mtebbe Annotations

Margaret Tebbe's picture
In response to:
Exposing the Desert Storymaps

5. What have different stakeholder groups done (or not done) in response to the problems in this setting?

Wednesday, March 15, 2023 - 6:13pm

Dr. Cheney is attempting to answer the following question: What can we learn from the residents about their experience in living with asthma, and can this help us understand the disease?

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3. What intersecting factors -- social, cultural, political, technological, ecological -- contribute to environmental health vulnerability and injustice in this setting? What has produced historic disadvantage?

Wednesday, March 15, 2023 - 6:13pm

There are very few hospitals in the area around the Salton Sea--only two in Imperial County and three in the Coachella Valley.

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5. What have different stakeholder groups done (or not done) in response to the problems in this setting?

Wednesday, March 15, 2023 - 6:01pm

The "Disparities in Environmental Exposures and Health Impacts" project has four goals:

  1. To establish a community advisory board to provide local stakeholder input;
  2. To identify spatial patterns and trends in population exposure and in pollutant transport;
  3. To distribute particle collectors at sites that represent the range of sources of particulate matter and to identify the elemental and biological composition of particles;
  4. To use environmental chamber exposure studies to develop a protocol for monitoring pulmonary inflammation impacts of aerosol particulates identified from the particle collectors.
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8. What extra-local actions (at state, national or international levels) would reduce environmental vulnerability and injustice in this setting and similar settings?

Wednesday, March 15, 2023 - 5:57pm
  • The state of California is responsible for implementing and paying for environmental mitigation projects
  • The Colorado River flows through multiple states and countries--all have a stake in extra-local actions
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1. What is the setting of this case? What are its assets? What opportunities and challenges will there be in this setting in coming years?

Wednesday, March 15, 2023 - 5:46pm

New and Alamo Rivers - transboundary movement

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4. Who are stakeholders, what are their characteristics, and what are their perceptions of the problems?

Wednesday, March 15, 2023 - 5:42pm
  • Investors who left in the first half of the 20th century
  • Residents who remained in the area (highly Latinx)
    • Labor exploitation, especially of immigrants through programs like the Bracero program
  • Indigenous groups - especially the Torres Martinez, 40% of whose land is underneath the Salton Sea
  • Agriculture
    • Historically not identified as an unwanted land use, which allowed farmers to get away with more than other industries
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2. What environmental hazards are there in this setting, what is their source and what are their effects on the environment, health and inclusive prosperity?

Wednesday, March 15, 2023 - 5:36pm
  • Increased salinity
    • Waterfowl dieoffs
  • Desiccation produces toxic dust that blows
    • Childhood asthma and other respiratory conditions
    • 15% of Imperial County residents have asthma
    • wind-blown dust can act as a pathway for microbes, fungi, and viruses to enter lungs by attaching to dust particles
  • Municipal sewage from Mexicali
  • Waste from prisons
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5. What have different stakeholder groups done (or not done) in response to the problems in this setting?

Wednesday, March 15, 2023 - 5:32pm
  • In 2003, the Imperial Irrigation District signed the Quantification Settlement Agreement, in which they transferred the water from agricultural runoff that formerly fed the Salton Sea to supply municipalities in Southern California. The agreement kept water flowing into the lake until 2018 in order to give time to come up with ways to mitigate environmental effects of the lake's desiccation. These solutions have not materialized.
  • UCR scientists are collecting dust for microbial analysis
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