Few updates discussed at recent meeting
EL CENTRO — Thursday’s Salton Sea Authority meeting only had a few new updates as the main topics discussed dealt with the recent passage of Senate Bill 5 — The $4.1 billion park bond — and the draft stipulating the state’s water board is expected to be discussed at the Nov. 7 meeting.
During the gathering, the board voted unanimously to join the other agencies and partners in expressing support for the State Water Resources Control Board to adopt the draft-stipulated order during its upcoming meeting to ensure the state’s commitment to the Salton Sea mitigation efforts in writing.
The tentative order would be an amendment to the water order, the SWRCB issued on Oct. 28, 2002, which approved the long-term transfer of water from the Imperial Irrigation District to San Diego County Water Authority, Coachella Valley Water District and Metropolitan Water District of Southern Calfornia.
The overarching goal under the stipulated order is for the state of California to commit to a series of annual milestones regarding the number of exposed acres covered under the Salton Sea Management Program and give the water board jurisdiction to hold the state accountable if the aforementioned goals aren’t met.
The order also sets annual milestones the state has to fulfill each year in terms of exposed playa coverage through habitat and other dust-suppression projects. Updates
During the introductory comments, Coachella Valley Water District board member Castulo Estrada stated that with the passage of SB 5, Congressman Raul Ruiz expressed willingness to seek additional aid from the federal government.
Although Bruce Wilcox, the assistant secretary for Salton Sea policy for the Natural Resources Agency couldn’t attend the meeting, SSA’s General Manager Phil Rosentrater read the main points of the latest activities taking place at the state level.
Among the latest activities, the state is working on a draft work plan for the next series of projects expected to get built. That plan is currently being reviewed by the Science committee.
Also, Wilcox and his staff are already working to develop a preliminary budget for distributing the anticipated $190 million the management program is expected to receive under SB 5, if approved by the voters in June, in hopes of having a plan ready to move forward once those monies become available.
Rosentrater also announced that the Torres Martinez Wetlands project has been completed, making it the very first state-funded project to get finalized. As part of the Torres Martinez Wetland project, four ponds were built to serve as habitat and cover about 50 acres of emissive shoreline. The project also included a shallow well with solar arrays to power the pump to fully irrigate the entire system , while also making some repairs to existing berms.