Lithium Valley | Episode 1: The White Gold Rush

I was standing on a drive-out, overlooking a desiccated lake beach with high mountains in the background. I was in the Imperial Valley, overlooking the Salt and Sea. I was only five hours from the University of Southern California, but this was a region I had no knowledge of. It turns out I am not alone. When I come to the USC campus in Los Angeles, I'm always struck by the wide range of people that are walking around. Students are drawn from every state in the nation and from countries all over the world, and they're studying and learning every possible subject known to man. While most of the students know their way around LA, they may not be aware of the Imperial Valley. It's history, it's future, and how this future will impact their lives. Have you ever heard of the Imperial Valley? Yes, I've heard of the Imperial Valley before, but I don't know anything about it. The name rings about for me. I have, yes, I have. What do you know about it? Not too much. I think I heard that it's pretty dry and hot or something like that. I have a friend that lives around there. Have you ever heard of lithium extractions? I have heard of it. I'm not familiar with it, though. George Navas, the mayor of Brawley, one of the small communities in the Imperial Valley. He points out that most people don't imagine the Imperial Valley when they think of California. And he's right. People, when you think of California, right? It's like, I remember being on the west, excuse me, on the east coast, and they thought everybody was like on Baywatch, and I'm like, that doesn't work that way, you know what I mean? It's not like that. And so this is certainly not the California people think. And what's happening in the Imperial Valley is about to change your life because it's about to become the home of major lithium extraction operations. The same lithium that powers electric cars, cell phones, and even pacemakers. And the extraction of lithium could change the Imperial Valley as locals know it forever. I'm Charles Zuckowski, the Vivian Professor of Chemical Engineering in Material Science, and the previous provost of the University of Southern California. Run your host for Electric Future. A podcast series exploring lesser known stories of the energy transition. From the perspectives of people most impacted by changes, this transition will bring. This is season one, looking at lithium extraction in the Imperial Valley and how the transition will affect the community and climate change at large. In this first episode, we'll get to know Imperial Valley, an area that is home to nearly 180,000 people located in southeastern California, 200 miles from USC. This community is located at the heart of the lithium boom. Some have referred to this as a white gold rush because of the enormous demand for lithium as a major component in batteries to power electric vehicles and so much else in our everyday life. Change is coming to the Imperial Valley and its community. We've given this industrialization and the Valley continue as a massive producer for the agricultural products that feeds the world. This Southern California County with sky high unemployment rates and with 17% of the citizens living below the poverty line is about to be the center of a billion dollar business pool. But, at what cost, we'll find out. When most people think of California, it's all about palm trees in the beach. Imperial Valley has a very different vibe. On one hand, it's a stark desert. On the other, it's green, verdant fields as far as the eye can see. It's a place of contrast. Including Brawley, Imperial County is home to seven cities and eight unincorporated communities, located around and south of a well-known landmark of the Sultans Sea. You've likely read about the Sultans Sea before or seen a documentary about it, but if you haven't, here's what you need to know. The Sultans Sea is the largest lake by area in California. It is a relatively shallow body of water. It is very salty and it sits below sea level. The Sultans Sea is the most recent incarnation of ancient Lake Kuia that is formed when the Colorado River jumps its banks and floods the area. When this happens, the Colorado flows into a basin 270 feet below sea level. The Sultans Sea was formed in 1906 when the Colorado flowed for two years into the basin. An enormous effort was spent to re-devert the river back to its normal path. The result of the fabulous lake was created that became a very popular tourist attraction in the 1950s and '60s. Several waterskeed on it and went fishing, Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra and the Beach Boys all stayed at resorts. More than one and a half million people visited the Sultans Sea annually, and then the cycle of the ancient lake started to repeat. The area is a harsh desert, getting only three inches of rain a year. With no more Colorado River water flowing in, the lake began to shrink. More water was evaporated than flowing in. In this process, the lake became saltier and saltier, and ultimately the fish in it died. Still, it remains the largest single body of water in California, and it dominates the northern end of Imperial Valley. In contrast to the desolate Sultans Sea, Imperial County's current biggest business is agriculture, called Ag by the locals. You'll hear a lot of people we talk to call it that. There's a lot of Ag that takes place here in our community. Yes, it's Ag. It's Ag Disturge. A lot of the Ag workforce. Ag return flows. Our economy is basically an Ag-based economy. Agriculture is a two and a half billion dollar industry. The majority of the winter vegetables consumed in the United States come out of the Imperial Valley. There's