbearably slow for some observers. However, there have been
some important achievements in the last year, said officials at
the seventh annual Renewable Energy Summit at Quechan Casino
Resort on Thursday.
“For instance, the Imperial Irrigation District and Imperial
County set aside years of litigation and acrimony to jointly
advance a restoration plan for the S
“Department of the Interior Assistant Secretary for Water and
Science Anne Castle has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with
Salton Sea Authority to improve collaboration between federal,
tribal and local entities on natural resource issues involving
the Salton Sea.
“The effort to restore the Salton Sea gained momentum in the
nation’s capital Thursday, as California lawmakers and the
Obama administration touted renewable energy as an
environmental and economic lifeline.
“Sen. Barbara Boxer and two Southern California House members,
Reps. Raul Ruiz and Juan Vargas, urged the U.S.
“Making a priority of funding to revive the ailing Salton Sea is
part of Riverside County’s federal legislative platform approved
by the county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, Feb.
“A state agency’s questions may push back the construction of a
state-funded environmental project at the Salton Sea.
“In a letter to the Salton Sea Authority, the state Department
of Fish and Wildlife raised concerns that an initial study for
a wetland habitat project at the north end of the Salton Sea
leaves several questions unanswered.”
“Salton Sea Authority officials and business people met
Thursday to discuss ways to restore the Salton Sea.
“The forum, part of the Clinton Health Matters Initiative,
focused on how to forge public-private partnerships to drive
economic development and environmental restoration of the
receding lake.”
