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Editor's Note
Western Wafer]oolcsS
Ticking Time Bombs
of the dllemrna Ian The drought gripping California, the state's first-ever
t law regulating groundwater and the water bonds
_ �r � tf�e shr�rrkrrrg � N g g g
power to fund new storage have certainly taken center
t �h
Salt6n'S6a �
cwt l stage over the past year while the environmental woes
k^s
of the Delta and the Salton Sea have lingered in the
iwY� s� tie F N} background.
ii But the governor pushed the Delta back into the forefront recently when he
F wr E told critics of his controversial proposal to build twin tunnels to divert water south
of the Delta to"shut up" if they had not read the thousands of pages contained in
the plan documents.Then he reiterated the need to build the tunnels again to a
� g
a * group of business owners. He told them that all that stands between the salt water
of San Francisco Bay and the fresh water running through the Sacramento-San
EW
Joaquin Delta to the 25 million people and farms to the south are an aging network
of levees and berms that are going to crash at some point because of rising sea
ac's t.
waters cause by climate change or an earthquake.
While it's unknown exactly when those rising sea waters will cause a major
�ez 'rte
Delta collapse,there is a more precise ticking time bomb at the Salton Sea in the
state's southeastern corner.At the end of 2017, Imperial Irrigation District(11D)
Y . will stop sending"mitigation"flows into the sea to help sustain it.The District
t called on the state to live up to its promise to help restore the ailing inland lake,
at the heart of a major water transfer between IID and San Diego that brought
California into compliance with its legal take—4.4 million acre feet—from the
Colorado River. Some say the impact from the sea's demise could be more costly
than a restoration.The sea provides key breeding grounds and rest areas for birds
' on the Pacific Flyway and, as it shrinks,will pose a major air quality issue for
j' surrounding residents as winds whip up the exposed seabed.You can read more
about the challenging issues with the sea in this issue of Western Water.
In the meantime,we will be visiting thelabyrinth of levees, channels and
Fx.. g
islands that make up the Delta during our annual Bay-Delta Tour on June 24.26,
when the twin tunnels or"pipelines"as some are now referring to them, are sure
to be discussed as we venture into the heart of California's water hub.We'll also
{ be seeing infrastructure vital to managing water through the Delta, and speaking
to the experts who operate the projects. Key stakeholders representing a broad
diversity of specialties, including farming, ecology,history and land management,
will be on hand to give us their take on the issues.
I hope some of our readers will join us for the adventure!. ❖
t.
—Jennifer$owies
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on ouncation's eciting programs anc newublxcatioris
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} turn to page414,or vast our website, www watereducaCiot,.or
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WESTERN WATER
X.
In the News
Brown Administration Unveils Revised Delta Conveyance/
Restoration Plan s Delta&Floodplain Ecology Institute
The Brown Administration is pursuing a rebranded version of its Delta convey- $rianBrowti CalifoizitaProleetT
ante/restoration plan that aims to help beleaguered fisheries and boost water Coordtriator
delivery reliability within the context of climate change uncertainty. wcl{ton ,
Once known as the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, the idea is now moving
forward as two projects—the"California Water Fix"and"California Eco Restore
a
The California Water Fix features two tunnels 150 feet underground that will
L Forestry Ti�stttiiteorearslslI[LaS-> 'a5
convey an average annual yield of 4.9 million acre-feet of water to the south Delta $rianaBrbwn,CaXifofniara3eetE�
pumps.The California Eco Restore,designed to be more affordable and easier to , k
'F`
permit, creates about 30,000 acres of varying habitat types in the Delta at a cost of
7 MQaclow Dalley �A
$300 million. sr �s
k-
The work is required because of the federal biological opinions for endangered
fish species that restrict pumping at the federal Central Valley Project(CVP) andf` 4sy
'r
State Water Project (SWP). Exports from the Delta via these two major proj- Fore � ru� orl�era�- ALumn r,
ects provide water to farms and cities in the San Joaquin Valley,Bay Area and B i ro ifotiiToje x`
Southern California.Environmental restoration of habitat key to certain fish and
birds, including protected species, is also
required to mitigate for the construction 2M,
impacts of the tunnels. M
In a May 28 speech to a businessU lug
d t �`�� 4 •' `
group in Sacramento Gov.Jerry Brown ''
said the plan to re-route water under
y•�
the Delta is necessary because the levees
z
guarding the fresh water are vulnerable to
an earthquake.
"It would be a bad day," if there were
multiple levee failures Brown said,noting
the resulting economic loss to the state }
would be"hundreds of billions of dollars."
