can the salton sea be fixed

In response to competing demands, the 2003 agreement diverted water from the Imperial Valley. The Salton Sea, California’s largest lake, is in decline, mainly due to ever decreasing water flows. She doesn’t want to move away but is finally considering it. After decades of false starts and false hopes, progress might finally be within reach for California’s Salton Sea – the state’s largest and most maligned lake. It soon became clear that salinity levels would continue increasing. When the pandemic hit, that idea and a parallel measure Garcia introduced in the Legislature both died, although Garcia said he’ll reintroduce his bill in 2021. That's a big problem for people in the area. Of course, such compromise will not be perfect. However, after the levy was fixed, there was no longer a flow of water into the lake. Since entering Congress in 2013, he has tried to rally local lawmakers and called on the federal government to take a more active role. Gavin Newsom promised an additional $220 million, but that was predicated on a bond. By the end of 2017, much of the water that has traditionally been redirected to the Salton Sea will no longer be available under the terms of the agreement, meaning the rate of exposure will triple to about 4,100 acres per year. Such a compromise plan would be faster and less costly to complete than the existing recreational plans, providing both economic and ecological benefits sooner – and more feasibly – than with any of the eight existing plans. The Salton Sea shoreline slowly recedes away from the small community of Bombay Beach near Highway 86 on the sea's eastern shore in this aerial photograph, … Now, for the first time, there are concrete plans for restoring the Sea and enough information to make educated decisions. The Portfolio was developed in response to Governor Newsom’s Executive Order (N-10-19), which called for a comprehensive strategy to build a climate-resilient water system for the 21st century. The Hidden, Potentially Deadly, Dangers Of The Salton Sea - Palm Desert, CA - A new UCR report has found the exposed Salton Sea lakebed known as playa can lead to significant health risks. Its windborne dust travels across Southern California and into Arizona, but nearby communities — many of them populated by Latino farmworkers — bear the heaviest burden. So, in 2007, the state released a sweeping proposal with an $8.9 billion price tag — unfortunately, just as the Great Recession took hold. Juarez, a mother of three and active volunteer at the schools, often received calls to pick up her 7-year-old son, Lihan, when sudden nosebleeds soiled his outfits. The lake’s most recent iteration formed between 1905 and 1907, when an engineering disaster diverted the river into the basin. Salinity Eutrophication Migrating Birds Air Quality. The Salton Sea is a huge body of water, almost 50 percent larger than the San Fernando Valley. “Frankly, the permitting is probably more expensive right now than the actual projects,” said Tina Shields, water department manager at the Imperial Irrigation District, which, separate from the state, completed about 2,000 acres of dust suppression on its own land around the lake. We no longer have the luxury of delay and inaction. Years of studies, salaries and office supplies have been purchased, but few shovels have been put to work. Red flags flutter outside the schools in Salton City when the air quality is dangerous. The Salton Sea is a huge body of water, almost 50 percent larger than the San Fernando Valley. For more than 40 years, Californians have been studying and debating ideas about saving the Salton Sea. “It’s OK. Just go to the office,” she’d say. In some places, you can't see the opposite shore because of the earth's curvature. And the reason: The Salton Sea doesn't conform to what we think Nature ought to be. ‘No more broken treaties’: Indigenous leaders urge Biden to shut down Dakota Access pipeline. This led to an 18 month period where the water was freely flowing into the Basin. Knowing human nature, if the public reads that they have 35 years to fix the Sea, it is not an imminent problem; it’s one that can be deferred for more pressing current matters. No single plan does a very good job of satisfying the primary legal mandate to maximize feasible fish and wildlife habitat while eliminating air quality impacts from the restoration project and protecting water quality. In order to “fix” the sea, government agencies, led by the state, will need to flood, plough or plant tens of thousands of acres to control dust, and rebuild habitat. A compromise plan that does what the law requires—providing quality fish and wildlife habitat and protecting air and water quality—and creates recreational and economic opportunities may be the last, best chance for the Salton Sea. © 1999-2021 Grist Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. “We don’t have the reserves that we had prior to COVID-19,” Garcia said. That meant that the lake’s level was guaranteed to drop. The result of an irrigation accident over 100 years ago, the Salton Sink (below sea level) started filling with water, and having no natural outlet, the water’s getting pretty stagnant, toxic, and just plain yucky. Even if the farmers, environmentalists, tribes, developers, and local communities agreed tomorrow on a compromise plan, it still will be years before construction begins, and many years after that before the project is completed. Conditions at the Sea will change rapidly in coming years, with potentially catastrophic effects on human health and resultant litigation over who is responsible for the choking clouds of dust blowing off the dried Sea bed. Get news from Pacific Institute in your inbox. Years of indecisiveness mixed with land-access and permitting issues have bogged down the process; the state’s own efforts to clean up the ecological disaster got stuck in the compliance process. The Salton Sea is California’s largest inland lake, located in Riverside and Imperial Counties. Juarez, in Salton City, welcomes the efforts but believes that if this problem affected a wealthier, whiter area like Palm Springs, it would’ve been addressed already. For a shallow body of water, the Salton Sea holds a large amount of sunk costs. According to an opinion piece in the Desert Sun, the Salton Sea water loss "poses a growing environmental and economic threat to the Coachella Valley, Imperial County and the state.". The Salton Sea is a shallow, landlocked body of water that has a high concentration of salts in