Imperial County

Imperial County, CA — December 30, 2025 — Imperial County today announced the release of the Draft Lithium Valley Specific Plan (LVSP) the Draft Program Environmental Impact Report (PEIR), General Plan and Zoning Ordinance/Map Amendments, and Lithium Valley Construction Workforce Ordinance, marking a major milestone in the County’s long-term effort to responsibly plan for Lithium Valley and position Imperial County as a national leader in developing a vertically integrated ecosystem that can produce baseload geothermal energy, a domestic supply of critical minerals, and co-locate advanced manufacturing.

The release of these draft documents initiates a formal public review and comment period and provides residents, tribes, agencies, businesses, and stakeholders an opportunity to review and comment on the proposed land use framework and comprehensive environmental analysis for the Lithium Valley planning area.

The Draft Lithium Valley Specific Plan and Draft Program Environmental Impact Report are available for public review from December 30, 2025 through March 2, 2026 at 5:00 p.m.

The documents are available online at https://lithiumvalley.imperialcounty.org

Additional information is provided at the end of this release regarding the comment and review period.

What Is Lithium Valley?

Lithium Valley is a 51,622-acre planning area located in the Northern area of Imperial County, along the southeastern shore of the Salton Sea in unincorporated Imperial County. The region has been a center of geothermal energy production for more than 40 years, with geothermal facilities operating throughout the area providing baseload renewable energy to California’s grid.

Geothermal energy in Imperial County is produced from naturally occurring heat deep within the earth, not from the Salton Sea itself. One of the largest geothermal reservoirs in the region is known as the Salton Sea Known Geothermal Resource Area (SSKGRA). Despite the similarity in name, there is no physical or hydrologic connection between the Salton Sea and the geothermal reservoir. The geothermal resource exists deep underground and is accessed through wells that circulate geothermal brine in a highly controlled system.

In 2023, a U.S. Department of Energy study confirmed that the geothermal brine within the SSKGRA contains up to 18 million metric tons of lithium, representing one of the largest known domestic lithium resources in the world. This creates a unique opportunity for the geothermal industry to recover lithium as a byproduct of existing geothermal operations, using a closed-loop, sustainable processes that does not involve open-pit mining, evaporation ponds, or the type of surface disturbance associated with traditional mining operations.

After geothermal energy is produced and lithium is recovered, the geothermal brine is reinjected back into the same underground geothermal reservoir, typically more than one mile below the surface. This reinjection process maintains reservoir pressure, supports long-term geothermal operations, and ensures the system remains fully contained underground. This approach has been used in Imperial County for decades and is subject to extensive state and federal regulation to ensure operational and environmental compliance.

The Lithium Valley vision builds on this long-standing geothermal history and focuses on enabling renewable energy, lithium and mineral recovery, advanced manufacturing, logistics, and supporting infrastructure, while balancing our region’s historical importance for agriculture, conservation, cultural resources, and environmental protection. The goal is to diversify the local economy, create high-quality jobs for residents, and deliver long-term community benefits while minimizing impacts to public health and the environment.

Purpose of the Draft Lithium Valley Specific Plan and Draft Program Environmental Impact Report

The Draft Lithium Valley Specific Plan establishes a long-term land use and zoning framework for the Lithium Valley planning area. It identifies where different types of uses may occur, including green industrial uses such as geothermal energy and lithium extraction, manufacturing, logistics, renewable energy, community opportunity areas, conservation lands, floodplains, and agricultural overlays. The Specific Plan is intended to provide clarity and predictability for future development while providing clear guidelines for protecting environmental, cultural, and community resources.

The accompanying Draft Program Environmental Impact Report (PEIR) is a comprehensive, program-level environmental analysis prepared in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Unlike a project-specific Environmental Impact Report that evaluates a single development proposal, a PEIR evaluates potential environmental impacts across the entire 51,622-acre Lithium Valley planning area and analyzes the cumulative effects of future development that could occur under the Specific Plan.

The Draft PEIR includes robust technical analysis of a wide range of environmental topics, including transportation and traffic, water supply and infrastructure, air quality and greenhouse gas emissions, biological resources, cultural and tribal cultural resources, noise, land use, utilities, infrastructure systems, hazards, and public health considerations.

The PEIR identifies potential environmental impacts, evaluates alternatives, and establishes mitigation measures. By completing this comprehensive, upfront environmental review, the County is creating a transparent planning framework that allows future development proposals to be reviewed more efficiently by utilizing the already completed CEQA analysis, for approved uses.