SWP and CVP contractors, who will
bear the brunt of the$25 billion cost for
the tunnels (including mitigation), are
evaluating the revised proposal. u
"We will thoroughly review with our
board this new proposal to advance the modernization of the Delta water system
and restoration of the ecosystem on separate,but coordinated tracks,"Metropolitan .'.
Water District of Southern California General Manager Jeffrey Kightlinger said in
in a statement. "Metropolitan has long stood ready to invest in a Delta solution
that works for both the environment and California economy.Any successful final
plan must do both."
Delta expert Jay Lund with UC Davis told the Sacramento Bee said that the
streamlined habitat plan is"is nicely sort of fast tracked and organized ...focused
on a more achievable habitat [and] fairly achievable within a 5-year period."
Critics of the governor's plan are dismayed that funds from the 2014 water
bond will be used to mitigate the effects of the tunnels construction.
"Though a key promise made to pass the [bond] was that it would not fund the
BDCP, the administration has now indicated it does intend to take Prop. 1 funds
for restoration to attempt to address the damage from over pumping the Delta,
which the tunnels would compound,"Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla,executive director
of Restore the Delta, said at a May 1 press conference.
—Gary Pitzer
MAY/JUNE 2015
at
the
$00
y
by Gary Pitzer
he clock is ticking for the The sea benefits from a regular water use and the resulting reduction
Salton Sea. flow of runoff from the nearby farms in return flows. By the end of 2017, the
The shallow,briny in- of the Imperial Valley and Coachella state-mandated obligation for IID to
land lake at the southeastern valleys and flows from the Alamo,New provide mitigation water to the sea will
edge of California is slowly and Whitewater rivers.Vast tracts of end.Without that water, the sea will
evaporating and becoming more saline irrigated land grow a wide assortment diminish faster,exposing more playa at
—threatening the habitat for fish and of forage crops,fruits and vegetables. a faster rate.
birds and worsening air quality as dust However, the amount of return "We will have somewhere between
from the dry lakebed is whipped by the flows from the Imperial Irrigation 60,000 to 70,000 acres of exposed
constant winds. District{IID}have been reduced playa by the end of 2047,"said Jessica
In his revised May budget pro- —partly due to the nation's largest Lovecchio, environmental specialist
posal,Gov.Jerry Brown noted that the agricultural-to-urban transfer that was with IID. Her task is to buffer the
Salton Sea"is one of the most impor- the linchpin of bringing California receding Salton Sea's impacts with
tant migratory bird flyways in North within its 4.4 million acre-feet per year strategically placed projects designed
America"and that the state "faces of the Colorado River. to foster habitat and minimize dust
significant air quality and natural The sea's shoreline has receded emissions.
resources threats with the shrinking of over the past several years as a result "It's all concept right now;we
the sea." of drought, more efficient agricultural are working on the actual design and
6.
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potential layout for these things but "How much of that we can tackle -
the basics of the project is that as the right away is yet to be seen but we
sea starts to recede, with all this ex- are trying to set up the framework
posed playa,to cover it with different for everything,with some decisions
types of habitat air quality mitigation landing before others,"Keali'i Bright,
and renewable energy projects,"she deputy secretary for legislation at the '
said. Natural Resources Agency told Western
The plight of the Salton Sea high- Water.
lights the state's inability to meet its According to the revised May
obligation to cover most of the costs of budget proposal, the task force will
restoration. In 2007, the state released come up with"achievable medium and
a$9 billion, 75-year restoration plan long term restoration plans," in coordi-
that featured a smaller sea and select nation with local stakeholders. -
habitat sites.The plan was never acted In a statement,Assemblyman
on by the Legislature and the subse- Eduardo Garcia, D-Coachella, com-
quent economic downturn shut the mended the governor's action but
door on it completely. lamented the lack of local representa-
Brown's revised budget proposal tion on the task force as well as what
notes that"prior comprehensive plans yet another committee could reason-
to restore the sea are no longer fea- ably achieve. '
sible due to cost and decreased water "Too many task forces and not
availability resulting from the drought" enough action,"Garcia said.
and that the best course is a"phased In February, Garcia asked the
strategy" involving the construction of Little Hoover Commission to investi-
more than 1,000 acres of habitat and gate the situation and report back.
dust abatement projects. "Though the issue has been
Yet the question remains as to what studied and debated for years, an
a scaled-down strategy would bring. examination by the Commission will
"Somebody's going to pay, it's just provide the unbiased and non-partisan
a question of who,"said the Pacific type of policy analysis that is very
Institute's Michael Cohen at a March much needed,"he wrote. "Once again,
hearing of the California State Water I strongly believe that all parties could
Resources Control Board (State Water benefit from a decision by the Com-
Board). mission to take a full and deliberative
Cohen authored 2014's Hazard's look at these and related issues."
