In the continuing effort of the New River Improvement Project to improve the local ecosystem, volunteers from far and near joined the Imperial Irrigation District’s Community Action Day to plant more than 1,000 native plants in local wetlands on Saturday, Nov 1. … These native plants will help the wetland grow stronger to serve its natural function of filtering the water of the New River, aiding in erosion and waste control. … [T]hose same contaminants would end up polluting the Salton Sea as well. Now, with the New River Improvement Project completed, any polluted water has its physical debris separated and is treated before entering the New River.