Assembly Member Eduardo Garcia shines spotlight on Salton Sea

Assembly Member Eduardo Garcia is shining a spotlight on the Salton Sea. He hosted a community education event Saturday morning to announce recent legislative success.

Garcia gathered stakeholders together to announce the acquisition of $200 million to fund a 10 year Salton Sea management plan.

“Today is about informing them with the most relevant information both state actions that have taken place in the past several weeks, along with the local efforts that are taking place,” Garcia said

He said the next step is to pass a water bond.

“That will allocate the money to fund about 80 percent of the ten year plan. That doesn’t mean we won’t see some action before that. There is some money and we’re very hopeful to see some of the projects underway in this area,” Garcia said.

He said if changes aren’t made the community’s health is in jeopardy.

“The fact that 7 out of 10 children suffer from respiratory disease problems is a huge problem. Addressing the exposed dry areas of the sea are the priorities of this plan. When you do that you are also creating the necessary habitat for birds that fly to this area,” Garcia said.

He knows there’s lots of work to be done but he said they’re headed in the right direction.