Toll—The Costs of Inaction at the Salton The Commission agreed to"exam-
Sea,which challenged the assumption ine the viability of different options"
"that delaying action at the Salton Sea for the sea in a consultative process,
will result in business as usual, with no including an exploration of how the
additional costs." state can help to"resolve the gridlock
"This is clearly not the case. Be- and move toward a solution."
cause the Salton Sea has changed over In a May 20 editorial, "Another
the past decade and will soon enter a day, another Salton Sea task force,"
period of very rapid deterioration, the the Desert Suri in Palm Springs wrote
costs of inaction are escalating rapidly," that"there have been far too many
Cohen wrote. task forces and studies and piecemeal
The need to take action at the sea programs nibbling at the problem.And
has reached the highest levels,with the problem isn't going away."
a governor's task force of the Natural "Maybe expecting a bold new
Resources Agency,Department of announcement on a state fix for the
Water Resources (DWR), Department declining sea in a budget revise where
of Fish and Wildlife, the State Water state law mandates the bulk of the pro-
Board and the Air Resources Board jected surplus be spent on education
assigned to come up with possible and`rainy day'savings was unrealistic"
solutions. the editorial said. `But the governor
MAY/JUNE 2015
himself chose this vehicle to announce will threaten one of the state's most
his priorities for this environmental important environmental resources."
issue of great concern to our region." The document notes that IID
At the end of 2017 IID will stop "remains committed to the QSA as
sending mitigation water to the an essential component of statewide
Salton Sea as part of the 2003 water policy in California and along
Quantification Settlement Agree- the Colorado River, and does not seek
ment(QSA).The QSA is one of to undo the many years of painstak-
several agreements that have helped ing negotiations that were required to
California reduce its use of water from arrive at the delicate compromise the
the Colorado River from 5.2 million QSA parties struck."
acre-feet to its legal annual apportion- At the State Water Board hearing,
' ment of 4.4 million acre-feet. state Sen. Ben Hueso, D-San Diego,
One of the largest components of said"it's been a challenge bringing all
the QSA is a water transfer between the stakeholders together,"and "I feel
lID and San Diego County Water like the ball in a ping pong game going
Authority (SDCWA).The transfer from agency to agency and bouncing
requires a mitigation approach that back."
minimizes Salton Sea impacts by fart of the problem,Hueso said,
relying solely on fallowing for transfer is the lack of urgency regarding the
for the first decade of implementation sea's status.The sea"hasn't risen to the
during which 1 acre-foot of mitigation level"of the challenges presented by
water is required for every 2 acre-feet the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta or
of water transferred from fallowing. the drought.
As IID converts to greater water The sea's complexities do not lend
efficiency measures, the mitigation themselves to up front solutions.
requirement increases to 1 acre-foot of "It's certainly disappointing after
mitigation water for every I acre-foot all these years that there still is no plan
of transfer. IID last year petitioned the in place for a sustainable future,"said
State Water Board to"hold the state Thomas Howard,executive director of
... to its obligation"to restore the the State Water Board.
Salton Sea. Cohen lamented the"real discon-
"Given the mitigation water ends nect between the imminence of the
in 2017 111)felt the State Water Board catastrophe in 2018 and the somewhat
should step in and convene a facili- passive and reactive response that
tated process to agree upon a smaller we've heard from the state."
but sustainable restoration plan and With no state plan forthcom-
funding mechanism, and then condi- ing, officials do not want the QSA
tion the transfers moving forward on threatened by the lack of a Salton Sea
the appropriate implementation of that plan. "The sea is not shrinking due to
plan,"said Tina Shields, IID's manager QSA water transfers,"Dan Denham,
of Colorado River resources. "Other- Colorado River Program director
wise IID is concerned that in 2018, with SDCWA, told the State Water
when the mitigation flows cease, there Board. "There is a meaningful role for
won't be adequate mitigation measures the State Water Board but not from a
in place to effectively offset the air regulatory standpoint."
quality and environmental impacts and But Kim Delfino, California
thus put the continued QSA imple- program director with Defenders of
mentation at risk." Wildlife,said the State Water Board
IID's petition states that"the "has a unique role to play"because it
looming environmental and public- approved the QSA and has"ongoing
health crisis at the sea,unless checked, jurisdiction and responsibility over
will cause significant damage to the this matter."