also a big beef industry where there are 500,000 cattle that are raised and processed in the valley. So the agricultural in the valley is conducted on a huge scale. Here's George Nove again on what life is like in Brawling. We are a Ag-based community. We're in the desert, so you can imagine that, right? And so it's just a different environment, right? And so the population is mixed. You have a lot of Hispanics out here now, and it wasn't necessarily like that growing up when I was growing up, but it is now. And so it's just a, and we're close to the border. We're far enough away where we're not on the border, which makes a big, big, big difference and not in a positive or negative way, but it's just different. That's right. Imperial Valley's communities are located so close to the California-Mexico border that crossing into Mexico is part of everyday life. It's so close to the border that it's normal to pass through border control checkpoints and to work in one country and live in another. I've spent most of my time in Brawling. People from Brawling are very proud to be from Brawling, but the same is true for those from Ireland and those from Imperial, those from Calexico. Families have lived in these communities for four or five generations, working in the fields and the land, growing the communities for that period of time. One of the fun parts about the Valley is that people know one another because the communities are small and the families have been there for a long time. People have a real sense of community that contrasts with here in Los Angeles, where there are nine million people. LA is also home to large industries, whether it's aerospace or the largest one we know about Hollywood. The competition can be fierce, for jobs and even buying a home, but life is much different in the Imperial Valley. Arcadia Burnworth, the city of Imperial's mayor, the area allowed her to balance a family along with a career as a politician and an environmental scientist. So I moved back after I graduated from college and got a job right away and there wasn't as much competition and I was able to get a lot of experience in a short amount of time. I owned two homes and I'm 32 and there's just because of the affordability of it all. It doesn't mean that people in bigger cities don't work harder than me or all of that. It's a really good place to grasp, build in some roots and grow up for me. It's a safe place to raise my family, raise my two kids. You know, sunsets are the most beautiful here, you know, it's just different, but I would encourage anybody to come visit, you know, lithium valley is going to be big and if you want to be on the forefront of a new industry, this is it. But before I talk about lithium, I need to introduce you to the other source of power in Imperial Valley water because water and lithium are deeply entwined in this story that I'm going to be telling you about. I can't think of anything that represents the Imperial Valley's relationship with water more than Dippy Duck. Dippy Duck wants you to remember that his rules are always important. Dippy who you say? Come on. You know Dippy Duck. He's the Imperial irrigation district's legendary safety mascot and champion of canal awareness since 1966. Well, that's a long time. Together we visit all of the local elementary schools each year to share Dippy's mission, which is for you to stay active, play safe and be cool. When we visited the valley, we learned about Dippy Duck. The Imperial Valley has thousands of miles of canals. That water is always flowing and of course in the summer it is hot. So the canals are very attractive to get into and cool off, however, they are dangerous. They're full of rocks, people drown. So while the water in the canal is vital to the valley's economy, there are safety risks associated with how the water is distributed. As a result, the community developed an iconic character that speaks about these risks. Enough from me. Here's what some locals had to say when we asked them about this Imperial Valley hero. From Elizabeth Espinoza, Energy Swarth Materials Community Affairs, lay his on. Dippy Duck. I'll be honest, I don't know if Dippy Duck has a gender, but they are a white feathers. He has a little baseball hat if I'm not mistaken and he wears a little hat or if I'm a hat. He has a little t-shirt and you see him on billboards and you'll say stay cool, slim and pool and there's very, very visually friendly graphics for students and for kids. And they have coloring pages for them. If you go out to the California Midwinter Fair, you have ID out there always educating those students and you actually see Dippy Duck walking around. And from Imperial Mayor, Katie Burnworth. We love it. I mean, it's something that makes Imperial Valley and Imperial Valley because everybody knows about Dippy Duck and even if they're not, you know, even if they're not from here, they move down here, they have a kid in grade school, they learn about Dippy Duck very quickly. It's on, they have Pulu commercials and they're all over now, so. So I think Dippy Duck is just cool. It represents the Valley and tells you so much about the relationship between the people and the industry in Imperial Valley and war. This Mark Twain once said, "In the west, whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting the world." And he was probably talking about this region. Life in the Imperial Valley is dominated by water. LA Times climate columnists Sammy Roth covered the area while he was a reporter at the Desert Sun newspaper in Palm Springs. That's where he realized just how important water is for the Valley. And I got introduced to the Imperial Valley because the main electric utility out there in Imperial is