California Comeback Plan Includes $220 Million for Salton Sea

Salton Sea Management Program Update – May 14, 2021

As part of the biggest economic recovery package in California history, Governor Gavin Newsom’s $100 billion California Comeback Plan proposes $220 million for the Salton Sea to fund projects to improve conditions and provide immediate economic relief to communities in the region.

The funding will bolster the state’s effort to implement the Salton Sea Management Program’s Phase 1: 10-Year Plan, which calls for construction of nearly 30,000 acres of habitat and dust suppression projects on exposed lakebed by 2028. Construction is now underway on a major 4,100-acre habitat project at the southern end of the Sea, and about 750 acres of interim dust suppression projects were completed last year.

The infusion of new funds could enable an additional 4,000 acres of deep-water habitat, 1,000 acres of shallow water habitat, and 3,000 acres of dust suppression projects.

“Governor Newsom’s proposal to significantly expand funding to implement the Salton Sea Management Plan reflects our continued commitment to stabilize and restore the sea,” California Secretary for Natural Resources Wade Crowfoot said. “This work has to happen in partnership with local communities and leaders, and I’m encouraged with our collaboration on several fronts. While we’ve started to make important progress together, we have a lot of work ahead of us and this proposed funding is critical to deliver needed improvements.”

This new funding proposed by the governor is part of his broader climate change response as California roars back in 2021 and beyond.

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