Pictured is the shore of the Salton Sea. California voters on June 5 approved Prop. 68, which includes $200 million in restoration funding for the sea. The funding will help advance the state’s Salton Sea Management Program, a phased approach to restoration.

In a vote that was as important for its message as the funding it appropriates, California voters on June 5 supported Proposition 68, the $4.1 billion water bond that specifically included $200 million for Salton Sea restoration. That funding will support the ten-year phase one list of projects under the state’s Salton Sea restoration plan known as the Salton Sea Management Program (SSMP).

Coupled with $80 million for the sea from a previous bond, the $200 million moves the state closer to achieving its ten-year target of addressing 30,000 acres of exposed playa. Another

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U.S.Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Brenda W. Burman speaks to the Imperial Irrigation District Board of Directors and Imperial Valley residents regarding current risks to the Colorado River system on Tuesday, May 22. The presentation was held during an IID Board meeting at the district’s auditorium in El Centro.

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Brenda W. Burman spoke of the risk to the Colorado River system and the need for action in the wake of ongoing drought during an Imperial Irrigation District (IID) Board meeting on Tuesday, May 22. In her first presentation to the IID Board of Directors since confirmation as commissioner in November, Burman delivered a sobering message that the time has come to restart the stalled drought contingency planning (DCP) talks, stating a need for action in the next year to address the threat of shortage on the river.

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Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia (third from the left on the dais) questions a panel on the status of the Salton Sea Management Program (SSMP) during a State Legislative Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee hearing May 8 in Sacramento. Garcia, who represents the Imperial and Coachella valleys, raised concerns with the progress of the SSMP and sought information on what steps can be taken to meet restoration milestones at the Sea. Photo from the website of Assemblyman Garcia.

On Tuesday, May 8, the State’s restoration plan, the Salton Sea Management Program (SSMP), was the subject of a Sacramento hearing of the State’s Legislative Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife, chaired by Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia, D-56th District, who represents the Imperial and Coachella valleys. Garcia and fellow committee members asked State agencies working on the Salton Sea what support they need from

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