residents and the economy of the The difficulty in saving the
Imperial and Coachella valleys and sea begs the question of whether
WESTERN WATER
preserving its heritage and protecting work,"but that the subsequent eco- State Water Board member Steven
its shores is even possible. nomic downturn made dollars"very Moore, an engineer, said the solution
"Back when we were doing the hard to find." for the Salton Sea needs to be designed
QSA the sense was if you didn't have The sea's role in the Pacific "with what nature does in a sink set-
the solution in place by 2015,the sea Flyway—the 5,000-mile route for ting."
would be dead,"said former assembly- migratory birds from the Arctic to "The idea of a static sea level is
man Richard Katz.He was the State South America—has earned it the a fantasy,"he said. "It is a dynamic
Water Board member who helped ne- designation of a bird area of global situation. From an engineer's perspec-
gotiate the deal. "Here we are in 2015. significance by the Audubon Society. tive,we don't want to have stranded
There's no solution in place, the sea More than 400 species of birds make assets."
is dying but it was dying in 2002 and regular use of the Salton Sea, includ- Nearly$500 million is available
2003. Sometimes you wonder whether ing the Yuma ridgeway rail,California in the$7.5 billion 2014 water bond
we really know what's going on at the brown pelican,Western snowy plover, for restoration projects,of which the
sea or not." black-necked stilt,Western.sandpiper Salton Sea will receive a portion. Still,
Katz said the sea's woes do not and American avocet. it's a far cry from the billions needed
imperil the QSA. Absent a grand, sweeping res- for full-scale restoration.
"The QSA wasn't about the sea toration of the Salton Sea—a virtu- "The Salton Sea will see funding
to begin with,"he said. "It was about ally impossible proposition—IID and from the bond but it's important to
water usage and Southern California others believe measures can be taken temper our expectations,"Bright told
taking more off the Colorado than to keep a different version of the sea the State Water Board. "The money
they had a right to and it had to do alive. there should be seen as a catalyst."
with Imperial giving up some of what "Even at one-third smaller, it The Resources Agency is pursuing
they'd been taking.The sea wasn't the still would be the largest lake in a three-phase strategy for the sea to
driver for the QSA. It solved a number California,"said Kevin Kelley, general address the needs of fish, birds and air
of problems but it wasn't about the manager of IID. He compared the task quality. Progress is slower than they'd
Salton Sea." of solving the sea's problems to the like.
Katz said the$9 billion restora- decades-long effort to rid Los Angeles "It's a challenge to mobilize proj-
tion plan was"a reasonable attempt to of smog, which resulted in"appreciably ects that are roughly the size of Golden
come up with something that would better"air quality. Gate Park [1,017 acres],"Bright said.
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Then there is the problem of what "Renewable energy should be an
to do about the Salton Sea for the integral part of our thinking as we
long-term. approach Salton Sea restoration,"
"While we have a lot of projects California Energy Commissioner Karen
that are shovel-ready,what we don't Douglas told the State Water Board.
k . have is a comprehensive vision ... of According to I11), there are an
how a restoration plan will co-exist estimated 2,000 MW for projects
with all the other needs,"Bright said. located on I11),federal and privately
More than 3,000 acres of habitat owned land,with the"economic and
e ' ponds near where the Alamo and achievable resource potential"on I1D
New rivers empty into the sea are and federally-owned land an estimated
planned for the benefit of fish and at 1,675 MW.
birds.Kent Nelson, manager of DWR's While most of the potential power
Salton Sea Program, told the State is geothermal,solar energy projects
Water Board that the plan is to mix could be sited on 5,000 to 10,000 acres
the relatively fresh water from the of IID land.Those potential projects
New River with the more saline Salton would have to account for building in
Sea water and distribute it into the the sea bed and dust.
habitat ponds.
"What we are hoping to do is to A Problem a Century in
learn whether these retention basins the Making
can be constructed with material from Created 100 years ago when the
the bed of the sea,"Nelson said. He Colorado River raged into the empty
cautioned that"it may turn out there Salton Sink, the site of an ancient lake
are things about this that we abandon" that filled and evaporated over thou-
because of expense or sustainability. sands of years as the Colorado River
Moore expressed concern about switched back and forth between the
installing pump stations,which can be Salton Sink and the Gulf of Califor-
a"maintenance headache" and because nia. The sea is a terminal lake with
of the greenhouse gas emissions associ- no natural outlets so sales are concen-
ated with powering them. trated as the water evaporates.
