https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14544599/california-lake-salton-sea-lithium-discovery-race-against-time.html

https://archive.ph/Tk9XD

California's troubled lake, the Salton Sea, faces a race against time after $540billion discovery found there

>Watch CA

>Watch the water

After decades of failed attempts to preserve California's endlessly troubled 120-year-old Salton Sea, a myriad of new plans to save the salt-riddled lake are taking form.

Scientists discovered a monumental 18 million tons of litium under the surface of the Southern Californian sea in late 2023 - a whopping $540billion find - however, they now face a race against time as the briny body of water is quickly vanishing.

The accidental inland sea, located 120 miles from San Diego, sprung to life approximately 120 years ago when the Colorado River breached an irrigation canal east of Palm Springs.

The sudden, shimmering water briefly created a tourist boom that lasted into the 1960s, though for much of the half-century, the lake could be better described as an 'environmental disaster'.

Now, a new wave of conservation efforts, sparked by millions of dollars in federal funding, has washed ashore, sparking hope from some that incoming industry will bring an economic boom - if it all goes according to plan.

Under the previous presidential regime, the Golden State received ample conservation funding, however, under the newly installed Trump administration, threats to the approved funding loom.

Adding more uncertainty to the already delicate ecosystem, the multi-billion-dollar lithium find has set off a race between the public and private sectors to extract the valuable resource from the area as quick as possible - threatening the carefully laid plans to preserve the dying waterway.

And if a serious threat to funding wasn't enough, time itself is also working against the decaying sea, thanks to its unique geography.

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