‘Farm To City’ Deal To Dry Out Stretches Of California’s Legendary Salton Sea
Heard on Morning Edition, Valley Public Radio
California’s legendary Salton Sea may need an epitaph soon, thanks to a “farm to city” water deal that takes full effect in 2018. The controversial deal redirects most of the water that now sustains the Salton Sea to thirsty towns and cities. As a result, in the years ahead, more than a third of the 350-square-mile lake in the deserts of southeastern California is expected to dry up and blow away.
Mitigation experts with the state of California say they’re working hard to minimize the environmental side effects of the giant water transfer deal. But critics say the mitigation plan is falls far short of what’s needed to protect this former tourist mecca from the impact of the coming water transfer.
