Salton Sea Chronology a Salton Sea Chronology
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The Colorado River Imperial Valley Soils
THE COLORADO RIVER and IMPERIAL VALLEY SOILS I I ' ' '' ' ' '"' ' A CHRONICLE OF IMPERIAL VALLEY'S CONTINUING FIGHT AGAINST SALT FOREW ORD Elsewhere In the Untied States, soil conservation dlstricte - lormed as a result of referendum by landowners - are governed by an elected board ol directors. In Imperial Valley, Imperial lrriqatlon Dlatrict functions a.s the SoU Conservation District under a unique memorandum of aqreement with the U.S. Department of Aqr;culture. Soil conservotlon policy Ia ael by the District board which also aerves as a soli conservation board. Soil scl.ontlata. en91n..•r• and con&41rvatlonlsts provide technical assistance to farmers. Soil engineering lnforma1ton and survey da1a, prepared by either the liD or SCS, are freely interchanged. The Dlatrict provides clerical and office facllJUes lor SCS, as well as pub!Jc Information 01818tance. Silt and Salt Imperial Valley, the winter qreenhouse of the nation. has be&n oonqu.,rtng the pro!> !ems and obstacles tha1 have tendad to discourage Ita formers sin~ 1901. In 1900, thta was a bo11en deMrl. Wllh the construction ol a heading on the Colorado River, 60 mllos east ol the Valley, irrigation wa1er was brought lnto the thirsty d·-rt In 1901. This au~sful dlv"r slon ol water through o con ...... ~«-..l••·•t "' * or· VIIYOnc:e canol, many miles of which were In Mexico, was enJoyed (or the brief period of only four years before trouble developed. Looldnf eouth.. thl• oeriol •lew .atowa the beodworb of tl:•• AJI. A flood on the Colorado River washed out the control wor;ca Amenccm Cc:ma.L Tb• Colorado IU•tr ia ot left. -
Overview of Management and Restoration Activities in the Salton Sea Name Redacted Specialist in Natural Resources Policy
Overview of Management and Restoration Activities in the Salton Sea name redacted Specialist in Natural Resources Policy May 26, 2004 Congressional Research Service 7-.... www.crs.gov RL31820 CRS Report for Congress Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Overview of Management and Restoration Activities in the Salton Sea Summary The Salton Basin in southern California has supported many lakes and water bodies throughout its geological history. The most recent inland water body in the Basin is the Salton Sea, which was created from a levee break in 1905. The Salton Sea is the largest inland water body in California. In the past several decades the salinity of the Sea has been increasing, and is now considered a significant threat to the health of the current Salton Sea ecosystem. Ecosystem changes in the Sea were exemplified by several large die-offs of fish and birds that inhabit the Sea. Some of these events included endangered species such as the brown pelican. The Sea receives most of its water from agricultural drainage originating in the Imperial and Coachella Valleys in California. When water transfers from agricultural lands in these valleys to municipal water districts in San Diego were proposed to reduce California’s reliance on water from the Colorado River, concerns about the environmental impacts of these transfers on the Sea surfaced. The proposed water transfers would have resulted in less water flowing into the Salton Sea, which according to some scientists would increase the rate of evaporation in the Sea so that salinity levels would be lethal to most fish and wildlife in less than 10 years. -
A History of Water — and the Salton Sea — in Imperial
Imperial Valley Press Saturday, March 21, 2015 A7 Land of Extremes QUESTIONS? Contact Local Content Editor Richard Montenegro Brown at [email protected] or 760-337-3453. UNCERTAIN FUTURE A history of water — and the Salton Sea — in Imperial BY NEAL V. HITCH Special to this Newspaper/Imperial Valley here is a cur- rent debate Sediments from the Grand Canyon among geol- and Colorado Pla- T ogists as to teau fill in the Gulf when the Grand Can- yon formed. In 2011, new evidence suggest- ed the Colorado River began carving into the Colorado Plateau 17 million years ago. This is different than the ABOVE: About 3.5 million years ago silt from the Colorado River fi lled the Gulf of California leaving a large salt lake in traditional theories what would become the Imperial Valley. PHOTOS COURTESY OF IMPE- dating to 6 million RIAL VALLEY DESERT MUSEUM years ago. What is clear, however, is what happened to the ma- terial after it left the ABOVE: Design of the Topographical Water Interactive by Wel- don Exhibit. RIGHT: Lake Cahuilla was created when the Col- Grand Canyon. orado River changed its course and fi lled the Imperial Valley. When it reached 39 feet above sea level, the water would open An interactive a breech and spill back into the Gulf of California. the Colorado River drained take advantages of the abun- topographical map into the Gulf until it was dance of resources the lake closed off. offered. The lake was com- This week at the museum A body of salt water re- pletely dry by 1700. -
Cultural Resource Inventory for the Vega SES LLC Solar Additional 80-Acres Project, Imperial County, California
