From the CRS 'dynamic duo' Pervaze A. Sheikh and Charles V. Stern comes another significant restoration project (updated 28 July 2021):'Salton Sea Restoration'.
Another CRS report that packs a lot of information.
Check out this item (thanks to Doug Beeman) in Western Water by Gary Pitzer from the Water Education Foundation: Long Troubled Salton Sea May Finally Be Getting What it Most Needs: Action -- And Money. What timing!
Click on graphics to enlarge them. The very last table is a 2+ page chronology. Take a look at it.
Download CRS_Report_Salton_Sea_Restoration_28July2021
Salton Sea Resrtoration - Overview
The Salton Sea—a lake located in Southern California—is the largest inland water body in the state. The sea has few natural inlets of water, has no natural outlets, and is largely sustained by agricultural runoff from farmlands in the Imperial and Coachella Valleys. In recent decades, agricultural runoff to the Salton Sea has diminished due to decreasing agricultural inflows, evaporation, and reduced precipitation, causing the sea to shrink and increase in salinity. High salinity levels, combined with greater concentrations of nutrients and toxins, have altered the sea’s ecosystem and surrounding habitat, making it difficult for most fish and bird species to survive. The Salton Sea’s diminishing size also has exposed lake bed (i.e., playa) around the sea’s shoreline; this playa contains toxic substances that may circulate in the air and impair local and regional air quality.
Over time, federal, state, and private entities have developed proposals to manage and restore parts of the Salton Sea. These efforts have common objectives, including controlling salinity, maintaining some of the sea’s habitat, and stabilizing sea water levels. The current and most prominent restoration initiative, the Salton Sea Management Program (SSMP), was released by the State of California in 2017. The SSMP’s first phase is being implemented from 2018 to 2028. The initiative includes activities to convey water to the Salton Sea, reduce salinity in the sea, and restore approximately 30,000 acres of exposed playa. Phase 1 is estimated to cost $420 million. Some federal agencies, such as the Bureau of Reclamation (part of the Department of the Interior), are collaborating with the State of California to implement the SSMP.
The federal role in restoring the Salton Sea is limited to a handful of projects that address issues on lands in and around the sea managed by federal agencies such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Reclamation, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Department of Defense. Unlike in areas such as Lake Tahoe, the Everglades, and the Chesapeake Bay, Congress has not authorized a comprehensive program to restore the Salton Sea.
The scope and content of plans to restore the Salton Sea have generated debate, and legislation to provide additional federal support for restoration has been introduced in the 117th Congress. Many stakeholders support restoring the Salton Sea because of the sea’s ecological significance as a large wetland along the Pacific Flyway, its role in providing habitat for fish and wildlife, and its economic importance to the region. Some also argue that restoration might mitigate the effects of increasing playa exposure, which is linked to regional airborne pollution. Some observers contend the sea should not be restored; they argue that the area’s geological history demonstrates a pattern of water bodies naturally shrinking, disappearing, and reforming over time and assert that the Salton Sea is following a similar process. Congress may consider issues related to restoring the Salton Sea, including the nature and extent of federal involvement in restoration; how (or if) the federal government should collaborate with the State of California in restoration efforts under the SSMP; and what (if any) federal responsibilities exist for mitigation of airborne toxins that occur due to exposed playa on federal lands.
Introduction
The Salton Sea—an inland lake in Southern California near the U.S.-Mexican border—is the state of California’s largest lake (Figure 1). The Salton Sea has higher salinity levels than the ocean and provides habitat for many species of plants and animals, including several endangered species. The Salton Sea’s ecosystem has deteriorated steadily over time, due largely to declining water levels caused by evaporation, reduced precipitation, and decreased water inflows from agricultural irrigation. Lower water levels have caused the sea to shrink, resulting in an increase in its salinity and the exposure of lake bed (playa).1 High salinity levels, combined with toxic substances in soils and runoff, have led to disease and widespread mortality of fish and birds, as well as to concerns about the effect of exposed playa on air quality.
Conclusion
In the future, Congress may be asked by various stakeholders to make additional commitments to Salton Sea restoration, potentially in the form of additional appropriations to one or more federal agencies to supplement or match state expenditures on the SSMP or specific directives related to federal restoration efforts. Some prior commitments, such as those in DOI’s 2016 MOU with the State of California, may not be fully realized without additional funding and authorities from Congress. However, the extent to which this is the case remains unclear.
Congress may be interested in answers to several questions related to Salton Sea restoration and the effects of Salton Sea ecosystem degradation on environmental contaminants and human health. These questions may include the following:
What are the effects of exposed playa on air quality and, consequently, on human health in the region? What is the federal responsibility for mitigating these effects?
How do decisions related to water management in the Colorado River Basin affect the health of the Salton Sea ecosystem?
What is the preferred federal role in implementing the SSMP? Does the project require additional funding, authorities, or other congressional direction?
What are the cost, content, and duration of long-term restoration plans currently under way in the SSMP? How will these plans restore the Salton Sea ecosystem, mitigate the effects of exposed playa, and conserve species?
Enjoy!
“Competence, like truth, beauty, and contact lenses, is in the eye of the beholder.” - Laurence J. Peter
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