Government agency seeks ideas to save Salton Sea
The California Natural Resource Agency is holding workshops to explain what’s being done to save the shrinking Salton Sea, and the agency is open to hearing ideas from the public.
Recently the California state budget allocated more than $80 million for projects to save California’s largest lake from turning into a major health hazard.
Dozens of people showed up for the Salton Sea Management public workshop at the Coachella Valley Water District headquarters on Thursday night. Some people came with questions on what’s being done to save the Salton Sea. Others think they have some of the answers, such as introducing plants to cover the receding shoreline.
“The thing about switch grass is it’s a weed and you can grow it in very salty areas. It’s a salt-loving plant and it grows very rapidly,” said Jim Kainz, of Bermuda Dunes. His idea involves planting switch grass in areas where the shoreline has receded and then harvesting the grass to make ethanol.
That is the kind of idea the Salton Sea Policy at the California Natural Resource Agency is looking for – ideas from everyday people. In 2017, the Salton Sea will stop receiving mitigation water and will be replenished mainly by agricultural runoff. So the Salton Sea is going to continue shrinking, exposing more lakebed, which will become toxic dust that can become airborne and travel for miles.
“It does make for a dire situation,” said Brian Wilcox, assistant secretary for Salton Sea Policy. “That mitigation water, as we call it, is to make up for that difference in water transfer and the end of 2017 that stops.” The rate of decline for the lake is expected to double until it stabilizes in a few years. This would expose several square miles of lakebed.
EFFORT TO RESTORE THE SALTON SEA MOVING FORWARD
“The health costs, if nothing is done, are in the billions, so we think there are solutions to the Salton Sea that are doable that can be implemented incrementally,” said Joan Taylor, the local conservation chairman for the Sierra Club.
More than $80 million in state money was recently allocated in the budget to start projects to save the Salton Sea. Many argue that’s a drop in the bucket, and it’s potentially billions less than what’s going to need to be spent. But the tide is turning towards conservation and some of those projects are underway.
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“They are going to be a combination of air quality mitigation and habitat. And habitat is probably the best because it covers up the area with vegetation and water so we are going to combine those two things in as many places as we can. There will be shallow water habitat, which is 2 or 3 feet deep, and some deeper habitat for fish,” Wilcox said.
The full list of upcoming Salton Sea public workshops is below. If you have an idea or questions about saving the Salton Sea but cannot attend one of the workshops, you can call Bruce Wilcox with the Salton Sea Policy at the Natural Resources Agency at 760-200-1618.
August 18, 2016 Salton Sea – Public Workshop San Diego August 11, 2016 Salton Sea – Public Workshop Mecca August 2, 2016 Salton Sea – Public Workshop Los Angeles July 28, 2016 Salton Sea – Public Workshop Thermal July 21, 2016 Salton Sea – Public Workshop Westmorland July 14, 2016 Salton Sea – Public Workshop Calipatria July 12, 2016 Salton Sea – Public Workshop Niland