Cultural Resource Inventory for the Vega SES LLC Solar Additional 80-Acres Project, Imperial County, California Prepared for: Vega SES, LLC 750 W. Main Street El Centro, California 92243 Prepared by: Joel Lennen, M.A., RPA ASM Affiliates, Inc. 2034 Corte del Nogal Carlsbad, California 92011 USGS 7.5-minute Mount Signal; approximately 80 acres Keywords: Imperial County, Mount Signal USGS 7.5’ Quad, West Mesa, West Side Main Canal, Fern Canal, Fig Drain, Wormwood Canal and Drain, Drew Road, PN 27970 December 2017 Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page MANAGEMENT SUMMARY ................................................................................ iii 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 1 PROJECT DESCRIPTION AND LOCATION .................................................................. 1 STUDY PERSONNEL .................................................................................................... 1 2. SETTING ......................................................................................................... 6 NATURAL SETTING ...................................................................................................... 6 Geology and Soils ...................................................................................................... 6 Climate ...................................................................................................................... 6 Topography .............................................................................................................. -
The Lining of the All-American Canal
The Lining of the All American Canal: Effects on Mexico Construction of the All-American Canal, 1935 (top), 1939 (bottom), José Luis Castro-Ruiz and Vicente Sánchez- and 1936 (background). Courtesy of Munguía – El Colegio de la Frontera Norte U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. n 1988, the U.S. Congress approved 7.3 million acre-feet (maf) annually in Law 100-675, authorizing the equal parts, creating high expectations for Secretary of the Interior to line the the economic transformation of the region. All-American Canal (AAC) along a I The Alamo Canal experienced a number 23-mile section in the southern Imperial Valley of California. Lining the canal was of difficulties in the years that followed. expected to save an estimated 70,000 acre- An inability to control canal volumes from feet of water per year lost to seepage the Colorado River resulted in a series where the canal traverses sand dunes. The of floods from 1905 to 1907, affecting Mexican government quickly filed an the cities of Mexicali and Calexico and informal complaint through the Mexican agricultural areas on both sides of the section of the International Boundary and border, and creating the Salton Sea. These Water Commission (IBWC), claiming conditions, together with the dependence potential harm to water users in the of the canal operation on Mexican Most evident is a potential decrease in Mexicali Valley, and noting that the United policy changes, moved Imperial Valley static levels of the Mexicali Aquifer, States was legally obligated by Minute 242 users to lobby for their own access to which depends mostly on AAC seepage to notify Mexico of any changes affecting the Colorado. -
THE L\IIEXICALI VALLEY \VATER PROBLEM . Jol-IN C
THE l\IIEXICALI VALLEY \VATER PROBLEM . JOl-IN c. ARCHBOLD San Diego City Schools The Mexicali Valley of Baja California has become a prime producer of cotton and one of the world's great processors of raw cotton. General argiculture has flourished, too. Like a phoenix arisen from the desert this region has been reclaimed from the arid conditions that have gripped the entire area since before the white man arrived. Now, salinity left in the soil by draining irrigation waters threatens to wipe out the progress of half a century. Only salt-tolerant cotton may survive conditions which have become an international issue. North of the border in the summer of 1961 the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation completed the vVellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District project. The $14,000,000 drainage system includes 70 deep drain age wells with pumps, and a 50-mile concrete-lined conveyance channel with an outfall on the Gila River above Yuma, Arizona (Figure 1). Drainage water being pumped in the Wellton-Mohawk system is not return Bow in the usual sense of the word, but water accumulated over a long period of tirrie as a result of interior drainage. From before the turn of the century until 1952, Wellton-Mohawk farmers depended upon underground flow of the Gila River for irrigation water.1 The quality of this water was uniformly so poor that it was disclosed in testimony before the United States Senate in 1945 that the irrigated area was down to 8,000 acres (as of 1943; later, even less was in crops) and that samples were taken showing a salt content of 12,000 parts per million.2 In 1952, Colorado River water became available with the completion of the Gila Project. -
Chapter 1: Introduction
1. Introduction 1.1 Introduction and Background The Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge Complex (Complex or NWRC) consists of the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) and Coachella Valley NWR. Although both Refuges are located within the 8,000-square-mile Salton Basin of the Colorado Desert (Figure 1-1), the purposes of these two Refuges are as different as the habitats and species they protect. The Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR, which consists of 37,660 acres, is situated at the south end of the Salton Sea, about 20 miles north of El Centro in Imperial County, California (Figure 1-2). The purpose of this Refuge is to protect and manage habitat to support migratory birds, particularly waterfowl, and other wildlife. Thousands of shorebirds, seabirds, and waterfowl stop-over or winter at the Salton Sea (Mark Stewart/USFWS) About 75 miles to the northwest is the 3,577-acre Coachella Valley NWR, located 10 miles east of Palm Springs in Riverside County, California (Figure 1-3). The purpose of this Refuge is to protect and contribute to the long-term survival of the federally threatened Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizard (Uma inornata) and federally endangered Coachella Valley milk-vetch (Astragalus lentiginosus var. coachellae), both endemic to the active sand habitats in the Coachella Valley. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) prepared this Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) for the Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR and Coachella Valley NWR to guide the management of these Refuges over the next 15 years. The CCP describes future Refuge conditions and provides long-range management direction for achieving the purposes for which each Refuge was established. -
