Senator Padilla introduces legislation to create Salton Sea Conservancy
SACRAMENTO – Senator Steve Padilla (D-San Diego) introduced Senate Bill 583 on Wednesday, February 15, creating the Salton Sea Conservancy, unifying the state’s efforts to accomplish necessary and overdue preservation projects, protecting residents’ health, and fostering ecological recovery in the area.
According to a press release from the office of Steve Padilla representing Senate District 18, with a surface area of 343 square miles, the Salton Sea is California’s largest lake and was once a freshwater lake and a thriving tourism destination. Evaporation, exacerbated by climate change, along with agricultural runoff, has exposed toxins in the lakebed and created a perfect environment for dangerous algae blooms and bacteria to thrive. Some experts estimate the sea will lose more than half its volume by 2030, creating close to a 3-foot decline in the water level, per the release. As the sea shrinks, the lakebed containing elements such as arsenic and selenium becomes exposed, and the dust particles that then become airborne, spread the toxins throughout the region.
The exposure has had an overwhelming impact on the surrounding communities, predominantly composed of Latino agricultural workers. Hospitalization rates for children with asthma in the area are double the state average and residents have been especially affected by the rotten-egg odor from hydrogen sulfide overrunning
the sea’s oxygen-deprived water, the release reads. Imperial County, where the Sea is located, now suffers from some of the worst air quality in the country.
According to the release, there have been numerous efforts by environmental justice groups to mitigate the negative health effects affecting communities. Similarly, environmental groups have sought aid from state and federal sources to preserve the environment and correct the toxic health inequities present. Previous attempts to restore the Salton Sea have stalled despite numerous legislative efforts.
SB 583 would create the Salton
Sea Conservancy within the Natural Resources Agency, which would then manage all of the conservation projects taking place in the Salton Sea Region, the release states. Conservancies have the ability to foster trust with regions they serve. Creating the Salton Sea Conservancy would provide the surrounding community a direct link to a central entity, giving them further insight into restoration efforts, it reads.
“This is an environmental crisis that not only impacts the ecology of the region, but the people as well,” Senator Padilla said in the release. “Communities near the Salton Sea are at breaking point. By unifying all of the conservation projects surrounding the Sea, we can streamline efforts and bring about necessary change faster.”
“We are excited to have a new partner in Senator Padilla, reinforcing our Salton Sea restoration efforts,” said Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia, joint author on the legislation. “A Salton Sea Conservancy creates a necessary avenue to
finance operation and maintenance of restoration projects and ensure a healthier, more sustainable future for our sea and surrounding communities.”
“The creation of a conservancy at the Salton Sea to oversee the acquisition and management of land, create infrastructure act as a responsible steward of wildlife habitat areas
is long overdue,” said Frank Ruiz, director of the Salton Sea Program for Audubon California, a member of the Salton Sea Partnership.
“As many different entities come together to slow the Sea’s decline, coordination and communication are essential, and we thank Senator Padilla for working to further that,” Ruiz said in the release.