Salton Sea: White Gold in the California Desert

Beneath the Surface: An Infrastructure Podcast

In 1905, Colorado River floodwaters created one of the largest lakes in the United States: the Salton Sea.

Now, more than 100 years later, the lake is shrinking, and has become one of the most polluted bodies of water in the US. But the area is also poised to become the largest lithium mine in the country—to be used by GM, Tesla, and Ford to manufacture their electric vehicles. Still, there’s an inherent tension between mining heavy metals—often a dirty, high-pollution process, for environmentally beneficial purposes.

In this episode, we explore the future of energy production, how boom and bust cycles affect cities and communities, and the often overlooked environmental considerations that roil the development of green infrastructure.

Special thanks to Donna Burns Kennedy, Audrey Carleton, Michael McKibben, and Roy Durantes.

For a transcript of this episode, visit press.stripe.com/salton-sea-transcript
For more on Beneath the Surface, visit press.stripe.com/beneath-the-surface
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