Lithium fuels hopes for revival on California’s largest lake
Associated PressCALIPATRIA, Calif. — Near Southern California’s dying Salton Sea, a canopy next to a geothermal power plant covers large containers of salty water left behind after super-hot liquid is drilled from deep underground to run steam turbines. Demand for electric vehicles has shifted investments into high gear to extract lithium from geothermal brine, salty water that has been overlooked and pumped back underground since the region’s first geothermal plant opened in 1982. “The fact is that it’s hard to build lithium projects.” Smokestacks shooting steam at geothermal power plants are a towering presence amid flat fields of lettuce, melons and alfalfa. Controlled Thermal Resources is expected to create 1,400 jobs, according to the Imperial Valley Economic Development Corp. “How do we end up with this great opportunity before us but at the same time not get burned?” said Luis Olmedo, executive director of Comite Civico del Valle, which advocates for low-income and underserved residents, and a member of the Lithium Valley Commission, a state panel to promote the lake’s lithium resources.
History of this topic
In rural Utah, concern over efforts to use Colorado River water to extract lithium
Associated Press
Editorial: Drought and flood, California’s double whammy
LA Times
Lithium might not be a gold rush for California. But it could be for people near the Salton Sea
LA Times
Lithium fuels hopes for revival on California's largest lake
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