FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SALTON SEA, Calif. (May 22, 2025) – Representatives of conservation and community groups celebrated today at the Salton Sea as state officials began filling the 750-acre Species Conservation Habitat Project (SCH) East Pond Expansion. Together with the just-filled East Pond, California will soon have more than 2000 acres of habitat acres at the Salton Sea, California’s largest lake and the linchpin in the state’s efforts to protect critical reservoir storage along the imperiled Colorado River.
The Species Conservation Habitat (SCH) Project is the first large-scale project of the State’s 10-year plan for improving conditions at the Salton Sea. It will create a network of ponds and wetlands that will reduce dust emissions by inundating playa – exposed lakebed – and it will provide important fish and bird habitat. All major construction has been completed on the initial 4,100 acres. Now, the project has expanded to a footprint of over 9,000 acres, made possible by recent federal funding from the Bureau of Reclamation to the Salton Sea Management Program.
Members of the Salton Sea Partnership, a coalition of leading conservation and community groups who have worked for more than a decade to protect public and ecological health in the region, marked today’s inauguration alongside Assistant Secretary of Salton Sea Policy Joe Shea and other state officials.
“What a great day!” said Michael Cohen, senior fellow for the Pacific Institute. “We congratulate the many, many people who’ve worked for years to plan and construct and test and now run this huge wetland. We’re delighted to see the time and money and effort converted into so much water on the ground and can’t wait to see all the birds that show up.”
“We are proud to celebrate this pivotal milestone at the Salton Sea, a reflection of years of tireless community advocacy and collaborative work,” said Silvia Paz, executive director for Alianza Coachella Valley. “The filling of the Species Conservation Habitat ponds brings renewed hope for the region’s environment and public health. This progress, paired with the critical investment secured through the California Climate Bond passed by voters in November 2024, ensures the Salton Sea Management Program has the resources it needs to deliver real, lasting change for our communities and ecosystems.”
“We acknowledge all of the hard work and obstacles surpassed to produce the first significant milestone project, out of many needed,” said Eric Montoya Reyes, executive director of Los Amigos de la Comunidad, Inc. “Congratulations, and we look forward to the continued progress that addresses environmental and human health issues at the Salton Sea.
“You can’t overstate the importance of this big remediation project finally coming to fruition,” Joan Taylor, Chair of Sierra Club’s CA/NV Desert Committee, “This should spark new hope in surrounding communities that it really is possible to avoid the impending human health and ecosystem disaster at the Salton Sea.”
“This is a big day for the many thousands of birds that call the Salton Sea home, as well as the nearby communities seeking relief from the unhealthy dust kicked up from exposed playa,” said Andrea Jones, Audubon California’s director of conservation and interim executive director. “Ultimately, water is the essential ingredient that provides life for this community—and the fact that it is flowing into this project should give everyone hope that better days are coming.”
Under the Quantification Settlement Agreement in 2003, the state of California committed to funding mitigation and restoration at the Salton Sea to address the widespread habitat loss and dust emissions. Over the years, there have been legislative proposals, public hearings, meetings and planning sessions. Today’s event celebrates the operation of the first large-scale habitat project at the Salton Sea.
Almost 400 bird species rely on the deep water, shoreline, mudflats, and wetlands at the Salton Sea, as well as the river channels and agricultural drains leading into it. Historically, tilapia lived in the sea, providing essential food for many species, including California brown pelican, American white pelican, double-crested cormorant, and Caspian tern. The filling of the new SCH ponds is intended to recreate lost habitat for fish – and for the birds that eat them.
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Media contacts:
Alianza Coachella Valley: Braxton Kellogg - (208) 589-9323
Audubon California: Jason Howe, jason.howe@audubon.org
Pacific Institute: Michael Cohen – (720) 564-0651
Sierra Club: Joan Taylor – (760) 408-2488
Los Amigos de la Comunidad, Inc.: Eric Montoya Reyes (760) 550-5153