It's possible that royalties gener- In the 1920s IID began construct-
ated from further renewable energy ing drainage ditches to help leach the
production in the desert could he used salts from the soil.Eventually 1,400
for sea mitigation efforts:Brown has miles of drainage ditches were con-
called for 50 percent of the energy structed which allowed more runoff
generated in California to come from to flow into the Salton Sea. Its level
renewable sources by 2030. increased until 1995 and then began
The south end of the sea is a hot to recede as cropping patterns changed
bed of geothermal energy,which has and farmers began implementing more
been tapped for decades. There are conservation practices.
about 375 megawatts (MW) of exist- Today there are 475,000 acres of
ing production and experts believe farmable land in the Imperial Valley
the area can support as much as 2,000 with the chief products being cattle,
MW of baseload generation capacity grass and vegetables such as broccoli,
from 2016 to 2046. One MW sup- cabbage, lettuce,carrots and cauli-
plies enough power for as many as 750 flower.
homes. More than 1 million acre-feet
The year-round sun has attracted of water annually flows to the sea
solar energy investment,which, com- from multiple sources—the New,
bined with geothermal, is being eyed Whitewater and Alamo rivers, dedi-
as replacement wattage for Southern cated mitigation flows,field runoff and
California after the 2013 closure of the greater watershed.
the San Onofre Nuclear Generating A receding Salton Sea will expose
Station. more than 50,000 acres of lakebed
WESTERN WATER
made up of silt and fine-grain soil parti-
cles that contain farm-field sediments.
The dust is a public health threat be-
cause it consists of small particles that "
lodge deep in the lungs—triggering
asthma attacks,causing or aggravating t..r.,
bronchitis and reducing the body's im-
mune system.
Imperial County has some of the
highest asthma hospitalization rates in
the state and has exceeded air quality r
standards for ozone,particulate matter
and carbon monoxide. $ .
"It is my belief that the health of n s
the Salton Sea is going to be directly
correlated with the health of the resi-
dents of my county,"Imperial County
Health Officer Dr. Stephen Munda y
told the State Water Board. "There '
is no doubt our asthma rates will
worsen."
Even before the QSA the fixture
of the Salton Sea was a much studied h
and discussed issue. More studies were
conducted after the QSA was signed, One project in place since 2011
but, according to Katz, the exercise was has successfully proved that a surfac-
used"to kick the can down the road tant-type product on the playa will
with everybody hoping there'd be some hold the crust stable and effectively
miracle solution that would solve every halt dust generation,Lovecchio said.
problem without everybody having to Another imminent plan is to
do much." blend Salton Sea water with the
While the air quality concern Alamo River inflow and create a refuge
"wasn't a big focus" in 2003,he be- with the desired salinity for birds.
lieves the city of hos Angeles' experi- "What we want is minimum
ence at the Owens Valley may serve as amount of vegetation but high us-
a lesson for why to avoid worsening air age from birds,"Lovecchio said. "The
quality in the Imperial and Coachella mixing of those two water sources will
valleys. create the perfect water quality for
In 2014 Los Angeles and the Great them."
Basin Unified Air Pollution Control IID is working-with the state on
District ended years of conflict with the 3,770-acre Species Conservation
an agreement that requires the city to Habitat Project,with construction of
control dust on about 50 square miles the first 640-acre phase expected to
of dry lakebed in the Owens Valley. begin in the fall.The project includes
IlD's Salton Sea Restoration and pockets of varying habitat types from
Renewable Energy Initiative seeks which birds such as pelicans and
to create habitat around the sea with double-crested cormorants can feed,
funding from potential renewable nest and roost.
energy development. According to "Some of it would be shallow for
IID, there are more than 100,000 wading birds and shore birds, some of
acres of known geothermal resources. it would be deeper for fish, some of it
IID owns 3 1,1 I0 of those acres and it would be channels for desert pupfish,"
is estimated that 15,000 acres could Lovecchio said. "All of that water—
produce 2000 MW of Geothermal drain water,Alamo River water,
production. New River water,would go through
MAY/JUNE 201.5
these different habitats into the Salton Diego,"he said."They are thirsty and
Sea." we've got all the water."
