Utah

Lakebed dust is a worry in Utah. For California’s Salton Sea, it’s a full-blown problem

Published

11 months ago

February 11, 2024

Lakebed dust is a worry in Utah. For California’s Salton Sea, it’s a full-blown problem

Editor’s note: This article is published through the Great Salt Lake Collaborative, a solutions journalism initiative that partners news, education and media organizations to help inform people about the plight of the Great Salt Lake — and what can be done to make a difference before it is too late. Read all of our stories at greatsaltlakenews.org.

MECCA, Calif —Sitting on the couch next to his mom inside their mobile home in Mecca, California, 5-year-old Ruben Mandujano lets out a gurgled cough while playing on a tablet. The phlegm stuck in his throat is noticeable. But the constant cough is something he’s used to.

Ruben Mandujano, who has asthma and is autistic, uses a nebulizer with albuterol at his home near the Salton Sea and Mecca, California, on Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023. Ruben, 5, doesn’t like the nebulizer, as it often makes him throw up, but knows it is necessary when he is sick. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)

His mother, Rosa Mandujano said he came down with some kind of illness about “eight out of the 12 months of the year” when he was younger. Now, after various surgeries, an asthma diagnosis, medications and a nebulizer, Mandujano estimates her son is sick “five months out of the 12.”

The family has grown accustomed to the frequent infections. Both of their children suffer from asthma. A cupboard in their kitchen is dedicated to dozens of over-the-counter and prescription drugs.

Mandujano said her son’s problems get worse when the air quality is awful – another common issue for Coachella and Imperial Valley residents. Mecca, where the Mandujano family lives, is enveloped by agricultural fields and a short distance from the north shore of the declining Salton Sea, a saline lake facing similar turmoil as Utah’s Great Salt Lake.

Dust storms have become the norm being so close to agricultural fields and the Salton Sea, she said. Winds reaching 75 miles per hour whip through predominantly low-income and immigrant communities. The dust gets so bad, Mandujano said, that “you can’t see what’s in front of you.”

Dust lingers after OHVs drove by in West Shores, Calif., on Friday, Dec. 15, 2023. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)

With the exposed Salton Sea lakebed and the loose dirt and pesticides from the surrounding fields, Mandujano said it’s rare to find a Coachella Valley resident who doesn’t suffer from allergies or asthma. But the impact of the bad air quality and dust storms is worse for some, like Ruben.

“His asthma and his allergies combine, it’s a ticking bomb for him,” Mandujano said. “He says that everything hurts. His ears hurt, his eyes hurt, his nose hurts. He doesn’t even want to get touched.”

When the phlegm won’t leave his throat, Ruben has to use a nebulizer, which circulates well-known asthma medications like Albuterol or Pulmicort through a mask. Mandujano said she hooks her son up to the nebulizer about 121 times a year.

“He hates it because it makes him throw up because it gathers all of the phlegm,” Mandujano said. “He knows he’s going to start throwing up. So he just says, ‘Mommy, I don’t like this,’ and keeps trying to take it off.”

While Rosa Mandujano fights to keep her family healthy, California state leaders, scientists and community advocates are trying to identify solutions to clean up the air, especially as it pertains to the dust accumulated from the Salton Sea. Like Great Salt Lake, there are toxins in the sediment of the exposed lake bed.

Scattered near the roughly 27,000 acres of exposed Salton Sea playa are lines of hay bales.

Charlie Diamond, a researcher with the Salton Sea Task Force at the University of California Riverside, said it’s a “dust suppression project” aimed to “break up the flow of air right at the ground level.” The goal, Diamond said, is for the hay bales to “suppress the dust production or emission.”

During high wind events, Diamond said toxins and other sediments like gypsum and salt get “blown around in the surrounding communities, [and] causes a lot of problems with respiratory health, especially in young folks.”

Usually, Diamond said, the hay bales are planted with native vegetation, which the shoreline severely lacks. That acts as another dust suppressant. But “these projects are really contingent on some external source of freshwater,” Diamond added, and that’s the crux of the issue – in the arid climate, there isn’t enough fresh water making its way to the Salton Sea to begin with.

With an exorbitant amount of dried lakebed, it’s unlikely hay bales will prevent all the dust from pummeling community members.

“That’s not a solution, it’s a band-aid,” Diamond said.

Local officials are working on other remedies. The Imperial Irrigation District, which oversees the hay bale projects, is also planting and germinating natural vegetation near the shoreline. Environmental specialist Ross Wilson said the district is using groundwater to hydrate the plants.

Hay bales used for dust mitigation in a Salton Sea Management Program project are pictured on approximately 68 acres near Bombay Beach, Calif., on Monday, Dec. 11, 2023. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)

Some corresponding seeding to establish vegetation was attempted during last year’s rains, but further planting is on hold until a water source is confirmed. Wilson said there isn’t a way to “necessarily make less dust,” the hope is the natural vegetation “catches the dust” like the hay bales and results in better air quality.

The agency also uses a Portable In-Situ Wind ERosion Lab, also known as a PI-SWERL, to figure out what exactly is in the dust. The device, which resembles an industrial floor polisher, replicates wind speeds and collects air quality measurements. Wilson added it also tracks which areas produce the most emissions.

