Efforts launched to ‘Save Lake Cahuilla’ from closing to the public

Lake Cahuilla may be forced to close to visitors when Riverside County's 50-year contract with the Coachella Valley Water District expires.

The 135-acre lake in La Quinta is a popular fishing spot and includes a campground, hiking trails, picnic, and playground facilities as well as a swimming pool.

There's a new effort to keep the lake open to the public, including a new ad campaign. It's all spearheaded by the president of "Desert Valley Outdoors," Julian Rangel.

"I've been a part of all these meetings since day one between a couple different agencies. There's Coachella Valley Water District, County of Riverside, desert Recreation District, the city of La Quinta, and those organizations boards and Desert Rally Outdoors. And from the looks of it, they're waiting on a couple tests but if these tests don't go through, it will be shut down," Rangel said.

News Channel 3's Peter Daut spoke with Rangel about his concerns and what he wants the valley to do.