IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
U.S. officials have approved plans that will restore the Salton Sea.
The plan, approved Friday by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, makes it possible for local officials to proceed with a conservation plan that includes management of wildlife and some recreational use at two refuges, according to a report in The Press-Enterprise.
The project is expected to take 15 years to implement.
Federal officials and a local joint powers authority – consisting of Riverside and Imperial counties, the Imperial Irrigation District, the Coachella Valley Water District and the Torres-Martinez Desert Cahuilla tribe – have been working on the restoration plan for about four years, the report stated.
The Salton Sea in Indio, the largest lake in California, is used by more than 400 species of birds that use it as a place to rest while migrating. However, the sea is shrinking and its salt content is going up, mostly because of the drought and water transfers from the lake to coastal areas, according to the report.
