… It was only three years ago, at a press conference, that state and federal lawmakers and business figures were touting the [Salton Sea] area’s great promise for extracting lithium, a mineral critical for batteries in electric cars, smartphones and industrial power systems, from volcanic layers deep in the ground. … But lithium demand alone cannot solve the problem of harvesting it. BHE Renewables built a pilot plant in Calipatria near the Salton Sea, only for dissolved solids in the brine to gunk up the equipment meant to filter out the lithium. … Most concerning for residents is that the plan could result in dirtier air. Nearly a third of the water for farms in the Lithium Valley region ends up as runoff for the Salton Sea, so less agriculture would result in its shrinking — exposing more dusty lake bed.