Local Lawmaker Says Salton Sea Restoration Benefits Entire State

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published August 27, 2007 at 8:09 AM PDT

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

Some California legislators are questioning a multi-billion-dollar plan to restore the Salton Sea. But a San Diego State Senator says the effort benefits the entire state. KPBS Reporter Ed Joyce has m

Some California legislators are questioning a multi-billion-dollar plan to restore the Salton Sea. But a San Diego State Senator says the effort benefits the entire state. KPBS Reporter Ed Joyce has more.

The Salton Sea stretches across the Imperial and Riverside County line. The 365-square-mile lake is suffering from rising levels of salt, fish die-offs and other problems. Restoration plans have been in the works for years. But now a state legislative committee questions whether billions of dollars should be spent on the sea. Senator Denise Moreno Ducheny says voters have already approved the money.

Ducheny: Now what this bill that's pending in the assembly does is moves that process the next step forward. It says OK, now we have the plan, let's start on phase one.

Ducheny's bill provides $47 million for the first phase of the restoration effort. She says the spending plan is flexible. The Assembly Appropriations Committee considers the bill in the next few weeks. The Salton Sea is a critical stop on the Pacific Flyway for more than 400 species of migratory birds. Ed Joyce, KPBS News.

Ed Joyce

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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