“No one has the money to just mitigate the entire sea. So if we can dial down which areas actually are emissive and which areas are the problem, then we can really nail down our resources to those specific areas,” he said.

If more water isn’t funneled into the Salton Sea, the Imperial Irrigation District predicts upward of 70,000 acres of bare lakebed within the next 10 years.

Utah’s Great Salt Lake is up against the same fate as the Salton Sea when it comes to dust.

Ross Wilson, Imperial Irrigation District environmental specialist, poses for a portrait with a PI-SWERL, which stands for Portable In-Situ Wind ERosion Lab, in Salton City, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)

Great Salt Lake Commissioner Brian Steed noted in the state’s first Great Salt Lake Strategic Plan that the lake’s low water levels are increasing dust emissions. He added the accumulation from the estimated 800 square miles of the exposed lake bed poses a public health risk and is causing snow to melt approximately 17 days sooner than normal.

Steed told KUER’s RadioWest that he believes dust from Great Salt Lake is “going to be the hardest one [problem] to solve.”

“When you have an exposed lake bed that weathers over time, which has happened over years, you see additional dust days and problems with PM 2.5 and PM 10,” he said. “And we know that we’ve had a problem [with air quality] along the Wasatch Front especially.”

The Utah Office of Legislative Auditor General highlighted in the Great Salt Lake Strategic Plan that it would cost a minimum of $1.5 billion to keep the lake’s dust at bay, along with $15 million each year for ongoing maintenance.

Steed recognizes the price tag associated with dust mitigation. In an ideal world, “the lowest cost alternative” is lifting Great Salt Lake’s water levels so the crust “keeps that dust in place.”

Rosa Mandujano shows a cupboard full of medicine related to her two children’s asthma at their home near the Salton Sea and Mecca, California, on Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)

Utah is just beginning to grapple with its looming dust problem, but for Rosa Mandujano in California, the dust is enough to make her contemplate if it’s worth staying in her hometown. Her two kids love to be outdoors, but the air quality often triggers adverse reactions, especially for Ruben, forcing them to remain inside.

“I’ve talked to my husband and said if we get a good job opportunity and we would have to move out of the state, I mean, let’s go,” Mandujano said. “I know it’s scary because my family’s here. All his family’s here, but I’ve seen friends done it. It’s nothing out of the world. You have to start somewhere.”

KSLTV5’s Alex Cabrero contributed to this report

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Utah

How Utah firefighters responded to the call to help with the California wildfires

Published

47 minutes ago

January 14, 2025

Press Room

How Utah firefighters responded to the call to help with the California wildfires

A group of firefighters from Utah are on the ground in California helping to fight the wildfires.
The Utah firefighters are expected to stay in the area for 14 days.
The crews from Utah are working to make sure the fire doesn’t start back up in areas it has already passed through.

A group of 64 firefighters from Utah responded to California’s call for frontline help with last week’s destructive wildfires, and find themselves on the ground in the Malibu area working to prevent the large destructive Palisades fire from spreading.

“I think the biggest thing for a lot of us is just feeling like we’re maybe on some kind of a movie set, or some kind of apocalyptic movie. The sheer destruction is, kind of overwhelming,” said Kelly Bird, a spokesperson from Unified Fire who is in California with crews of Utah firefighters.

Last Thursday, the group of firefighters and mechanics from various agencies in Utah met together and made their way to California to join the fight. The group drove through the night and arrived in California Friday morning.

The Utah crews are working to help contain the Palisades fire, the biggest and most destructive of the fires burning in Southern California.

What have the Utah firefighters been doing in California?

After they arrived Friday, the Utah crews were assigned to work on the fire line in Encino. They worked in a defensive, structure protection position, preparing for the Palisades fire to hit that area. This work focused on protecting residences, finding hazards, checking water pressure in hydrants and other prep work.

These firefighters work 24 hours on and 24 off, so after working through Saturday they had Sunday off. On Monday morning the Utah crews were were reassigned to the Malibu area.

Bird said they were assigned to residential areas that the fire had already burned through and wiped out pretty significantly. There they did mop up work, “going through the different residences and looking for hot spots, looking for anything that was smoldering and smoking, and just making sure everything was fully extinguished.”

They then spent Monday night on patrol, ready to tackle any flames that started due to the strong winds picking back up.

Tuesday is another day off for the Utah firefighters and they will be reassigned again on Wednesday.

United Fire Authority along with dozens of other Utah fire departments responded to the call for help from California officials for the massive wildfires that broke out Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. | Unified Fire Authority

What life is like for these Utah firefighters

Bird said residents in the area have taken very good care of these Utah firefighters, with plenty of food being donated as they help fight the fire.

“People find us wherever we are, and they bring us catered meals, they bring us burritos, they bring us snacks, granola bars, cases of water, cases of drinks, and it’s just non-stop,” Bird said. “We’re just glad and happy that we can provide that little bit of relief for them.”

The Utah crews were originally going to be housed in a Hotel in downtown Los Angeles but then were moved to Santa Monica.

