A new conservancy has been created to support restoration efforts at the Salton Sea, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Friday.
“For too long, communities around the Salton Sea have carried the burden of environmental challenges and neglect. Today, California is changing that by launching the Salton Sea Conservancy to advance cleaner air, protect public health, restore critical ecosystems and ensure the work we’ve started creates lasting opportunities for Salton Sea communities,” Newsom said.
Established after Sen. Steve Padilla’s, D-San Diego, bill was signed into law, the conservancy was designed to address numerous problems caused by the receding lake by focusing on projects, including habitat restoration and reducing harmful dust from the exposed lakebed.
Located across southern Riverside in the Coachella Valley and northern Imperial County, the Salton Sea is a landlocked, terminal lake that has increased in salinity over the decades, resulting it being inhospitable for most aquatic life. Additionally, the reduced water inflows has created toxic, dust filled air dangerous for habitats and nearby communities.
The California Secretary for Natural Resources Wade Crowfoot remarked on the importance of guiding long-term stewardships of the projects aimed to “improve air quality, protect local communities and restore critical habitat.”
“I am honored to join the Salton Sea Conservancy at such a critical moment for our region,” Executive Director of Alianza Coachella Valley Silvia Paz said in a statement.
“For too long, the communities most impacted by the Salton Sea’s decline — such as families dealing with air pollution, children with asthma, residents who have watched this sea shrink before their eyes — have felt the weight of delayed action.
“The conservancy gives us the structure to change that. By bringing together the right partners around shared priorities, we can finally align resources, cut through the fragmentation that has slowed progress, and advance real, lasting solutions for the people who nee them the most,” Paz said.
The restoration of the Salton Sea has been a state priority since 2019 as Newsom has secured more than half-billion dollars in combines state and federal investments to move projects forward.