After 2017, the Salton Sea could be at risk of receding further. The new goal is to raise funds for restoration through the sale of geothermal energy.
Los Angeles Times | By Tony Perry | Link to article
SAN DIEGO — With an ominous deadline approaching, two feuding Imperial Valley agencies have put aside their differences and developed a plan they hope can save the ailing Salton Sea, the state’s largest body of water and often considered its most vexing environmental problem.
The Imperial Irrigation District and the Imperial County Board of Supervisors have agreed to push for additional geothermal energy exploration on the eastern edge of the sea.
The goal is to raise money for restoration projects from the profits from energy sales. Officials also want the geothermal companies — and the utility agencies that buy the electricity — to take care of Salton Sea property that is now underwater but may soon be open to the air.
A sense of urgency comes from the fact that after 2017, under its water sales agreement with the San Diego County Water Authority, the Imperial Irrigation District will no longer send water directly into the sea.
