Via the Natural Resources Defense Council:

Speak out to help save southern California’s Salton Sea

As California’s largest lake and a key stopover for threatened brown pelicans, snowy plovers and millions of other migratory birds every year, the Salton Sea is a national treasure. The more than 400 species of birds (including five endangered species) that live at and visit the sea each year have attracted avid birders from around the world.

But the fate of this southern California desert jewel hangs in the balance. The water that sustains the 360-square mile lake will decrease by more than 30 percent within the next 20 years, rapidly shrinking the lake and increasing the amount of dust and salt that blows through the Imperial and Coachella valleys.

The California Department of Water Resources has just released a draft environmental impact report assessing eight potential plans to restore the sea and outlining the consequences if we fail to act. No single plan, however, provides a solution that would maximize fish and wildlife habitat while protecting air and water quality. Instead, adopting a plan that incorporates different parts of all of the report’s alternatives would
provide the best path to restoring the Salton Sea while protecting the people and wildlife that depend on it.

The Department of Water Resources is accepting comments on its proposed plans through January 16th.

Sample letter here.

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Tagged: environment environmentalist environmentalism action+alerts nrdc natural+resources+defense+council california salton+sea water endangered+species

This entry was posted on Monday, December 4th, 2006 at 4:47 pm and is filed under Action Alerts, Environmental Issues, from NRDC. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.