A Saline Pump Station is under construction to pump saline water from the Salton Sea into mixing basins. Photo taken February 9, 2023.
Project Will Help Provide Safe, Reliable Water for Local Communities, Wildlife and Ecosystems
CALEXICO, Calif. – As part of California’s overall Salton Sea Management Program, officials gathered in the City of Calexico today to celebrate the completion of the New River Improvement project, a major public health milestone for the area. The project prevents heavily polluted water from passing through a 1.5-mile stretch of the New River within the City of Calexico, eliminating threats to public health, the ecosystem of the New River, and the wildlife that depend on its natural flow.
The California Department of Water Resources (DWR), together with the State Water Resources Control Board and California State Parks, contributed $46.5 million dollars to support the City’s efforts to improve water quality. As untreated waste and other solid pollutants flow north from Mexico through the New River and City of Calexico, it became critical to find a solution to reroute treated wastewater and restore flow to the river channel before emptying into the Salton Sea.
“The New River Improvement Project helps further State efforts to ensure that every Californian has access to clean, safe, and affordable water,” said DWR Director Karla Nemeth. “The completion of this project is a major milestone for DWR, its partners, and the City of Calexico.”
As part of this project, three construction components were installed including a trash screen to remove solid waste from the river, a diversion structure to redirect polluted New River flows into a bypass pipeline, and a pump-back system to allow treated wastewater from existing facilities in Calexico to replace the flow in the New River.
“We are here today because it is time to renew the New River and make it a symbol of the environmental restoration possible when we come together to make it happen,” said State Water Board Chair E. Joaquin Esquivel. “I am excited about what this project will accomplish to improve conditions in the river for the sake of wildlife and nearby communities.”
The project is managed by the City of Calexico and highlights the collaborative effort between local and state partners to address public health impacts to one of California’s most vulnerable populations.
“If it weren’t for the great teams created many years ago including our friends at DWR, State Water Board, California Natural Resources Agency, and our state representatives, the City of Calexico and the Salton Sea wouldn’t have a cleaner river, vibrant wetlands, a healthier fauna, and an overall healthier population within our communities,” said Mayor of Calexico Diana Nuricumbo.
Under the direction of Governor Gavin Newsom, California state agencies are advancing projects at the Salton Sea to improve air quality and provide critical environmental habitat for birds along the Pacific Flyway. In recent years flows into the Salton Sea have declined, resulting in a shrinking, increasingly saline lake and further exposing the previously submerged lakebed, creating dust that is of concern to local communities. The Salton Sea Management Program includes a 10-year plan that aims to improve conditions by constructing 30,000 acres of habitat and dust suppression projects around the Sea.
For more information about the Salton Sea Management Program, visit https://saltonsea.ca.gov/.
Contact:
Public Affairs Office, Department of Water Resources