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The Salton

The water agencies’ seed money for implementation. In addition, the state released restoration, which the state placed in the its Phase I 10-Year Plan for restoration of the The Salton Sea Restoration Fund, has allowed Salton Sea in March 2017. That plan calls for In Search of a Sustainable Future shovel-ready projects to move forward. In a phased, incremental approach with annual 2020, work is expected to move forward on acreage targets for restoration projects on approximately 4,000 acres of wetlands and a total of 30,000 acres of exposed playa. shoreline habitat. The water agencies’ money Proposed projects promote habitat creation also funded a feasibility study and financial and protection of human health. The total plan developed by the Natural estimated cost for implementing the 10-year Resources Agency and the Salton Sea Author- plan is more than $400 million, with $80 The Salton Sea is the ity. These studies have become the basis for million available from Proposition 1, and $200 largest lake in California, much of the State’s Salton Sea Managment million from Proposition 68, a water and park covering about 375 square Program. bond passed by voters in June 2018. Efforts miles of Imperial and Riverside counties. It is in the Salton Forging a Path Forward are also underway to secure an additional $200 million in federal funding through the AF = acre-foot Basin, which from the earliest From the signing of the QSA in 2003, the documented history has 2018 Farm Bill. One acre-foot is Water Authority has advocated for the state DIVERSIFICATION periodically filled with water, The Water Authority will continue to work approximately to meet both its mitigation and restoration Enhancing Water most notably ancient Lake obligations. with its JPA partners on implementing QSA 325,900 gallons, mitigation projects while engaging with other enough to supply Supply Reliability . In its current form, In 2016, the state’s restoration program stakeholders in the ongoing effort to ensure 2.5 single-family the Salton Sea was created became the Salton Sea Management the state implements its 10-year plan and households of four by accident when a dike gave Program under the California Natural develops a long-term restoration program at for a year. way and the River Resources Agency. The program focuses on the Salton Sea. flooded the basin in 1905. adaptive management with incremental Since then, the sea has about the potential impacts on the sea caused Salton Sea Mitigation & Restoration Sites been fed mainly by agricultural runoff in the by the Quantification Settlement Agreement, New and Alamo rivers (which start in a historic set of documents signed in 2003 to and flow through the Imperial ) and the reduce California’s use of the Dos Palmas Whitewater River in the . to its annual allotment of 4.4 million acre-feet Torres Oasis Today, the Salton Sea provides habitat for largely through water conservation-and-transfer Martinez a wide range of bird species, including agreements. Wetlands migratory birds on the Pacific Flyway. The QSA provides the state with a means In recent years, questions have surfaced to manage its Colorado River supplies through a water conservation program n State Water Board Stipulated Order SALTON funded largely by the SEA In March 2017, the State of California produced an initial draft of its Salton County Water Authority. Related Wister Sea Management Program Phase I 10-Year Plan, which provides a path toward efforts by the Water Authority Sport Fishery a smaller, but more sustainable, Salton Sea. The Water Authority, Imperial and partnering agencies 4677 Overland Ave. Red Hill and Imperial County developed a consensus plan in July 2017 (Coachella Valley Water District Managed San Diego, California Bay Marsh that resulted in a draft stipulated order. The stipulated order was revised and Imperial Irrigation District), 92123-1233 following a September 2017 workshop by the State Water Resources Control to provide environmental Species 858.522.6700 Board and subsequent negotiations among the parties, with final adoption in funding under the QSA Joint Conservation Powers Authority, are a critical Habitat November 2017. sdcwa.org component of the sea’s future. The adopted order calls for the state’s Salton Sea Management Program to: Through that ongoing effort, the „ Provide dust control and restore habitat on 30,000 acres of exposed playa JPA has mitigated the impacts of QSA Air Quality Mitigation Projects over 10 years the water transfers from the start and set the stage for the state to Additional QSA Mitigation Projects „ Allow for the continued implementation of the mitigation program approved Dunes carry out its responsibility for a Planned Restoration Acreage Mitigation @sdcwa as part of the original Water Rights Order for the QSA Site restoration program at the sea. Restoration Projects „ Grant the State Water Board oversight authority of restoration efforts Chanan Remington „ Develop a draft long-term plan for restoration by 2022 All-American Wetlands Printed on recycled paper Several mitigation and restoration projects supported by the Water Authority are underway in the Salton Sea Basin. The San Diego County Water Authority sustains a $245 billion regional economy and the quality of life for 3.3 million residents through a multi-decade water supply diversification plan, major infrastructure investments and forward-thinking policies that February 2020 promote fiscal and environmental responsibility. A public agency created in 1944, the Water Authority delivers wholesale water 4 supplies to 24 retail water providers, including , special districts and a military base. The Salton Sea The Salton Sea