Perspectives about the Salton Sea Kalin fallows a portion of his land
are directly relevant to the proximity as part of the QSA but believes the
to it. For Imperial Valley farmers such money paid to farmers would be better
as Al Kalin, 66, the sea is a constant spent on water conservation measures
backdrop to their livelihoods—a place such as drip irrigation.. Onions grown
of childhood memories that now for processing with furrow irrigation
requires a regular contribution of their once required a"tremendous amount"
irrigation water to maintain some sem- of water,he said. Drip systems accom-
blance of continuity. plish the task with"just a fraction"of
"The sea—I know it inside and that amount.
out. It's always changing. It never gets Kalin is dubious about the benefi-
back to the way it was. You can't say cial effect of the water deliveries to the
we will restore it to a certain place in Salton Sea, citing the drastic reduction
time." in shoreline seen in 2014. He blames
Kalin, who farms 1,800 acres of the drought as well as the constantly
onions and other crops, did not support changing nature of the sea.
the QSA but understands the reality of "A lot of things add up,"he said.
water,money and power.On a recent He is concerned about how the
visit,he showed a visitor the basics of worsening air quality will impact crops
farming in the Imperial Valley—the that make up a$1 billion agricultural
move toward a more precise applica- industry in Imperial County. "What
tion of water to yield more crop per will [it] do to melon leaves and things
drop and the need to put water on the like spinach?"he said. "In Oxnard they
land to push the salt downward into don't grow spinach anymore because
the tile drainage system. the smog affects the leaves. I am also
Kalin said water used for farming very concerned about the health af-
will always be an attractive target for fects the increased dust will produce."
urban areas.
"There are 19 million people over An Accident in the Making?
there with 32 congressmen represent- The Salton Sea has always defied
ing them compared to Imperial Valley ready-made solutions because of its in-
sharing one congressman with San herent complexity. It seems improbable
yet its water resides in a sink that once
1 i§{ regularly filled with the ebb and flow of
+' �, a ' ' �< -- + , it rk {.,, f�� the Colorado River.
V v, RJ 'uV
uF, F4 Katz believes the magnitude and
importance of the QSA ensures its
permanence.
.. r "There was discussion during QSA
[negotiations]about what happens
'• after 35 years,"he said. "I'm sorry,but
after 35 years of San Diego getting
water and IID getting money does
anybody seriously think this would get
unwound?"
Whether the state finds a workable
solution for the sea remains to be seen
but its ownership of the problem is not
disputed.
"You can't talk about the sea with-
out talking about the state's responsi-
bility," said Jennifer Gimbel, deputy
assistant secretary for water and science
WESTERN WATER
:y
t
with the Department of the Interior. but now that it's here it would be a
"When the QSA came online we saw worse mistake to let it disappear."
that flows to the sea declined because That process means determining
of the fallowing—we knew that was how to maintain a smaller Sea and
going to happen.We were hoping that understanding what the Pacific Flyway
a 15-year buffer period would give the was when the sea didn't exist and how
state enough time to figure out how to it would be impacted without the Sea.
deal with these various issues." "I think it's been a huge accom-
Gimbel noted that"restoration plishment that people over the last
is not recreation"and that the sea of year have realized that we can't go
the future will be smaller. "Reclama- back to the sea as it once was,"Gimbel
tion and [U.S. Geological Survey] are said. "We have to look at how we `
thinking about ways to make it sustain- maintain a smaller Sea that's sustain- ,
able." able."
Katz believes"the state still has a For his part, Kalin believes the
role going back to the role it accepted sea's value as bird habitat"is overrated
as part of the QSA but having said in my opinion."
that,part of the key is to define what "It's the Coachella Valley to the
problem we are solving. Mexicali Valley that supports the 400 `
"If we are trying to restore the sea species,"he said. "The majority of the
to the 1950s when people came out birds that feed at the Salton Sea now
here to beat asthma,that's not going were not here when I was a kid.They t
to happen,"he said. "If we are trying came here because of the tilapia that
to solve the economic development was stocked in the canals to combat
problem in the Coachella Valley, the hydrilla, an aquatic weed that plugs the
Imperial,Valley, it's not going to hap- water channels.They washed into the
pen as part of a solution for the sea; but sea where they remain today."
if people keep insisting that it does, it Noting that"the whole migra-
makes it significantly harder to get a tion of the Pacific Flyway has been
solution for the Sea." interrupted by asphalt up and down our
Instead,Katz advocates possible state,"Kalin said that while the Salton
solutions that have multiple benefits, Sea"helps bridge that gap from one
such as maintaining the sea as a stop stop to another as the birds migrate
on the Pacific Flyway and addressing but not many feed in the Sea itself.
the dust situation. Most find food,water, and habitat in
"The air pollution and air quality the thousands of irrigated farm acres at
concern is probably what drives the both ends of the Salton Sea."
next part of this and as long as people It is not disputed that something
stay focused on an air quality solution has to be done to prevent dust storms
and a Flyway solution, I think it's easier of unprecedented magnitude. "The
to come to a conclusion,"he said. honest fact is the air quality threats
Los Angeles'experience with to the region are dire,"Bright said.
