With the generous support of the Water Foundation and the Bureau of Reclamation, the Pacific Institute and the University of California, Riverside will host a Salton Sea Summit October 17th to 18th at the University of California, Riverside’s Palm Desert campus. The conference will be livestreamed here.
With an estimated surface area of 350 square miles, the Salton Sea is by far California’s largest lake, as well as a vital stop for migrating birds along the Pacific Flyway. Threatened by contaminated runoff and reduced inflow from changing water-usage patterns, the Sea is degrading rapidly, exposing airborne dust from the dry lakebed that endangers the health of the 650,000 residents who live in the immediate area. Plans and initial funding are in place to restore portions of the Sea and mitigate the health effects of airborne contaminants, but progress has been slow.
At the summit, some 250 researchers, state officials, representatives of environmental, tribal and community groups, and water policy leaders will discuss issues facing the Salton Sea as well as stalled projects to curb toxic dust resulting from evaporation, restore wildlife habitat, and make California’s largest lake a resource for surrounding communities. Associated with the summit will be several optional field trips to the Salton Sea on October 16th.
Other sponsoring organizations include Alianza, Audubon California, Environmental Defense Fund, Pacific Institute, and the Sierra Club.
Learn more about the Salton Sea Summit here. UC Riverside’s School of Public Policy will livestream the conference here.
Due to overwhelming interest, registration for the conference is now closed.