Salton Sea Surface Roughening tive dust that might be created at the sea as Salton Sea Vegetation Enhancement tion program. The Water Author- a result of the QSA. However, Imperial and ity has fully paid its share of this eastern Riverside counties – by the nature of funding. their environment – have been des- Fulfilling a Mitigation Promise ignated by the U.S. Environmental Protection The Water Authority has met all Agency as areas of non-attainment for dust of its financial commitments since particles known as PM10. Windblown dust 2003 and is in compliance with all from the surrounding desert, dirt roads, off- state and federal environmental roading activities, and pollution from Mexico obligations. Most of that funding are all factors in the current non-attainment has gone toward providing bucket- designation – not the QSA. for-bucket mitigation water to the Funding a Mitigation Program Salton Sea from 2003 through Recognizing the need for water conserva- 2017 to eliminate any impact of tion and for ensuring beneficial use of Califor- the water transfers on the sea’s nia’s Colorado River supplies, the State Water Between 2003 and 2017, the Water Authority and its QSA JPA partners shoreline. Resources Control Board adopted a Revised delivered mitigation water to the sea, giving the state time to develop a restoration program. In 2018, the mitigation program shifted to on-the- JPA funding has also paid for the Water Rights Order in 2002 that allowed the ground air quality mitigation projects. Vegetation enhancement (pictured placement of six stations around the nation’s largest agriculture-to-urban water above) is one of the mitigation strategies at the sea. sea to monitor air quality, construc- transfer to move forward. As part of the QSA, politan Water District of tion of a 950-acre managed marsh the Water Authority receives up to 200,000 receives 105,000 acre-feet of conserved as new wildlife habitat, and a series of acre-feet annually of water conserved in the water annually from IID. air quality pilot projects to test the most as part of the Water Author- The 2002 State Board order anticipated effective ways to address potential QSA ity’s water supply reliability strategy. More than 1,300 acres of on-the-ground air quality projects, like surface roughening that QSA water transfers would have envi- impacts around the sea since mitigation (pictured above) and vegetation enhancement, were completed in 2018. Another 1,000 In addition, Coachella Valley Water water deliveries ended in 2017. In 2018, acres is being established in 2019. ronmental impacts, including impacts on the District receives up to 100,000 acre-feet of Salton Sea. The parties involved in the QSA the emphasis shifted from pilot projects to Decades of Environmental Concerns conserved water from Imperial Valley each followed the state’s arduous environmental larger implementation of on-the-ground air The sea’s environmental issues predate year. The QSA also facilitated the extension permitting process that established air quality quality projects. the QSA by decades. As far back as the of an earlier agreement in which the Metro- mitigation measures for the Salton Sea, which 1960s, the sea has been monitored for rising were incorporated by the State Board and Salton Sea News and levels, two hallmarks Fugitive Dust Drives Air Quality Problems upheld by the State Court of Appeal. „ of an inland with no outlets Though the state of California is two years behind on achieving goals Projected PM10 Sources in 2047 The State Board’s order found that these fed by nutrient-rich agricultural runoff. Long adopted in 2017 by the State Water Resources Control Board, efforts mitigation measures would prevent substantial before the QSA, both state and federal are underway to advance restoration projects. harm to the environment. The air quality miti- authorities forecasted a troubled future for „ gation measures have been incorporated into With permits in place, land issues resolved, and a design/build the Salton Sea. In particular, salinity was the mitigation program being implemented by plan in place, the state anticipates work would begin by the end of expected to eventually threaten fish habitat IID and funded by the JPA, which is comprised 2020 on a nearly 4,000-acre Species Conservation Habitat Project. even without a reduction of inflows to the sea. of the Water Authority, IID, CVWD and the Completion is anticipated for 2023. Under those conditions, the State of California State of California. „ The 500-plus acre Red Hill Marina wetlands project – a joint assumed responsibility for developing and federal, state and Imperial Irrigation District project – is expected to implementing a “restoration” program for the As part of the JPA, the three water agen- be completed by early 2021. sea, separate from “mitigating” the discrete cies committed to pay up to $133 million impacts of the QSA water transfers. in 2003 dollars, or $288 million in nominal „ The state began work on a 9,000-acre dust suppression project with dollars. The Water Authority is responsible for Another related environmental issue is a 120-acre “ground roughening” site near the mouth of the New approximately 40 percent of those costs. the sea’s receding shoreline due to factors River. More projects are expected to advance over the next two unrelated to the QSA, such as Mexico divert- Under state law, any mitigation expenses years toward the 9,000-acre target. ing substantial amounts of water from the above $133 million are the unconditional „ A recent air quality study indicates exposed areas around the Salton responsibility of the State of California. Addi- New River for reuse south of the international Imperial County does not meet federal air quality standards Sea are a minimal contributor to the ’s overall air quality issues border, and changing agricultural practices in for PM10. Even if no restoration is implemented at the sea by tionally, the Water Authority, IID, and CVWD as emissions from off-site sources continue to have the largest impact. the Imperial Valley. 2047, pollution from exposed playa would only account for a agreed to pay $67 million in nominal dollars small amount of emissions and windblown dust would continue as seed money to jumpstart a state restora- Attention has recently focused on fugi- to drive air quality problems. 2 3