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.”