Owens Lake may be a useful primer "Restoration projects are compli-
for dealing with the dust issue.The cated and expensive and we are going
city"learned the hard way about the to be faced bluntly with a series of
economic and environmental cost of choices about how to allocate limited
allowing a large body of water to dry resources."
up; and the Salton Sea, as the largest In written testimony to the
lake in the state ... is three times as Little Hoover Commission, Barry
large and would leave behind a far Wallerstein, executive officer of the
more toxic mix of dust to ruin Impe- South Coast Air Quality Management
rial Valley crops and sicken the people District,noted that while"it may
of Southern California,"a March 15 not be immediately feasible to fully
Los Angeles Times editorial said. "The replenish the Sea,"officials must act
Salton Sea may have been an accident, to prevent the"looming public health
MAY/JUNE 2015
crisis"caused by increased emissions of opportunity here; it's not all doom and wind."He acknowledged that"there
particulate matter. gloom."The key,he said, is a compre- always will be a place for fallowing but
Imperial County Air Pollution hensive, multi-layer plan that includes it need not be the exclusive means for
Control Officer Brad Poiriez, in his things such as air quality mitigation generating water."
written testimony to the Little Hoover and renewable energy production. Moore with the State Water Board
Commission,noted that several"fea- "We have to attack this problem, acknowledged the inherent slowness
sible measures"exist to reduce dust, quickly,right now,"he said. "It's a very of the bureaucracy in addressing the
including shallow flooding,planting convenient narrative—the failure of Salton Sea.
low water-use vegetation,and applying the state and demise of the sea." "We have to manage expectations
a layer of gravel to the exposed playa. Blaming the state for the sea's of what the State Water Board can
"A longer-term holistic restora- condition is"too easy a response,"Katz do,"he said. "There is an expectation
tion plan can be developed while these said. of rapid response yet the pace of the
near-future projects are implemented "Everybody's looking for a solution Natural Resources Agency and the
in order to protect public health,"he that means somebody else has to do Salton Sea Authority doesn't match
wrote. something different and they don't," that."
Funding Salton Sea activities has he said. "I think you could look at the Because of the dire circumstances
been characterized by limited resources local politics as well as the state.There facing the sea in 2018 and the pres-
arriving at"unsteady intervals,"mak- are more than enough folks to blame." sure to re-visit the QSA, Cohen said
ing planning difficult, Bright told the Dust mitigation can perhaps be it would be"much easier to get out in
State Water Board. For the Salton Sea, handled through a plan similar to what front"of the problem.
there has to be a realistic expectation the city of Los Angeles undertook at "This should be a priority but
of what state and local agencies can Owen Lake.There, crews have created we've not heard from the state that
reasonably accomplish. furrows in the lake bed and what the this is a priority,"he said. "The scale of
"The$9 billion plan stands in our Los Angeles Times described as"basket- the Salton Sea is so immense that we
way ... because it's an unrealistic goal ball-sized clods of dirt"to prevent dust essentially needed to start projects 10
for the circumstances we face today," clouds from forming. years ago."
Bright said. "How do you replace that Kelley, with IID,believes that a Howard with the State Water
with something's that feasible?" smaller restoration plan can be done Board believes the problems of the sea
Despite the magnitude of the and that"mitigation exclusive of demand a practical approach from the
problem, Bright said"there is a lot of restoration is simply chasing after the ground up.
� -� ,2Z'.� E 1 ^, `fin. � (�a-r r i�•�yc�'"-.a�.,;, <:,,,z ^�i z� �' �p� _ � i r?'��t°Sit � '� �, ale'''.
;r'YE.�. _
Rliu4`,�,
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i
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"The problem's been studied to
death,"he said. "It's a problem that's
amenable to very complicated and
expensive solutions and the ques-
tion is, is there a less complicated and r 'h
less expensive set of alternatives that
people can agree to?We have very b
broad authorities that can be brought
to bear[but] I think a more collabora-
tive approach ... would be a better way
to move forward."
Funds from renewable energy
generation royalties appear promising,
though Douglas with the California `
Energy Commission said the revenue is
but a part of the larger framework. '
"I don't think we can realistically a _"
expect that some significant portion of
Salton Sea restoration gets funded by
i,
RSI.4
this kind of activity,"she said. "I don't -
think we are looking at that level of
dollars."
Part of the federal government's
involvement with the sea is through
land ownership, and research and
monitoring by agencies such as the ;
Bureau of Land Management, Bureau
of Reclamation, the Fish and Wildlife
Service and Bureau of Indian Affairs.
