South Texas officials announced their plan of selling a portion of Salt Lake for $2.5 million. The proceeds will be used to fund their infrastructure development projects.
About 600 acres of dry salt lake along the borders of Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge will be open for bidding through July 16, General Manager Troy Allen told The Valley Morning Star. The Delta Lake Irrigation District will be using the money they will get to fund canal repairs and other infrastructure projects.
"We have this piece (of land) there that has some value to it and right now we've decided it doesn't do us any good, sitting on the books. We'd like to sell it and put some of that money into infrastructure improvements," Allen said.
They are selling a portion of the La Sal Vieja Lake in Willacy County specifically. This was purchased by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service before to provide additional space to the wildlife but the government could not fund it anymore.
Allen hopes for the government to buy off the entire lakebed. The whole area is 6 miles larger than the La Sal del Rey salt lake located inside the natural reserve. However, the government couldn’t afford to do so because of insufficient funds.
The La Sal del Rey and the La Sal Vieja are both rich in different plants and animals. There were White-tailed deer, ocelots, coyotes, javelinas and bobcats seen roaming the area. Gull-billed terns also frequent the areas. The only drawback was that the both salt lakes had ran dry because of the drought but it still recovers once in a while whenever there are hurricanes or storms.
It used to be the source of salt for pre-Columbian cultures such as the Aztecs, Huastecs and Lipan Apaches. Pilgrims were also common back then as people believed that the salt from the area can cleanse their mind and body.
