A Landmark Year for the Salton Sea and Desert Program

A year worth celebrating, from launching our community leadership program to new habitat protections.

Top left to bottom right: Phainopepla. Photo: Joe Galkowski, Our Salton Sea team in May celebrating the filling of the Species Conservation Habitat Project East Pond Expansion; Salton Sea Leadership Program (SSLP) participant during 760 Snake Club activity. Photo: Lindsay Row; 2025 SSLP cohort; Audubon’s Camila Bautista and Rhian Reyes exploring the beauty of Chuckwalla. Photo: Mike Fernandez/Audubon.

By Lauren Elachi

Southern California Program Director, Audubon California

Published December 18, 2025

This article is from Audubon California . Find Audubon near you here.

The Salton Sea and Desert Program has had a historic year. From playing a pivotal role in the designation of Chuckwalla National Monument to launching our Salton Sea Leadership Program, the team continues to find new ways to conserve birds, build community capacity, and preserve the ecosystems that are vital to our communities and to the birds that rely on them as they journey along the Pacific Flyway and across the hemisphere.

The Salton Sea program combines all of Audubon’s goals of habitat conservation, climate action, policy, and community building through the lens of the unique landscapes of California’s deserts. Supporting over 300 species of birds, the Sea is one of the most important habitats in the state of California, but the Sea is also changing rapidly due to 21st-century changes in water use patterns and drought in the Colorado River. Each member of our team brings personal ties to the Coachella Valley’s diverse ecology, and a shared love for birds, public lands, and the communities that call this unique landscape home.

After years of tireless advocacy, Chuckwalla National Monument was designated on Tuesday, January 7, 2025. Audubon played a key role, alongside many partners and local organizations, in the protection of more than 624,000 acres of public land. Chuckwalla is a biodiversity hotspot, home to Golden Eagles, Verdin, bighorn sheep, and many other rare and endangered species. Importantly, Chuckwalla is of great significance to local Indigenous nations, who have since formed the first Intertribal Commission in California to have jurisdiction over federal lands.

“Through our on-the-ground outreach efforts over the past few years, we’ve talked to thousands of people who are excited to learn about these natural wonders right in their backyards,” said Rhian Reyes, campaign organizer for Audubon California’s Deserts and Salton Sea Program. “We know that this is an investment in our communities’ future – protecting a unique and resilient ecosystem, expanding access to the outdoors, and acknowledging its special past.”

This year marked the successful launch of our first-ever Salton Sea Leadership Program (SSLP), coordinated by Lindsay Rowe, Senior Education Coordinator for Audubon California’s Salton Sea & Deserts Program. 12 participants from across the Coachella Valley were selected to be a part of this first cohort, participating in sessions ranging in topic from traditional ecological knowledge to local flora and fauna, to local issues such as lithium extraction. Our team led six field trips during the course of the program, visiting local landmarks such as the Cahuilla Fish Traps and birding at the Sonny Bono National Wildlife Refuge. The program is having a lasting impact even beyond the participants themselves – teachers in the community reached out to Audubon about offering a similar program in high schools throughout the region.

SSLP Participant Highlights

“Opening myself up to new experiences, people, ideas, and concepts that I would probably have not engaged with to this level without the help and guidance.”

“Just being a part of Audubon as a bird girl feels like a big accomplishment.”

“What I am most proud of accomplishing during this program is stepping out of my comfort zone and discovering the hidden gem that is the Salton Sea. This experience pushed me to engage with a region and a community I knew little about, and it opened my eyes to both its challenges and its incredible potential.”

2025 Salton Sea Science Brief

This year, we also released a Salton Sea Science Brief: Shifting Habitat Conditions at the Salton Sea Create New Opportunities for Conservation (June 2025), which synthesizes seven years of surveys and sampling to better understand how birds are responding to the changing landscape. These findings guide our management recommendations and support the State of California and federal agencies in making restoration and conservation decisions. Read the brief below to learn what we’re seeing and what it could mean for conservation opportunities at the Sea.

Read 2025 Report

Shifting Habitat Conditions at the Salton Sea Create New Opportunities for Conservation

Surprising increase in wetlands provides habitat for shorebirds.

¡Descubre el informe 2025!

El cambio en las condiciones del hábitat del Salton Sea crea nuevas oportunidades de conservación

El sorprendente aumento de los humedales constituye un hábitat para las aves playeras.

Progress at the Sea

In May, water began flowing for the first time into the Species Conservation Habitat Project, creating vital habitat for shorebirds and bringing much-needed relief from airborne dust in nearby communities. Later that month, Audubon received over $5M from the Wildlife Conservation Board to continue our work restoring and expanding 564 acres of wetland habitat near the community of Bombay Beach. In partnership with the California Department of Water Resources, the Imperial Irrigation District, and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the project is moving into permitting with an anticipated timeline of early 2027 for breaking ground. Multi-benefit projects like this are essential to continue the momentum on the ground at the Sea, advancing community priorities and enhancing emergent ecosystems to support birds, wildlife, and humans alike

Salton Sea and Desert Program Highlights

Summer Nights at the Salton Sea | a three-part community event series focused on connecting the community to local desert wildlife

California is home to 25 bat species, and the Coachella Valley boasts about 20 of them. Our team led an evening visit to a cave at the Salton Sea known to host both the Pallid Bat (California’s state bat, which specializes in smoke tree washes) and the California
Leaf-nosed Bat, a Sonoran desert scrub specialist. Unlike many other bat species, the California Leaf-nosed Bat doesn’t migrate or hibernate.
Our team partnered with 760 Snake Club, who joined us to introduce three native snake species that call this landscape home: the California Kingsnake, Long-nosed Snake, and Gophersnake. When people think of moths in the Coachella Valley, they often picture the striking White-lined Hawk Moth (Hyles lineata). Our nocturnal moth session also introduced participants to the elusive Black Witch Moth (Ascalapha odorata), along with other regulars like the Royal Poinciana Graphic (Melipotis acontioides) and Palm Flower Moth (Litoprosopus coachella), highlighting just how much nocturnal life is fluttering around us after dark.

Intermountain West Shorebird Survey

Under the coordination of Camila Bautista, Salton Sea and Desert Program Manager, our team joined the Intermountain West Shorebird Survey at the Salton Sea, contributing local data on migratory shorebirds that depend on this rapidly changing ecosystem and tying our on-the-ground programs into a broader regional monitoring effort. Explore A Day in the Field with Intermountain West Shorebird Surveyors here.

What’s Next

In 2026, we’ll welcome a new cohort into the Salton Sea Leadership Program and continue building pathways for local leaders and students to shape the future of this landscape. We’re also expanding our work beyond the Coachella Valley into the Mojave and Sonoran Basin and Ranges, places where Audubon has worked before and where we’re growing a stronger, dedicated on-the-ground presence.