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Operation Salton Sink Underway10-12-16 | News

Operation Salton Sink Underway
Dry, Toxic Lakebed Is Being Transformed into Wetland Habitat

By turning hundreds of acres of a dry lakebed into wetlands; birds, invertebrates, maybe even fish will get new habitats, and toxic dust that could be blown across Southern California will be suppressed.

Team Rubicon, a global disaster response organization, recently joined forces with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Imperial Irrigation District and Case Construction to help conserve Southern California's Salton Sea, whose shrinking size is producing thousands of acres of pesticide-contaminated dry lakebed that can lead to toxic dust pollution.

In a first-of-its-kind restoration project for the organization, which is staffed by volunteers led by military veterans, and offers assistance in the wake of disasters, 420 acres of the exposed lakebed will be turned into a wetland habitat for migratory birds. The water used to accomplish this from the nearby Alamo River will also suppress the toxic dust.

The project, named Operation Salton Sink, will include the construction of a set of low berms, nesting islands, bird perches and deep-water channels and culverts to support invertebrates and potentially fish. The work will be aided by a dredge, excavators, and bulldozers.

Over the past year, the group effort has been turning volunteers into, "a team of heavy equipment instructors and operators, and this operation will capitalize on that investment," said Jason Ferguson, deputy director of training for Team Rubicon, which formed following the 2010 Haiti earthquake and with a present force of around 40,000 has responded to over 140 disasters since then.