Riverside and Imperial counties. In the context of shrinking wetland habitats, the Salton Sea has become a critical habitat for migratory birds to stop and rest during their annual journeys. The doctor’s diagnosis was unclear: Perhaps Lihan had allergies. At the beginning of 2020, Gov. “For a very long time, the enormity of the challenge at the sea was frankly overwhelming, and there was very little action at the state level until 2014 or 2015,” said Wade Crowfoot, secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, the lead department tasked with restoring the sea. Visibility is so poor you can’t see down the block. Once again a floodgate was omitted. Even if the farmers, environmentalists, tribes, developers, and local communities agreed tomorrow on a compromise plan, it still will be years before construction begins, and many years after that before the project is completed. The Sea and its environs are one of the most important spots on the map for birds, with more than 400 species of birds – often numbering in the millions of individual birds – visiting the Sea every year. Fortunately, California has left the door open for a plan that mixes and matches elements from among the eight alternatives to satisfy the environmental and public health mandates as well as provide economic opportunity. Located on the San Andreas Fault at the southern end of the U.S. state of California, it lies within the Salton Trough that stretches to the Gulf of California in Mexico. Such a compromise plan would be faster and less costly to complete than the existing recreational plans, providing both economic and ecological benefits sooner – and more feasibly – than with any of the eight existing plans. A smaller, less complex plan also benefits from a lower risk of failure, protecting taxpayers’ interests. Since then, millions more people have begun relying on the Colorado River, even as climate change threatens the waterway. So she began packing fresh clothes for him every day, before COVID-19 halted in-person learning. An estimated 131 square miles of playa will be dry and exposed to the air by the time the lake reaches a degree of equilibrium — meaning the inflow from three small waterways and agricultural runoff will maintain a smaller lake — in 2047. If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. Yet a failure to agree on a compromise plan will keep the Sea mired in inaction, and could squander our best opportunity for saving the Salton Sea. “In the coming months, we’ll be breaking ground in the southern western part of the sea, on the species habitat conservation plan that’s close to three or four-thousand acres of habitat restoration and air quality mitigation. Despite its importance, the Salton Sea is the Rodney Dangerfield of California’s lakes, enduring insult after insult. The people in Salton City and other towns around the retreating lake are still waiting. Biden rejoining the Paris Agreement, explained. A dock sits where the water from the Salton Sea used to reach. The eight restoration plans under consideration vary in scope, cost and time to complete. In 1905, these human engineering errors allowed saline water to be carried from a flooded Colorado River into the Salton Sink area, thus creating the present-day Salton Sea. The problem isn’t new. We can fix the Salton Sea toxic dust problem with a relatively low-cost, two-phase solution. The Salton Sea is a huge body of water, almost 50 percent larger than the San Fernando Valley. Despite its importance, the Salton Sea is the Rodney Dangerfield of California’s lakes, enduring insult after insult. But the leading contender for a fix may prove to be only a short-term solution. 1 goal was to break ground on a project to rip that inertia to pieces and to start building momentum.”, The son of farmworkers, Ruiz grew up just miles from the lake. Green groups promised a racial reckoning in 2020. The Salton Sea sits on a large salt deposit in a basin with a surface level of approximately 230 feet below sea level (“Journal of Geography”, 2009). They believe algae, products from which are can produce the raw materials for fuel, can be grown on farmland around the Salton Sea. The Salton Sea, California's largest lake, will die unless the state throws a staggering amount of resources at it in the next decade or so. See our privacy policy. Pacific Institute Still, the agreement included 15 years of inflows to temporarily control salinity while the state decided on a plan. The eight restoration plans under consideration vary in scope, cost and time to complete. TweetShareShare. In this report, we discuss the changing conditions in and around the Sea, their statewide importance, and the Legislature’s role in overseeing projects to reduce potential negative effects on public health and wildlife. Some prioritize economic development; some emphasize habitat creation; one seeks to minimize water requirements. This story was originally published by High Country News and the Desert Sun is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Kim Delfino and Michael Cohen, of Defenders of Wildlife and the Pacific Institute respectively, are members of the Salton Sea Coalition, an organization dedicated to restoring the Salton Sea. Please enable and refresh the page. Saving the Salton Sea will not be easy, or cheap. It started forming in 1905 when floods breached a levee on the Colorado River, sending a massive flow roaring downhill into a natural bowl, the Salton Sink, some 230 feet below sea level. Cleanup along the New River, one of three small waterways flowing into the lake, comes with a $28 million bill. The Salton Sea has gotten a bad rap over the years, most of it unwarranted. “I don’t want to stay here and see my kids sick,” she said. Knowing the lake would recede, the state committed to mitigating the health and environmental impacts. Towns around the retreating lake are still waiting the New River, even as change! Begun relying on the region ’ s largest lake, comes with a permanent supply of water left the. Suffering headaches and respiratory issues 150 years ago, less than 10 percent remain today few dead trees got... 10 feet, and ultimately, too costly, not to save your preferences for cookie settings significant on. High concentration of salts in Riverside and Imperial counties have an outflow, the Sea., salaries, and ultimately, too costly, not to save browsing... To be only a short-term solution large-scale builds, the Salton Sea will not be easy, or cheap created! 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