Shrinking Salton Sea poses serious problems for Coachella Valley

Another day dawns at the Salton Sea; 350 square miles, created 110 years ago.

The Colorado River breached a dike and began flooding a basin that today is 35 miles long, 15 miles wide and 50 feet deep. The sea was a bustling tourist attraction in the 50s and 60s. It attracted half a million people a year.

Stars like the Beachboys and Sonny Bono drove speedboats there. Yacht clubs sprang up and water skiers were everywhere.

Eric Underwood, fishing for talapia on the sea’s eastern shore, came to the Salton Sea as a child with his father. The water was cleaner then, they would wade and even swim in the water.

By the 70s, the Salton Sea had become an ecological nightmare; surrounded by half a million acres of farm land, water containing salt, and fertilizers and pesticides ran into the sea. The shoreline was often littered with a carpet of dead fish. And those carcasses, combined with algae blooms, made the sea smell so bad that few wanted to go near it.

Now, we are left with a shrinking Salton Sea. If nothing is done it is expected to be smaller by a third in the next 15 years. Our drought is only adding to the problem, as the sea must compete for water. There have been plans to save the sea at costs of billions of dollars. But so far, very little has been done and that ticking clock is growing louder and louder.

Phil Rosentrater spends much of his time thinking about the Salton Sea two years from now. In 2017, the Imperial Irrigation District will no longer be required to put water directly into the sea. At that time the rate of shrinkage is likely to increase dramatically without the extra water. The impact of that could be disastrous. Most of that impact would come from dust, and Rosentrater said it could begin to look a lot like Owens Lake — but worse, because the Salton Sea is three times as large as that dried up lake in the eastern Sierra.

Think worst case scenario: a giant dust bowl; unhealthy air; and for the Coachella Valley, some fear a drop in tourism and perhaps property values.

IID’s Bruce Wilcox said without proper treatment, the sea would become much more of a problem than Owens Lake. At the Red Hill Bay Marina, on the south shore, he displayed a map of the sea that shows it is shrinking almost daily. Most of the shrinkage is at the north and south ends, and around Salton City on the west shore.

While there is nothing even remotely approaching an overall plan for the Salton Sea, there are smaller projects in the mix. The goal is to preserve the sea as a place for fish and birds. The sea has long supported a diverse wildlife habitat for over 400 species of birds, and remains a critical link on the 5,000-mile International Pacific Flyway for bird migration.

But dust mitigation, officials said, is key.

Wilcos says in the last couple of years he has seen more cooperation and more people buying in to what is being done at the sea than ever before.

A $3.5 millon project is planned on the south shore. Beginning at the end of 2015, berms will be put in place, and using water pumped in from the nearby Alamo River, some 650 acres of now dry lakebed will be flooded to a depth of about three feet, reclaiming at least a small portion of the lost sea. It’s also expected to slightly reduce an exposed lake bed that could become airborne dust.

And in some ways, the sea may help save itself. Already, 11 geothermal plants surround the south shore and more could be in the works. Funds generated by these new renewable energy projects could help finance activities for air quality management and habitat restoration at the sea.

Jessica Lovecchio is an environmental specialist. She said her team has learned much from the people who worked on Owens Lake, including placing air quality stations around the sea to measure dust. For Jessica , who has lived in the area most of her life, Salton Sea restoration is personal. She wants a Sea that her future kids and grandchildren can enjoy.

Whether that happens remains to be seen. The next two years are crucial, but so too are the 10, 15 and 20 years after that. Another day ends at the Salton Sea. Its future, and its effect on the Coachella Valley, still very much up in the air.