"We see our role as being partners There are a lot of adults at the table
in sustaining the sea,"Gimbel said. and they should be able to resolve it."
While new federal dollars are Those living at the sea say the
probably not forthcoming, Gimbel time is long past for people to take ac-
said"we stand ready to try to leverage tion to avert a crisis.
whatever funds we have through the "Hopefully the governor's new task
different agencies to make a bigger force will do as advertised and expedite
bang for our buck." actual work on broad projects to do
Tanya Trujillo,executive director as much as possible to help the sea,
of the Colorado River Water Board of despite the seemingly defeatist lan-
California, said an"umbrella process" guage in his message,"the Desert Sun
would be helpful to"pull together editorial says. "On its face,however,
all the activities that state and local this proclamation from Sacramento
parties are doing and then package seems like just the latest in a long line
that together and see where there are from those who've failed to step up and
synchronicities and make sure there's do as they promised long ago under
nothing counterproductive going on." the landmark water deal,which is to
Katz believes the problems of the restore the sea."
sea do not require the governor's direct The Salton Sea—always some-
intervention yet. what forlorn but nevertheless vitally
"The governor clearly has his important—is on the cusp of shed-
hands full with the drought and the ding its anonymity not by choice but
budget, and I think he's doing an amaz- by circumstance. How state and local
ing job keeping it all on track right officials respond to the challenge
now,"he said. "Hopefully the agen- presented to them will go far towards
cies will be able to do it on their own. determining its fate. •:'
MAY'JUYIE 2015
What's New
.loin Us on the Bay-Delta Tour
Join the June 24-i6 Bay-Delta Tour for a rare opportunity to visit the heart of
California's water supply, see infrastructure vital to managing water in the state
and speak to the experts who operate the projects.You will also learn from key
' stakeholders representing a broad diversity of specialties including farming,ecology,
�y
history and land management.
Today's most important and controversial water topics will be covered, includ-
ing the unprecedented drought, the proposed twin tunnels, ecological restoration
=and flood control.
The tour is cosponsored by the Bureau of Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Region
and the California Department of Water Resources.Additional tour sponsors are
r.
CH2M HILL,ESA,GEI Consultants, HDR and CV Strategies.
rs
Call the Water Education Foundation,916-444.6240, to register.Only a few
seats are still available?
Make Plans for the Foundation's Fall Tours
Fall is the traditional time to get back into the classroom so why not make plans
now to join one of the Water Education Foundation's tours traveling seminars
that give you the opportunity to see important water regions and sites firsthand and
® hear directly from various stakeholders.
First on the calendar is the new Groundwater Tour, Sept. 24-25.This two-
day,one-night tour will start and end at Sacramento International Airport.Experts
will address the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act—its governance
options and implementation. Other topics to be discussed include groundwater
quality,overdraft and subsidence wells and groundwater use.
Next up is the new Southern California Tour, Oct. 8.9.This two-day, one-
night tour will take participants through the Inland Empire region of Southern
California to discuss groundwater management, water recycling,the drought and
other efforts to adopt wise-use water practices. Tentative stops include Lake Perris
rt ry � j and Diamond Valley Lake.The tour will begin and end at Ontario International
Airport.
The Sacramento Valley is the focus of the annual Northern California Tour,
Oct. 2I-z3.Drought and reservoir storage will be big topics of discussion this year
as the three-day, two-night tour travels to both Oroville and Shasta dams to discuss
State Water Project and Central Valley Project issues,respectively.Other planned
stops include the Feather River Fish Hatchery,Sacramento National Wildlife
Refuge and local farms. Issues on the itinerary: groundwater use and management,
agricultural water use,flood management and water conservation.Another high-
light: a houseboat cruise on Shasta Reservoir.The tour begins and ends at Sacra-
mento International Airport.
The last tour of the year will be the San Joaquin River Restoration Tour,
Nov 5-6.This two-day, one-night tour explores the challenges associated with
�., restoring flows and a Chinook salmon fishery to the San Joaquin River from below
Friant Dam to the confluence with the Merced River.This tour begins and ends in
Fresno.
Don't wait too long to register.Take advantage of early bird tour pricing and
make sure you save yourself a seat—all of these rolling seminars are one-bus tours
so seating is limited. Register at www.watereducation.org/general-tours.Or contact
Tour Director Dan Scott,dscott@watereducation.or ,or 916-444-6240,for more
information—including how to become a tour sponsor.
14 WES'T'ERN WATER
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