Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Tom Kirk (760) 564-4888

June 18, 2001

The stage has been set for the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Tribe to become a voting member of the Salton Sea Authority’s board of directors as the result of legislation signed Friday by Gov. Gray Davis.

AB959, authored by Assemblyman David Kelley (R-80^th District), opens the door for the tribe to become the authority’s fifth voting member, joining the Imperial Irrigation District, the Coachella Valley Water District and the counties of Riverside and Imperial.

“As a major stakeholder and landowner around and under the Salton Sea, we welcome the opportunity to sit with other elected officials and make decisions about the future of the Salton Sea”, said Mary Belardo, tribal chair.

Kelley’s bill declares the tribe to be a public agency, authorized to enter a joint powers agreement to participate in the Salton Sea Authority. Previously, state law did not permit tribes to be members of such authorities.

The legislation will be effective Jan.1, 2002 and membership of the tribe on the Authority Board is subject to board approval.

“I’m pleased that through the efforts of Dave Kelley, the Authority and the tribe, the way has been cleared for the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Tribe to join with us in working to restore the Salton Sea”, said Riverside County Supervisor Roy Wilson, who is Chairman of the Salton Sea Authority.

The Salton Sea Authority was created in 1993 and the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Tribe has been ex officio member since then.

The Authority is the local lead agency in Salton Sea restoration efforts and has joined with the Federal lead agency, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, and other federal and state agencies to select and build a project to reduce the salinity of the sea and stabilize its elevation. A preferred project is expected to be announced later this summer.

 

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