Residents concerned over Salton Sea projects slow progress

Imperial Valley residents shared their Salton Sea concerns at the IID meeting on Tuesday. They said not enough is being done and time is running out despite over 40 million dollars already invested in saving it.

Brawley resident Eric Reyes said, “Great frustration and more than a little anger that these projects aren’t moving forward at the fast pace that they should be.”

Matt Dessert, I.C. Air Pollution Control District, said, “It’s time to get some projects on the ground for us all to see and to get the benefits from.”

They said money goes in and no results come out.

” There’s a lot of projects out there on paper. We need to have projects delivered. It’s time now, ” Dessert said.

Several agencies receive state and federal funds for the restoration.

Jessica Humes , IID Environmental Projects Manager, said, ” All of the agencies who are working right now are working independently, but also together.”

She admits that collaboration between agencies working on the restoration project is an issue.

“There have been some communication issues at the beginning of some of these projects, but we’ve been working towards better collaboration, better communication,” Humes said.

IID also wants to see more action as well. They have a new brochure to inform the public of what is actually being done or in the works. The brochure is available at the IID’s website.

“It covers our proactive dust control project, as well as many of the other aspects that we’re doing, the monitoring implementation, and planning and design as well,” Humes said.

Residents said the threat of toxic dust coming from exposed playa is a ticking time bomb.

“We’re facing a potentially environmental disaster that could impact the quality of life here in Imperial Valley,” Reyes said.

For more information on Salton Sea restoration projects, you can visit www.iid.com.