the Imperial irrigation district and they also, as it turns out, provide electricity in the eastern half of the Coachella Valley near Palm Springs. So I got into covering IID because they were reducing incentives for rooftop solar power and there were all sorts of people in the Palm Springs area upset by that. And as I started to pay attention to IID and their board meetings and get to know people, they are realized, "Okay, not only do they do electricity, they are also the water provider for the Imperial Valley and oh man, they are the largest water provider of Colorado River Water in the western United States. The Imperial Valley uses more Colorado River Water than the entire, just about the same amount as the entire state of Arizona, more than half of California's Colorado River Water goes to the Imperial Valley." Water is incredibly important to the Valley. This water originates high in the Rockies and flows down the Colorado River and then is diverted into the All-American Canal and flows downhill into the Valley. The quantity of water is measured in acre feet and acre foot is the amount of water it takes to cover an acre one foot deep or about 326,000 gallons. The Colorado is a massive river. 2.5 million acre feet of water goes into the Valley each year and irrigates 500,000 acres of land. So the Valley receives 5 feet of water for every acre of agricultural land. For comparison, the city of Los Angeles has a population of about 4 million and uses 1.5 million acre feet of water per year. Thus, LA uses only 60% of the water used in the Valley. So the Agricultural Indian Imperial Valley lives off Colorado River Water. The second substantial industry in the Valley is geothermal power and this industry is driven by a completely different source of water. Deep in the ground under the Imperial Valley are a series of geologic hot spots that heats water in the sediments to high temperatures. This high temperature and high pressure water is pumped to the surface where the pressure is reduced a little bit and the liquid flashes into steam. Its steam is used to drive turbines that generate electricity and then the brine is pumped back into the aquifer to refill it. But what comes up with that water is salt. The water has been in the ground at high temperatures surrounded by the sediments of the Colorado River for millions of years. The hot water leeches minerals and salts out of the rocks. These brines contain 200 to 300 parts per million lithium and lithium is valuable. Right now lithium is used in electric vehicle batteries. The market for these vehicles is exploding around the world. The market for lithium is thus strong. Demand is expected to expand five times over the next six years. Currently, this amount of lithium is not produced anywhere in the world and that drives up the price. This makes the brines in the Imperial Valley attractive as a source of lithium. With the demand for lithium driving up its price and the brines in the valley rich in this metal, the Imperial Valley is being called lithium valley and there's a white gold rush taking place. Energy source materials is one such company exploring lithium extraction. Vice President for government relations Vince Signorati told me that lithium extraction technology will be built on the geothermal technology. They go hand in hand. I think it's key to future geothermal energy development at the salt and sea because the power purchase agreements out there at least hours and hours is with salt river project in Arizona are significantly above market. Those prices are well above market particularly for other renewables, wind and solar which as you know are intermittent and we're baseload so there's a fundamental difference there. The future I think if we can prove up our lithium technology then future geothermal development at the salt and sea using that technology will be much more viable. Here in this series we will spend more time talking about the technology that Vince has been describing to us. What I do want to mention now is that this technology has the potential to bring something to Imperial Valley that it really needs jobs. The Imperial Valley has seen economic booms and busts over the last century and that means residents and politicians are used to people coming in with new exciting technologies and leaving soon after. In this area there are geothermal hotspots. There was a lot of effort to first mind CO2 that was buried in the ground and that resulted in a dry ice factory that grew and thrived for about 40 years and then cooling technologies changed and the dry ice facility was closed down. The brines were also used to produce salts for about 40 years. Under the brines were brought up out of the ground and allowed to evaporate producing sodium chloride, potassium chloride and calcium chloride as precipitants. But that industry too closed because cheaper sources of all these salts became available. When solar farms came into the valley they were hyped as generating a lot of jobs. But the jobs were for construction. Once the solar farms were built the jobs left. Raleigh Mayor George Navar recalled such instance. And that happened before with like solar energy, you know. There's a lot of excitement about it because it created some short term jobs. But then at the end of the day they're up and you know it takes a handful of people to clean them and operate you know and so and then it's just left behind. City of Imperial Mayor Kei-Bernworth recalled how the local farmers didn't appreciate how land was converted from egg to solar energy production. I think what happened was when the solar, you know that big solar bit and what solar did was take a lot of acres of agriculture out of production. And so you