Desert Shores Marina: Five Channels Were Proposed for Refilling, but State Still Lists Project in Design

DESERT SHORES / SALTON CITY, Imperial County — October 27, 2026. Once associated with boating, the Desert Shores Marina has become a visible symbol of the Salton Sea’s retreat. An official restoration proposal seeks to refill the five southernmost marina channels, but state project records still describe the Desert Shores Channel Restoration Project as Planning/Design, not a completed reopening.

What is actually proposed?

The Salton Sea Authority is the lead implementer identified in the state’s project tracker. Its fact sheet says the proposal would bring water back into five channels that have become disconnected from the Sea, using water conditions intended to support fish and birds while reducing dust from exposed surfaces.

The tracker lists a 30-acre target for aquatic habitat work and identifies potential public-access benefits. Those are project targets. They are not 30 verified completed acres, nor a guarantee that motorboats will again use the marina or that the channels will provide full-time access to the open Sea.

Why the listed year is not a promise

The state’s project detail includes a nominal 2025–2027 implementation window but also displays the current stage as Planning/Design and a last-record-update date of April 30, 2025. This means the published tracker itself may be behind more recent agency actions. California58 has not verified a final construction contract, an active water-delivery agreement or a completed channel at the site.

Residents should ask for the newest environmental permits, signed funding agreement, land-access arrangements, contracting record and construction update before treating a schedule from an older fact sheet as confirmed.

Questions for shoreline residents

Where would refill water come from, how much would evaporation require every year, and which entity would pay ongoing pumping or maintenance costs? How will salt and water quality be managed? How could the work affect local property access, mosquito control, dust and fishing habitat?

The answers determine whether the concept can deliver durable benefits, rather than only a temporary visual improvement.

Primary sources: State project fact sheet and Desert Shores detailed project status. See also the California58 Salton Sea funding and restoration investigation and Salton City News.

Editor’s note: This story distinguishes plans from verified built work. Older state tracker fields do not independently establish the present on-the-ground condition.

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