A saline pump station pumps Salton Sea water to be mixed with New RIver water which then will fill habitat ponds at the Species Conservation Habitat Project at the south end of the Salton Sea, Calif., Sept. 13, 2024.
Sacramento, California – On Thursday, California took a significant step forward in its long-term effort to rehabilitate the Salton Sea. Governor Gavin Newsom announced the successful filling of the East Pond Expansion, a key part of the state’s growing Species Conservation Habitat Project.
The move restores critical habitat lost to increasing salinity and declining water levels at the Salton Sea, California’s largest inland body of water. Once a thriving ecological and recreational hub, the Sea has suffered decades of degradation, resulting in environmental and public health concerns for surrounding communities.
The East Pond Expansion, now filled with water, is part of a broader 10-year state plan to transform the drying lakebed into a sustainable habitat for wildlife while improving local air quality. As water levels have dropped in recent years, stretches of exposed seabed have released fine dust into the air, exacerbating respiratory problems in the Imperial Valley—an area already plagued by some of the worst air quality in the nation.
Once envisioned as a 4,100-acre project funded by approximately $200 million in state bond funds, the Species Conservation Habitat Project has since more than doubled thanks to $245 million in additional federal support. The project now spans over 9,000 acres — roughly equivalent to 7,500 football fields — and includes a network of ponds, berms, water systems, and islands designed to support fish and bird populations along the Pacific Flyway.
California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot highlighted the milestone’s significance, pointing to the “real progress” being made through sustained state, federal, tribal, and local collaboration. The newly filled pond joins the original East Pond, filled earlier this spring, bringing approximately 2,000 acres of habitat online in the coming weeks.
State Water Board Chair E. Joaquin Esquivel emphasized the effort’s environmental and economic importance, calling the Salton Sea “one of California’s greatest assets.” He noted that the restoration will help suppress dust, enhance biodiversity, and improve the quality of life in the Coachella and Imperial Valleys.
The milestone follows continued state investment in the Salton Sea Management Program, including projects to improve wetland habitat and public health. Authorities are eying the region as a hub for clean energy development, particularly lithium extraction, a key component of California’s transition to electric vehicles.
With restoration work ongoing, the state says the Salton Sea’s transformation is only beginning.
