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A coalition of environmental and community groups known as the Protect California Deserts campaign is proposing a new national monument in California's Chuckwalla Valley south of Joshua Tree National Park. The proposed Chuckwalla National Monument, named for the large lizard found in the desert region, would encompass nearly 700,000 acres and would include land in both Riverside and Imperial counties.
The vast stretch of the Colorado Desert provides vital habitat for threatened and endangered desert wildlife, including the desert tortoise, bighorn sheep, and chuckwalla, but advocates say it also offers important outdoor recreation opportunities for nearby communities in the eastern Coachella Valley and surrounding the Salton Sea. “We’re making this a people-centric campaign because oftentimes, monument or conservation campaigns focus on the importance of wildlife and birds, and as an environmentalist that is always super important for me. But as a member of this community, I understand that these local communities do not always have access to the outdoors, they're very park-deprived communities,” said Frank Ruiz, director of Audubon California’s Salton Sea Program.
The proposed monument’s boundaries were specifically drawn to avoid the areas deemed suitable for renewable energy development under the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan, a 22.5 million-acre plan covering seven counties that identifies specific development areas for renewable energy while also specifying areas that should be conserved for wildlife, recreation, and cultural values. “Our proposal is complementary to the solar development that we feel can and should be out there. We’re doing this because we all care about the environment, we all care about climate change, and I think those two things, solar development and protecting the desert, should work together, not be opposed to each other,” said Colin Barrows with CactusToCloud Institute, one of the organizations supporting the Chuckwalla national monument proposal.
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We have a full-on crisis. California’s groundwater, and groundwater across the southwestern U.S., is disappearing much faster than most people realize. The trajectory we’re on right now is one for 100% disappearance. This is the water for the future generations. And it’s disappearing.”
