Farm bill approval will be a boon for Salton Sea
Although the Salton Sea isn’t specifically named in the nearly $900 billion 2018 farm bill, the embattled body of water and its myriad problems surely stands to be a big beneficiary.
Whether the money comes to the Imperial Irrigation District or the California Natural Resources Agency, Bruce Wilcox said he believes the farm bill will be good for about $250 million, the amount needed to fully fund the CNRA’s Salton Sea Management Program’s phase one 10year plan.
The 10-year plan was left with a funding hole when the Proposition 3 water bond was defeated by voters in November. The state has $250 million to pay for about half of its 10-year plan.
Wilcox, assistant secretary for Salton Sea policy with the CNRA, told the Imperial Valley Press on Thursday that local and state agencies including CNRA and the Salton Sea Authority, which is made up of IID, the county of Imperial, the county of Riverside, the Torres-Martinez tribe and others, all had a hand in helping to craft the language of portions of the farm bill expanded by Sen. Diane Feinstein’s office to make the sea’s problems eligible for funding.
So, he said, there is a keen awareness and understanding of the issues involved at the Salton Sea that should make funding a slam dunk.
“I like [our chances] a lot. We spent a fair amount of time with them, [Natural Resource Conversation Service] and others in getting them to understand the needs of the Salton Sea,” Wilcox said. “I think our chances are pretty good.”
Local agencies are crediting Feinstein’s drought legislation injected into the farm bill for making Salton Sea eligible for this federal windfall. Up until the farm bill, it has been the state of California that has primarily made funding available through some legislation and water bonds.
“Sen. Feinstein is a true Salton Sea champion. We are deeply appreciative of her steadfast work to protect the public health, economic security and environmental quality of the Imperial and Coachella valleys,” said Salton Sea Authority Executive Director Phil Rosentrater in a news release Wednesday.
Said Wilcox in that same release: “Sen. Feinstein has made it possible to double the state of California’s significant financial commitments at the Salton Sea. If the federal government steps up to work with us as a funding partner, we will have the Salton Sea Management Program 10-year plan fully funded thanks to her leadership.”
Overall, the farm bill provides roughly $6 billion in firm annual funding for conservation directly on working farmland, but prior to Feinstein’s legislative inclusion, this funding could not be used to advance conservation work on irrigation district lands like the Salton Sea playa, or exposed seabed.
According to the Salton Sea Authority, Feinstein’s legislation removes this limitation and authorizes the U.S. Department of Agriculture to contract directly with IID or CNRA through an expedited procedure to advance habitat and air-quality improvements directly on the Salton Sea playa.
The farm bill also allows the IID to make good on its conditional approval of the drought contingency plans from Monday’s IID Board of Directors meeting. On Monday, the IID board voted 4-1 to approve a set of agreements meant to deal with historic drought conditions on the Colorado River and maintain water supplies at Lake Mead on the condition that the federal government firmly fund a dollar-for-dollar match with the state on paying for CNRA’s 10year plan.
“The passage of the farm bill will remove any doubt that the federal government has the financial ability and legal authority to step in and satisfy one of the critical DCP conditions crafted and approved [Monday] by the IID board. The only question now is whether the federal government will meet us halfway at the Salton Sea,” said Kay Pricola, executive director of the Imperial Valley Vegetable Grower Association.
What’s more, the federal government is a major Salton Sea landowner and is legally obligated to ensure that the management of federal lands complies with federal, state and local public health and environmental laws, according to Rosentrater. While the federal government has made funding commitments to the Salton Sea, those commitments have not been met due to the lack of adequate financial resources, he said.
The farm bill drought legislation provides the authority and resourcess to secure federal investment at the Salton Sea to match the state’s funding, Rosentrater added.