Mapping out the possibilities
EIFD Salton Sea draft map submitted for review
EL CENTRO — The next phase in exploring the possibility of creating an enhanced infrastructure finance district to fund improvements to the Salton Sea has begun.
Proposed improvements include a $1.7 billion to $1.8 billion plan calling for substantial infrastructure to be built in incremental phases.
During its regular meeting on Tuesday, the Imperial County Board of Supervisors voted 4 to 0 — Chairman Ray Castillo, District 5, was absent — to approve a draft map that marks out five districts surrounding the Salton Sea that are being considered for inclusion in the proposed taxing district.
The map will now be sent to the Southern California Association of Governments, which has a pilot program to assist local agencies considering an EIFD, for review.
The exploratory process currently underway will determine “what type of revenue might be generated in that area and then what type of revenue would be available … to pay for [infrastructure improvements] within that area,” Andy Horne, Imperial County deputy CEO, said during the meeting. The finding would be brought back to the board for further direction.
Although created to generate revenues, the proposed taxing district would not create a new tax, but would instead be drafted in such a way as to collect on any difference from increased property values.
In a nutshell, the total of increased property taxes due to an assessment by the county assessor’s office — or when a home was sold — minus the total of the immediately previous property valuation, would be earmarked for the EIFD. Similar revenue increases from properties lying outside the EIFD would instead be absorbed straight into the county’s general fund.
“The taxes will be exactly the same, and what they would be if the EIFD was not in place,” Horne said. “The difference is that some of that tax revenue could be put aside into the EIFD.”
The draft map was created by an ad-hoc committee formed by the Board of Supervisors earlier this month to investigate the possibilities for creating the EIFD. The committee has met with county staff several times since then to discuss the concept. County staff also met with members of the Southern California Association of Governments for consultation.
The draft map includes the towns of Calipatria and Westmorland, which will need to decide whether to participate in the taxing districts.
“Calipatria and Westmorland have no obligation to participate,” Ryan E. Kelley, District 4 supervisor, said during the meeting.
Memorandum of understanding
The first step in the process to form an EIFD was completed on July 2, with the signing of a historic memorandum of understanding for cooperative planning at the Salton Sea by Imperial and Riverside counties. That set the groundwork for intergovernmental collaboration in obtaining a common goal.
Officials from both counties have said they hope that their combined clout will be an impetus for action at the state level. Each county would operate in tandem with, but independently from, one another, with full control of any income generated from property taxes on their respective turfs.
Perimeter lake
The crown jewel of the plan to restore the Salton Sea is the concept of a perimeter lake – a 60-plus-mile-long channel that would allow boaters to traverse the majority of the Salton Sea from the New River tributary clockwise to Bombay Beach and back again.
The channel would be as deep as 25 feet in some locations and range in width from about 500 feet to more than 2 miles, according to the Salton Sea Funding and Feasibility Action Plan.
The new channel also would have the benefit of restoring water to existing arenas, cays and keys on the western shore that currently are inaccessible by boat.
Construction of the perimeter lake would consist of phases 1 and 2, and begin with sheet pile installation, geotextile deployment, dredging and stockpiling of sediments by barge-mounted crane, construction of spillway structures, grading and armoring of the levees, construction of roadways on top of the levees and construction of causeways.
The dredging and stockpiling phase would use a giant clamshell bucket in excess of 20 yards to excavate a channel in front of the barge. This channel would be supplied with water from the New River as the Salton Sea itself recedes. The dredging operation would be nearly continuous, with two 10-hour shifts each day, seven days a week. It is estimated that about 50 million cubic yards of material will need to be moved.
Once begun, the project would take five years for two teams to complete working in tandem — one team working from a 3-square-mile lake at the southern portion in Imperial County, and a second team working from a 2-square-mile lake at the northern portion in Riverside County. The two teams would move toward each other along the west coast of the Salton Sea, one section of earth at a time, until meeting.
The channel created by the dredging crews would be separated from the main body of the Salton Sea by a large berm that would eventually encompass the entirety of the lake, except for a portion at the extreme southeastern point, east of where the New River flows into the body of water.
This location has been set aside for the development of geothermal facilities and mineral extraction facilities.
“That is an area that may need infrastructure improvements and it also is an area that may see some growth, particularly in energy or mineral extraction type projects,” Horne said. “We have been talking to folks out there on the Salton Sea area who are looking at geothermal or mineral extraction projects that may need road improvements in that area to improve access.”
Funding from the EIFD “could then be redirected to pay for some of the infrastructure,” Horne said.