IMPERIAL/COACHELLA VALLEYS Salton Sea habitat site at Red Hill Bay bulldozed by IID; recriminations fly

“Federal scientist Chris Schoneman had an idea in 2010. He wanted to re-create the once brimming, biologically rich Red Hill Bay at the south end of California’s largest water body, the shrinking Salton Sea.  Schoneman, project manager at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s nearby Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge, believed the bay could gain new life as shallow marine wetlands. Schoneman and many others believed the project also would serve as a beacon for other restoration efforts around the sea. He found a strong partner in the Imperial Irrigation District, which owns the bay land, and nearly $5 million in state and federal funds were obtained. Volunteer military veterans and federal crews built berms, nesting sites and other infrastructure to hold water and fish.  But the water never arrived, and the project’s fate is now uncertain. It may now be dead. … ”  Read more from the Desert Sun here: