Dear CalMatters reader,

Palm Springs International Airport is launching a $2.2 billion expansion, now that the Palm Springs City Council has approved a master plan for the project.

With its distinctive mid-century modern architecture and airy, open design, the airport has been a city landmark since it opened in 1966. The master plan, approved Jan. 23, tries to preserve that character while adding new features and doubling the number of passengers per year.

“Our modernization efforts are about more than just improving infrastructure — it’s about creating an experience that embodies the unique spirit and hospitality of Palm Springs while supporting the continued growth of our economy and tourism industry,” Palm Springs Mayor Ron deHarte said.

Palm Springs’ population grew 5% between 2021 and 2024, deHarte said, and tourism generates an estimated $9 billion per year in the Coachella Valley. 

The airport was built for about 1.5 million passengers per year, said airport spokesperson Jake Ingrassia. Passenger traffic jumped to 3.2 million in 2023 and 2024 and is expected to double to 6.4 million by 2042, as the region’s population and tourism industry expand, he said.

The airport master plan includes a slew of projects to accommodate the increased air traffic. The number of gates would nearly double from 18 to 32, and the airport would gain a north concourse, expand its baggage claim, build a rental car area and create a federal inspection station to accommodate the expansion of international routes.

Now the airport offers flights to and from Canadian airports that pre-process passengers traveling from the U.S., Ingrassia said. With the new station the airport could screen them itself.

“Getting a federal inspection station would allow us to be truly international by having that processing available here,” he said. 

Those upgrades would make up the first phase of construction, estimated at $754 million. The second phase would add a south concourse, a rental car storage facility and airfield improvements, bringing the total cost to about $2.2 billion. Ingrassia said the final cost will depend on the design. 

“We don’t want to see planes delayed on the tarmac, overcrowded terminals, or travelers frustrated by wait times,” deHarte said. “This project will deliver the experience our community and visitors deserve.”

Officials haven’t determined how to pay for it yet but could use private financing, federal grants or bond funding. The airport will do an environmental analysis over the next year and a half, begin the first phase of construction in 2027 or 2028, and open new terminals in the early 2030s, airport officials said. 

“Investing in transportation infrastructure is key to attracting new businesses, creating jobs, and supporting tourism—vital components of our local economy,” said state Sen. Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh, who represents the Coachella Valley. “This plan reaffirms Palm Springs as a premier destination and strengthens our region’s role as an economic hub.”

Air traffic at regional airports has taken a dive since the pandemic, as major airlines pulled the smaller jets that often serviced those routes, in favor of larger planes destined for urban airports, NPR reported. 

But regional airports seek to attract passengers by expanding international routes. Ontario International Airport aims to compete with LAX with a new international terminal and possible flights to Europe and Japan, the San Bernardino Sun reported. 

Palm Springs International Airport is trying to up its game while preserving its history. The central terminal, designed by famed modernist architect Donald Wexler, is included in the National Register of Historical Places. 

“The hope is that the airport will remain within the same mid-century modern style and keep that unique charm that people have come to love,” Ingrassia said. 

The Eastern Municipal Water District in Menifee is getting $100 million through the Army Corps of Engineers to upgrade its desalination process, the Press-Enterprise reported.

The water district serves nearly a million people in western Riverside and northern San Diego counties. About 10% of its water comes from desalinated water, produced by filtering salts and solids out of brackish groundwater through reverse osmosis and advanced filtration.

The funding will pay for the Army Corps to design and construct groundwater wells, pipelines, and treatment facilities to expand the district’s desalination capacity, the water district stated.

With tightening water supplies, some California districts are turning to the process to convert seawater or brackish water to potable water. The state aims to boost desalination operations to produce 28,000 acre-feet of water per year by 2030 and 84,000 acre-feet per year by 2040. An acre-foot is about 326,000 gallons, enough to cover a football field a foot deep.

An Imperial County company is on hold for more than $1 billion in federal assistance for its lithium mining operations, inewsource reported.

Earlier this month the Department of Energy under former President Biden announced a $1.36 billion loan to EnergySource Minerals for its project to extract lithium from brine at the Salton Sea. Last week, that loan became uncertain after President Donald Trump attempted to halt most federal assistance and grants.

Lithium is a mineral used in electric car batteries, cellphones, laptops and other electronics and is considered critical to the transition away from fossil fuels.

EnergySource Minerals is one of several companies dedicated to lithium production at the Salton Sea, where large supplies of the mineral are found in groundwater. Last week Cal Matters reported that another company, Controlled Thermal Resources, received a greenlight to begin its Hell’s Kitchen lithium extraction project.

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