Lessons to be learned for the Salton Sea

Federal, state, and local leaders all seem to agree on one thing here in the Coachella Valley: the Salton Sea is a ticking time bomb.

We’ve been hearing the warnings for years, the Salton Sea will turn into a dangerous dust bowl.

We decided to get a close look at a similar case in California that many believe is the best example of the environmental disaster that could happen in our backyard.

Owens Lake is about four and a half hours north of the Coachella Valley in the Eastern Sierra. The mostly dry lake bed appears harmless until strong winds create massive dust storms which can be seen on time-lapse video.

It often made life unbearable in nearby small towns like Independence, CA.

Phill Kiddoo is the local air pollution control officer for Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District and he says, “Whenever there was a large episode of dust, we would hear about it from the hospitals, people seeking medical attention.”

In the 1990’s, Owens Lake pumped particulate matter and fine dust into the air more than 140 days out of the year. It was a disaster that was decades in the making.

In the early 1900’s the Owens River was diverted into the newly built Los Angeles Aqueduct, sending most of the water to Los Angeles. The 110 square mile Owens Lake began to dry-up.

To fix it, the local air quality district would have to take-on the powerful Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

The fight would end up in court and after years of legal battles, both sides now say they’re working together.

L.A. Department of Water and Power project manager, Milad Taghavi, showed us how they’ve spent more than $1 billion over 15 years. They’ve broken up the lake into bermed sections where one of three methods is used to control the dust.

Taghavi showed us around the lake bed, “What we have here is on our shallow flooding ponds.”

It takes four to five feet of water to last a season and it used enough water at one point to fill the Rose Bowl to the top every day of the year. That’s why they’re tilling some of the areas now; creating large clumps of soil that don’t produce dust.

Another method to keep down the dust is managed vegetation.

An elaborate system that includes irrigation and pipes that remove salts from the ground is set up so native salt grass can be planted. Finally, there’s gravel which works well because it’s a once and done solution.

Taghavi says, “The term I use, when you clean the house, you pick up the carpet, you sweep the dust under the carpet, out of sight out of mind.”

It’s a continuous project with a heavy price tag of $1.6 billion by the time all of the capital improvements are made. Both sides say there are lessons to be learned at Owens Lake when it comes to the Salton Sea.

Tuesday, we’ll continue our look at the issue with CBS Local 2’s Kris Long reporting on the challenges ahead at the Salton Sea and what’s being done to keep it from becoming another Owens Lake.

You can see that report Tuesday on News Channel 3 Live at 5 and on CBS Local 2 at 5:30 p.m..