SSA discusses uncertainty for the sea
With the end of the mitigation water to the Salton Sea looming close on the horizon, the Salton Sea Authority talked about the future options of the sea and introduced a potential new partner during a meeting Thursday morning in El Centro.
One of the biggest concerns the SSA discussed was in regard to the state’s 10-year plan released in March which calls for dust suppression projects to cover 30,000 acres of exposed playa in the next decade, the price tag for the plans is $383 million, but to date only $80 million has been allocated to it.
“I can appreciate that a plan has been put together however that plan, in my opinion, is not comprehensive,” said Riverside County Supervisor and former Assemblyman Manuel Perez.
He added that in his opinion the plan was missing a strong concentration of efforts in the Riverside County portion of the Salton Sea. Another topic that was discussed was Senate Bill 701, also called The Salton Sea Obligations Act of 2018 authored by Sen. Ben Hueso and co-sponsored by Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia.
The bill, which recently passed in the state Senate and is on its way to the assembly floor, would ask voters to approve a $500 million state general obligation bond to fund the California Natural Resources Agency 10-year plan which was unveiled in March. Should the Salton Sea Obligations Act of 2018 pass, the measure would be put on the November 2018 ballot.
Jim Hanks, a member of the Imperial Irrigation District Board of Directors said he was concern about the lack of alternatives if the measure fails, since it may have to compete with other large projects voters will have to make a decision on.
“What happens if the bond doesn’t pass? Where do we go from there?” he said.
Coachella Valley Water District Director Castulo Estrada told the rest of the SSA board that he had discussions with Garcia about the possibility of using Joint Powers Authority funds, set aside for restoration efforts, for mitigation.
The Quantification Settlement Agreement Joint Powers Authority was established as the funding mechanism to mitigate environmental impacts associated with the water transfers.
The changes open the possibility for the IID, the Coachella Valley Water District and the San Diego County Water Authority to use funds they have set aside for restoration to be used in the mitigation efforts. Tapping into the JPA funds could be the next path to move forward if the Salton Sea Obligations measure is not approved by California voters.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, David Anthony Rangel — a representative of Water Train — informed the board of a service it can provide as the state scrambles to find solutions to cope with the declining shoreline of the Salton Sea.
Rangel said the company has the ability to deliver up to 200,000 acre-feet of fresh water to the Salton Sea and recently informed the California Natural Resources Agency and IID of its capabilities.
“We can deliver to the Salton Sea today, not 10 years from now, not 15 years away ... today,” Rangel said. “We have it available. We have advised the state department of natural resources of that fact.”
For many years importing water from the Sea of Cortez has been a proposal to help with the restoration of the Salton Sea, however, due to time, logistics and possible costs it hasn’t become a reality. Rangel said they can be able to fill in the gap to deliver much-needed water to the Salton Sea which will stop receiving mitigation water from the IID at the end of the year.
“There is an option, something is available as an answer, is not the perfect answer or perfect solution but it’s something to get us to a permanent solution,” Rangel said. “We’re here, we’re ready to roll and ready to help.”