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Salton Sea plan might be presented today

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 30, 2007 at 8:52 am

The LA Times has an article in today’s California regarding efforts to save the Salton Sea. Details may be released today on a plan to save it. State water officials are proposing $6 billion over 75 years to create a series of ponds for wildlife habitat and a sea about 1/6th of its current size.

The Salton Sea was created by accident in 1905 when a levee holding back the Colorado River broke and filled the basin, creating a lake 35 miles long. At one point, it was envisioned as a resort area, but the dead fish washing up on the shore didn’t fit the vision. With no water source but agricultural runoff, the lake has deteriorated in to a smelly puddle of water, 25% saltier than the ocean. Now even the agricultural runoff won’t be going there, and without any intervention, it will dry up altogether.

Even with it’s high salt content, some fish do survive, and it has become an important spot for birds. Since the Colorado River’s water has been so heavily allocated, water doesn’t even reach the Colorado Delta for many months out of the year. As the west coast continues to become more urbanized, the loss of any of the remaining wetlands, even the Salton Sea, will have a devastating impact on wildlife.

Besides being a critical habitat for birds, allowing the Salton Sea to dry up now will cause the lake bed to dry up, and the wind will start blowing the accumulated toxins and dust around, making some liken the potential situation to the dried up Owens Lake (currently trying to be mitigated by DWP). Out of the worst 100 dust events from 2000 to 2005, 78 of the 100 occurred in the Owens Valley.

In an article last Thursday in the ivpressonline, a consultant raised the question that if the efforts to save the Salton Sea fail or don’t serve the interests of the Imperial Valley, can the IID break from the controversial 75-year QSA pact? Craig Morgan, consultant, said the IID shouldn’t have the commitment to transfer water to San Diego if the sea is not restored. Attorney David Osias, lead water attorney for the IID, said that whether the sea is restored or not, the IID will still be held to its obligations under the QSA.

“For those of you who have spread the myth that in exchange for the water transfer, not only would we get money but a recreational lake in the form of the Salton Sea, that myth is not grounded in any facts that I know of”, Osias said in the article. For a full text of the article, click here (registration required).

In today’s tough budgetary climate, finding any money at all to restore the Salton Sea will be a challenge. To find enough ongoing funds to make it a recreational lake and sustain it as such seems like a near impossibility.

April 30, 2007 · Filed Under Salton Sea, Southwest Water Issues