have this farming community in that group. Essentially I mean they do not like solar, they don't like taking land that's historically farmed and continuously generating you know money and jobs and investing you know economically back into the community they aren't a fan of that. And so with lithium valley essentially they're not taking out farmland and they're not competing with agriculture whereas they saw solar as more of a competitor than a partner. The people in the valley are very skeptical that this lithium extraction is going to land them with new jobs and bring wealth into the community. But lithium extraction is said to be different. The process will be done in plants and these plants require operators. In the Imperial Valley the number of jobs associated with lithium extraction will be material. They will make a difference in the local economy. Imperial Valley Board of Supervisors Chairman Ryan Kelly saw past economic opportunities go to other cities. But he was hopeful that lithium will benefit the local community. I think in Imperial County everyone is hoping to see those positive changes. Like you look at our demographics we have the probably seven out of the 12 months we have the highest unemployment in California and sometimes in the United States. Or a border community we share a border with Mexico which is the capital of Baja, California and not there. We share a border with Arizona which is a right to work state so manufacturing industry processing chooses locations based off of cost as well as the McChilladoras and Mix Kelly. So we have very large companies, Samsung, LG, they're across the border. In Mix Kelly producing products that you may have in your home. And after did not pay dividends to Imperial County. We've seen solar development and wind development and they've done, they've had some good aspects. But overall it is a resource that is helping the coastal communities in the metropolitan areas and not in Imperial County. And this is important in the Valley where only about 14% of the residents have four year college degrees. The average income is about $52,000 a year and unemployment rates are 15 to 20%. So these new jobs are seen as being very attractive and they require higher education levels. In preparation for that Imperial Valley College or IVC has a program geared specifically to Lithium. IVC partnered with the County Energy Source Materials and Berkshire Halfaway to create the Lithium Industry Force training program or LIF. The program offers one year short term certificate programs with access to hands-on training and internship. LIF will certify plant operators, instrumentation technicians and chemical lab technicians. The plant operators program started in fall of 2023. An IVC dean of economic workforce development, Efrain Silva, was pleased with the program's progress. He started with two cohorts for plant operations. Each cohort has 30 students, so 60 total. When we were considering this, I thought, okay, we need to give our working residents the same opportunity as our students that take day classes. So both cohorts are designed to be one year certificate, so the evening students also can be able to be done in a year if they take all the necessary courses. And both cohorts got filled as soon as registration opened. I'm also very happy and proud and a little bit surprised to say to you that a full 40% of our students and plant operations are females. So we have a very diverse representation of our community in our courses. I'm very, very excited about that. I met with the students the first time that we met with them. It was so gratifying not just to me, but to all of us that have worked on this for such a long time. As an educator, the programs that are being developed at IVC are very exciting to me, as they show a strong link between education and individual advancement. These are important social mobility programs for individuals in the valley, where they get training leading to high-quality jobs and improve quality of life. With the jobs made possible through education, the community prosperity will increase. To me, watching education have such an impact on people's lives is very rewarding. There's a lot of excitement associated with the possibility of the growth of the lithium extraction industry. Trail and Bradley, the deputy director of Sustainable Freight and Supply Chain Development and the California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development, told us this. You know, it's often been said by the governor as we grow as a population within California, it will be within our inland regions, and those investments will be critical in economic development to build the long runway for good jobs, for research and development investment, and for quality of life. That's really one thing is that we've all been focused on at the state is ensuring that as much as we can, that such investments that we make, and that the private companies and businesses involved make, align with community goals and vision, because it really brings project success, and it really lays the foundation for what this future supply chain will be. At the same time, this is a new industry, and those in the valley haven't been exposed to the risks associated with it. The uncertainty leads to questions, especially, about the environmental impacts. North of the Imperial Valley, Coachella and Riverside residents have relayed their worries about the process to the Leadership Council for Justice and Accountability, an advocacy group that works with communities on issues related to social and environmental justice policies. According to the policy advocate, Crystal Outwards, citizens are wondering about both the environmental and health