The firefighters are staying in an office building, taking over space on a vacant third floor. Portable bathrooms and showers have been brought in for the crews to use. The crews have their own sleeping gear, they have taken their own spots on the floor with the firefighters sleeping in sleeping bags and on cots.

Utah firefighters shared what the destruction from the fires is like

Bird said that the biggest difference between this and other fires he’s worked is the amount of urban areas that have been impacted, as most wildfires happen in the mountains, further away from cities. The amount of destruction from these fires is unlike anything he’s seen before.

“Just the magnitude of and volume of people that have been impacted, is definitely impactful for us,” Bird said.

United Fire Authority along with dozens of other Utah fire departments responded to the call for help from California officials for the massive wildfires that broke out Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. | Unified Fire Authority

He shared that as they were working, they came across one house that had been destroyed that they could tell had been a very nice house.

They looked it up and saw it was advertised $12 million home in a nice location, Bird described his realization at that moment.

“This was somebody’s … their everything. This was something they had worked for and built and enjoyed, and now it’s gone,” Bird said. “And you know, that happens over and over and over again, with all these people here losing their homes and losing all their personal possessions.”

According to Bird, the fire is dying down but he expects the Utah group will be in California through the entirety of their 14 day deployment.

The conditions in California with dry conditions, low humidity and high winds made it the perfect place for fires to ignite and spread rapidly.

“Once those winds and fire mix, there’s there’s just no stopping it,” Bird said. “So the reason why it wiped things out is that just it overwhelmed the whole system, and they weren’t able to get a handle on it because the winds just blew it from one structure to the next in a matter of seconds.”

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Utah

Utah teens arrested for allegedly stealing cars and driving them into stores

Published

8 hours ago

January 14, 2025

Press Room

Utah teens arrested for allegedly stealing cars and driving them into stores

SALT LAKE CITY — Two Utah juveniles are now in custody accused of stealing vehicles they weren’t even old enough to drive and ramming them into stores to rob them. The suspects’ identities aren’t being released due to their age. “… these are juveniles, under the age of 18.
I mean anywhere from middle school to high school age,” stated Sergeant Aymee Race with the Unified Police Department.

A little over a week ago, detectives say the suspects drove into the T-Mobile store in Mill Creek in the middle of the night, jumped out, and attempted to grab merchandise. They were unsuccessful however and ran away.

A few days later, police say the same suspects committed a successful drive-through, smash, and grab at another cell phone store in Kearns.

Unified Police Detectives say that the suspects never covered their faces and investigators were able to learn from security cameras who they were and went to their homes and arrested the two juveniles.

“And we were able to determine not only in Salt Lake County, Utah County, these individuals have gone around, crashing into businesses and stealing large, high priced items and damaging businesses,” Sgt. Race told FOX 13 News.

According to police, the vehicles used in these smash-and-grab crimes were stolen and they believe the suspects have been doing this for a while all across the Wasatch Front. Detectives in the Metro Gang Unit say they have also identified the people in custody as being documented gang members.

Police are still searching for additional suspects, both male and female, and anyone with information is asked to call Unified Police at 801-840-4000.

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Utah

Utah Jazz Nu Skin Stunt Team is flying high again after multi-year hiatus

Published

16 hours ago

January 14, 2025

Press Room

Utah Jazz Nu Skin Stunt Team is flying high again after multi-year hiatus

SALT LAKE CITY — Going to a Utah Jazz game is more than just basketball. After pausing for a few years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Nu Skin Stunt Team is back — and it’s a performance you don’t want to miss.

“We just really enjoy having them. They have so much energy and the athleticism that they bring is unmatched,” said Meikle LaHue, the Utah Jazz director of entertainment. “They are so impressive and the entertainment that they bring is, I mean, I’m on the edge of my seat when I watch them perform because the tricks they do are just crazy.”

Working for the Jazz is a dream come true for the stunt team members.

“This is the pinnacle of what it gets to be on a stunt team for being a professional cheerleader for the NBA. It doesn’t get any better than that, in our sport,” said national champion Hailey D’Lynn. “Being able to wear this team name on my chest, it’s amazing and it’s a dream come true, it’s what we all strive for.”

Rookie Cameron Canada added: “This has been a dream of mine for like as long as I picked up the sport and just to be able to be this close to the NBA and represent the state of Utah in front of all the fans, grateful to be having this opportunity.”

The Stunt Team was started 12 years ago. They spent 10 years entertaining Jazz fans, and when it went away, the performers missed being on the Delta Center floor.

“Last year, [Coach] announced ‘the Stunt Team is going to make a comeback this year,’ and I was so excited I was like, ‘Finally! Yes, I’ve been waiting for this,’” cheered the longest-tenured member, Elsa Hassett.

Head Coach Summer Willis shared how rare it is to see stunt teams in the NBA.

“You don’t see a lot of stunt teams on the professional level so the fact that we get to be one of them and represent is just a huge opportunity,” said Willis.

The Nu Skin Stunt Team performs at Utah Jazz games throughout the season during timeouts and quarter breaks.

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