Solving the Salton Sea crisis

| October 12, 2016 | Leave a Comment

Item Link: Access the Resource

Date of Publication: October 12, 2016

Year of Publication: 2016

Publication City: San Diego, CA

Publisher: San Diego Union-Tribune, LLC

Author(s): Allison Harvey Turner, Barry Gold

Newspaper: The San Diego Union-Tribune

The story of California’s Salton Sea is often used to question the engineering of mighty rivers to accommodate human needs. Located in southeastern California along the San Andreas Fault, the Salton Sea’s natural cycle created by the changing course of the Colorado River was dramatically altered by efforts to divert water from the Colorado to farmland.

Today, in the face of continuing drought conditions and divisive decisions concerning water diversions, water levels in the Salton Sea are plummeting. The receding waters are leaving behind serious threats to public health, air quality, and habitat availability.

In an effort to accelerate fish and wildlife habitat restoration and improve air and water quality, the federal government and state of California recently announced an agreement to support the creation and “implementation of a comprehensive plan to protect public health and the environment, promote drought resilience and encourage renewable energy and restoration efforts at the Salton Sea.”

Allison Harvey Turner and Barry Gold report on the agreement, you can read the full article here.

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