ramifications. These issues are important as these communities already suffer from poor air quality. I think from the very start of the process, there have been concerns around what the environmental impacts would be. You know, it's been shared kind of in the media that this would not be, that the impacts would be relatively small compared to traditional extractions that you were referring to earlier with that past. However, you know, residents from the very beginning have asked what exactly are those environmental impacts going to be, and to date, there hasn't been any answer. James Blair is a professor of geography and anthropology at Cal Poly Pomona. James has worked with community groups in Chile, where lithium is produced through evaporation of brines in large shallow ponds. He has recently been working as the equity technical advisor for Commitecivicot Devaye, based in Brawley, which has a mission of improving the lives of disadvantaged communities by informing, educating, and engaging the community through civic participation. James had these thoughts on how the community views impacts of this new industry. Of course, yeah, there's all these other, you know, concerns about public health, about dust pollution, that have really urgent needs, and certainly other things like water use when we talk about long-term planning for the Colorado River with drought. And we also have to take into account the concerns of the indigenous people in Native Americans in the area. Kwame Laguni, Indian, Carmen Lucas is the caretaker of the Kwame homeland, located east of San Diego. She has worked as a Native American monitor, and here she describes the cultural significance of the land. But I mentioned that, and this is what anguish may is, when we're Native American monitors, and we go out to a site visit, and the archaeologist is there taking notes, and he'd make a comment that I'm there. So, when I talk about the mud pot and say, "That is medicine," ancient Lake Kuia has been filled up, drained, filled up, and drained. It's much larger than what we call "sight and salt and sea" today, and where they would have you, the developers have you believe that what they want to extract as far as steam and lithium is concerned, is well under the bed of the salt and sea, it has nothing to do with the salt and sea, that's for us. If we are part of the world, and the world is alive, then the depths all the way to the center of that world is part of the world, and part of the salt and sea part of ancient Lake Kuia, but they don't want to tell you that, they want to tell you they're separate. So again, it's a money-making grab thing. So let's step back for a minute. Remember that we're on a planet that is undergoing climate change. In order to stop global warming and all the bad effects produced by increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, countries all over the globe are working together to decarbonize the economy. Now imagine the geographic location of the Imperial Valley with extensive solar and wind farms, landing geothermal energy production, and lithium extraction, in a very real way the valley is all in when it comes to the energy transition. But how will this affect the economy, the environment, and the climate at large, the culture, and the way of life? These are all questions I'll examine in the remaining episodes of this podcast. Here's a taste of what's to come. But that's the big concern is really, you know, impacts due to drought and less water come into this area, mean more ply exposed on the salty, and that has human health and wildlife impacts. So there would be an environmental disaster, unless they take precautions to make sure that absolutely no dust from the lithium mining is able to get into air. Lithium, I know, I'm all for electric, but I mean, you know, it's just a matter of it, just not destroying, you know, I mean, it's about climate change, but the political climate and the, what do you call it, the intellectual climate. So I would like to see Imperial Valley number one, acknowledge that there is a process, and I would like to see the American Indians early step forward, and with all sincerity, try to find a balance in this so-called stuff. That's the cost, part of the cost-benefit ratio, and it needs to be seriously considered, and given weight and to realize what was there before the current communities, what voices aren't we listening to, what have we displaced, who have we displaced? I'll see you next time. Electric Futures is an original podcast from the University of Southern California, hosted by me, Charles Zukowski, the Vivian Professor of Chemical Engineering and Material Science, and the former USC Provost. This series was executive produced by Allison Agsten, the director of USC's Edinburgh Center for Climate Journalism and Communication. USC Ennberg Professor, Mallory Cara is our lead producer, Natalie Lopez and Spencer Klein are our associate producers. Cindy Chai is our research assistant. This episode was directed by Mallory Cara and edited and sound designed by Spencer Klein. Electric Future was recorded on location in Imperial Valley and in the USC Ennberg studio B. Victor Figueroa, Sebastian Gruba, Matthew Bucksbaum, and Tom Norris, provided technical supervision. Our cover art is by Matthew Bucksbaum. All music and sound effects used with express permission under limited blanket license authority from Epidemic Sound. If you'd like to read more about the topics covered in this podcast, please check out our additional resources document linked in the episode description. You'll also find that we have links to the transcripts of this episode available in English and Spanish. You can follow us on Instagram at USC_ElectricFutures.