How the County Reached This Milestone

Imperial County has been developing the land use framework and environmental analysis for Lithium Valley for more than three years. This effort formally accelerated in 2022 following the passage of Senate Bill 125, which provided funding to prepare a Lithium Valley Specific Plan and conduct a program-level environmental review.

Since that time, the County has completed extensive technical studies, infrastructure analysis, environmental review, agency coordination, and public outreach. An initial draft of the Specific Plan was released in February 2025 and included a public review period. The County then subsequently refined the LVSP based on technical input and stakeholder feedback. The release of the revised Draft LVSP and Draft PEIR reflects years of deliberate, coordinated planning to ensure development is approached thoughtfully, transparently, and responsibly.

Extensive Community and Tribal Engagement

Community engagement has been a foundational element of the Lithium Valley planning process from the outset. Over the past several years, Imperial County has implemented one of the most extensive and sustained community engagement efforts ever undertaken for a County-led planning initiative.

Engagement activities have occurred across more than 41 different cities and communities, including all local communities as well as additional advocacy across the United States and Internationally. There have been more than 170 stakeholder meetings, 59 community meetings and workshops, and over 600 total engagement interactions. These efforts reached a broad cross-section of the community, including Imperial Valley residents, industry stakeholders, advisory groups, agency partners, and government and tribal leaders.

Senate Bill 125 allocated $800,000 for community engagement on the LVSP and PEIR by community-based organizations, to ensure that community voices were meaningfully incorporated into the planning process. Following a 2023 County Request for Proposals, $531,618.93 was awarded to local organizations to support education, outreach, facilitation, and community workshops related to Lithium Valley planning. Awardees and funding amounts included:

• Comité Cívico del Valle: $207,289.22
• IV Equity and Justice: $148,246.04
• Los Amigos de la Comunidad: $78,083.67
• Raíces: $72,000.00
• Imperial Valley LGBT Resource Center: $26,000.00

In addition, $80,000 was allocated specifically for engagement with tribes that have areas of significance within the Lithium Valley planning area, supporting government-to-government consultation and culturally informed outreach.

To continue robust community engagement during the Draft LVSP and Draft PEIR public review period, the County released a new community engagement Request for Proposals in November 2025. This RFP will distribute the remaining $188,381.07 in engagement funding to support additional outreach, education, and facilitation focused on the Draft documents and ensuring awareness for opportunities to participate in the public comment process. Awardees are expected to be announced in early January 2026, with engagement activities continuing throughout the public review and public hearing(s) period.

In addition to broad outreach, Imperial County convened multiple task forces and advisory groups, which collectively held 14 meetings, to gather detailed technical input and community perspectives that informed development of the Specific Plan and environmental analysis, including:

• Environmental Justice Advisory Group
• Land Use and Development Technical Advisory Group
• Infrastructure Technical Advisory Group
• Academic Task Force

Input from these groups helped refine land use designations, infrastructure planning assumptions, workforce pathways, conservation strategies, and mitigation measures included in the Draft LVSP and Draft PEIR.

Anticipated Jobs and Workforce Development Pathways

Lithium Valley is expected to support a wide range of job opportunities across construction, operations, manufacturing, logistics, engineering, environmental sciences, and support services. The County is prioritizing pathways for local workforce opportunities, has partnered closely with education, industry, unions, and workforce institutions.

Key workforce pathways include:

• Imperial Valley College Lithium and Industrial Training (LIFT) program, which provides hands-on training in one year certificate program(s) aligned with geothermal, lithium, and industrial careers
• San Diego State University STEM campus in Brawley, which will expand access to higher education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields directly aligned with Lithium Valley industries.
• Construction Workforce Ordinance that was developed in partnership with labor and includes prevailing wage provisions as well as a 40 percent local hiring goal

Public Review and Draft Document Comment Period

The Draft Lithium Valley Specific Plan and Draft Program Environmental Impact Report are available for public review from December 30, 2025 through March 2, 2026 at 5:00 p.m.

Written comments may be submitted by mail or email:

• Mail:
• Imperial County Planning & Development Services Department 801 Main Street El Centro, CA 92243

• Email:
• publiccomment@co.imperial.ca.us (Please include “LVSP 2025” in the subject line)

The documents are available online at https://lithiumvalley.imperialcounty.org, at the Imperial County Planning & Development Services Department, and at the Imperial County Free Library, Calipatria Branch.

Public hearings before the Imperial County Board of Supervisors will be scheduled at a later date.

To ensure fairness and consistency in the environmental review process, all comments must be provided in writing to one of the approved channels. Oral comments and submissions made outside of the methods listed above will not be accepted or responded to as part of the Final PEIR.