A Salton Sea canal or pipeline requires the right negotiating team

The Salton Sea is California’s largest lake, and is located in the Imperial Valley. Created in 1905 when a spring flood on the Colorado River broke through a poorly constructed headgate, the sea has been sustained by agricultural flows from the Imperial Valley ever since. It has also become one of the nation’s prime birdwatching areas and an important stop on the Pacific Flyway.

However, recent agreements to transfer water from the Imperial Valley to urban Southern California require Imperial Valley farmers to conserve more water, thus reducing the flows into the Salton Sea, eventually causing the lake to shrink. Besides impacting wildlife, a dried up Salton Sea will cause dust storms comparable (or possibly worse) than what has been experienced in the Owens Valley, which has been the site of most of the worst dust storms in the country for many years.

As part of the QSA agreement, the state has agreed to assume responsibility for restoration of the Salton Sea, and this year, put forth a nearly $9 billion plan, which involves building dikes and creating a much smaller sea area, with dust control measures applied on the remaining surface of the lake bed. The plan has received mixed reviews from the local residents and officials.

But this is not the only option that has been presented throughout the years. Many studies have been done and one of the options that has been considered is some form of pump in/pump out option, generally to the Gulf of California. It has been determined that the route to the Gulf is feasible, but other obstacles exist. One of them would be the required negotiations with Mexico to allow the pipeline or canal to cross their territory into the Gulf.

Richard Speed is an Indio resident who feels strongly and passionately that such a solution is possible. While I may not share his optimism, I have invited Richard to submit articles on the Salton Sea, because Aquafornia is about promoting all ideas and possible solutions to our water problems, not just my own. (Click here to check out Aquafornia’s Salton Sea archive for more information).

Richard’s article today details the requirements he sees as necessary to create a successful negotiating team to deal with Mexico on this issue:

A FEW CONSIDERATIONS RELATING TO NEGOTIATIONS WITH MEXICO
By Richard Speed

My proposal for replacing the water currently in the Salton Sea with water delivered from the Gulf of California necessarily requires the approval of Mexico. I have outlined in my proposal what I consider to be a number of substantial benefits to that country if it decides to accept that idea and take advantage of the opportunity it presents.

However, securing that agreement means conducting very delicate negotiations. To be successful, negotiations of this kind must produce results that each party considers satisfactory. The final result when fully built and operational must be looked upon with pride. All of the negotiating give and take must be handled in a friendly manner and both participants must respect each other’s sensitivities. However, there are other concerns which must be satisfied even before getting started.

It seems to me that negotiations leading to a contract with a foreign government must be handled at the Federal level. I do not believe that the state of California (or any state, for that matter) would be allowed to enter into any agreement with another country. Such binding agreements can only be handled through the United States State Department, in this case through the Inter-American Affairs Office. It may be that representatives of the state could contribute technical knowledge or details but not otherwise participate. All elements of the final agreement, if one is reached, must be the result of negotiations between representatives at the Federal level.

I consider this a desirable requirement because I believe that almost any representative from the state of California would approach negotiations with Mexico with a prejudice against success, Such an individual could not be independent of the state’s position with regard to its own proposal. In my opinion that individual would be unable to be free of that bias and would, therefore, contribute to failure. It might even be that that would be his desired result so he could crow “I told you so! Mexico will never agree.” That may also be true of the state’s entire legislative and congressional delegations.

Therefore, the composition of the negotiating team is of great importance. The team, for the above reasons, should not include anyone from the state of California who has had anything to do with the state’s current position .It may even be that the “failure infection” is so widespread in Sacramento that it may be impossible to find anyone with a sufficiently open mind who could contribute to the success of the negotiations.

Yet, this is a California project and only local people will have the detailed knowledge needed for success.

This represents a major problem. To achieve success with any program that originated outside of Sacramento may almost be an impossibility. It is this same political problem that makes it so difficult to get anything done. Ideas that originate elsewhere are criticized endlessly. A hundred reasons can always be found why some new idea “can’t be done.”This attitude infests the entire political establishment and even includes many elements at levels well below the Sacramento level because so many have aspirations to be elected to that level. One has to hope that there are some who are more interested in the welfare of the state than in the petty temporary political advantage of staying faithful to the state’s unsatisfactory proposals. Such people may exist, but where are they? They need to come forward; we need them.

The negotiating team, then, must be composed of individuals who have absolutely no conflict of interest especially with regard to California’s current or recent proposals for the restoration of the Salton Sea. The members of the team must be determined to work for the welfare of the residents of the United States (and, therefore, of California as well) and have no connection to the State of California. They should, also, have no financial interest in the outcome of the negotiations. With a team made up of members who meet these criteria we may be able to assure ourselves of success and produce a Salton Sea with unlimited possibilities for development.

While the restoration of the Salton Sea has been viewed as primarily a state function there is apparently some Federal involvement aside from its position as the negotiator. However, we seem to hear virtually nothing from them except an occasional note from Senator Barbara Boxer or Congresswoman Mary Bono about some money to be made available for the purpose. Is the Federal government through the Bureau of Reclamation going to get involved? Will they have something to say about what is to be done? Will they have ideas of their own that they would rather pursue? Why haven’t we heard from them? Would they, perhaps, simply back what the state wants to do? If so, does that mean we have to fight with them as well? Questions, questions, questions! And no answers. How can anything ever get done?

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