UPDATE: Stinky Smell Hits Southwest Riverside County

UPDATE: THE AQMD ISSUED A SECOND ADVISORY SHORTLY AFTER 6:30 P.M. MONDAY. CLICK HERE TO READ.

Sulfur-like odors are being reported across Southwest Riverside County and the Inland Empire Monday morning.

Reports stretching from Rosetta Canyon in Lake Elsinore to the French Valley are coming in from readers.

The odor has also been reported in the Coachella Valley, where last week the South Coast Air Quality Management District said it had deployed field inspectors in response to complaints from residents. Although a strong scent from the Salton Sea is commonly experienced in the fall and winter months, the Air Quality Management District has not yet publicly confirmed the smell is coming from that area. Today the AQMD is closed, but shortly after noon the agency released an advisory on the issue. to read what was said.

The Salton Sea’s odor this time of year can be caused by high salinity in the water, high evaporation rate, lack of sea outlet, inflow of untreated water from Mexico through the New River and algae decomposition after a “planktonic boom.”

More information about foul odors from the Salton Sea can be found at www.aqmd.gov/complain/saltonseaodor.