The Future of the Salton Sea with No Restoration Project
HAZARD The Future of the Salton Sea With No Restoration Project MAY 2006 © Copyright 2006, All Rights Reserved ISBN No. 1-893790-12-6 ISBN-13: 978-1-893790-12-4 Pacific Institute 654 13th Street, Preservation Park Oakland, CA 94612 Telephone (510) 251-1600 Facsimile (510) 251-2203 [email protected] www.pacinst.org HAZARD The Future of the Salton Sea With No Restoration Project Michael J. Cohen and Karen H. Hyun A report of the MAY 2006 Prepared with the support of The Salton Sea Coalition & Imperial Visions The U.S. Geological Survey Salton Sea Science Office and the Compton Foundation About the Authors Michael Cohen is a Senior Associate at the Pacific Institute. He is the lead author of the Institute’s 1999 report entitled Haven or Hazard: The Ecology and Future of the Salton Sea, and of the 2001 report entitled Missing Water: The Uses and Flows of Water in the Colorado River Delta Region. He is also the co-author of several journal articles on water and the environment in the border region. He is a member of the California Resources Agency’s Salton Sea Advisory Committee. Karen Hyun is a Ph.D. candidate in the Marine Affairs Program at the University of Rhode Island. Her research interests include ecosystem-based management and governance, especially in the Colorado River Delta. She also has interests in transboundary water issues, authoring Solutions Lie Between the Extremes: The Evolution of International Watercourse Law on the Colorado River. In addition, she has examined watershed to coast issues in Transboundary Solutions to Environmental Problems in the Gulf of California Large Marine Ecosystem. -
Salton Sea Hydrological Modeling and Results
TECHNICAL REPORT Salton Sea Hydrological Modeling and Results Prepared for Imperial Irrigation District October 2018 CH2M HILL 402 W. Broadway, Suite 1450 San Diego, CA 92101 Contents Section Page 1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 1-1 2 Description of Study Area .................................................................................................... 2-1 2.1 Background ...................................................................................................................... 2-1 2.2 Salton Sea Watershed ...................................................................................................... 2-2 3 SALSA2 Model Description .................................................................................................. 3-1 3.1.1 Time Step ............................................................................................................ 3-2 3.2 Air Quality Mitigation and Habitat Components Incorporated into SALSA2 ................... 3-2 3.3 Simulations of Water and Salt Balance ............................................................................ 3-4 3.3.1 Inflows ................................................................................................................. 3-4 3.3.2 Consumptive Use Demands and Deliveries ........................................................ 3-4 3.3.3 Salton Sea Evaporation ...................................................................................... -
Law of the River the Colorado River Compact
Colorado River Water Users Association: Law of the River . The Colorado River Compact . As the 20th century dawned, the The Colorado River Compact vast domain of the Colorado River lay almost entirely Boulder Canyon Project Act untouched. Though there had been a few early filings for Treaty with Mexico diversion and a "grand ditch" conveying water some 16 miles across the Continental Divide Upper Colorado River Basin into eastern Colorado in the late Compact of 1948 1800s, California's Imperial Valley was among the first areas to tap the river's true potential. In early 1901, the 60 mile long Alamo Canal, Colorado River Storage Project developed by private concerns, was completed to deliver Colorado Act River water for irrigation, and a wasteland was transformed. But the Imperial Valley did not move ahead without problems. About 50 miles Grand Canyon Protection Act of the canal coursed through Mexico, leaving the valley farmers at the mercy of a foreign government. And in 1905, the river, raging with Arizona vs. California floods, eroded the opening to the canal, roared through and created the Salton Sea before the river was pushed back into its normal channel. Future of Western Water With the constant threat of flood looming along the lower Colorado, demands grew for some sort of permanent flood control work -a storage reservoir and dam on the river. And Imperial Valley farmers called for a canal totally within the United States, free of Mexican interference. By 1919, Imperial Irrigation District had won the support of the federal Bureau of Reclamation. A bureau engineering board recommended favorably on the canal and added the government "should undertake the early construction of a storage reservoir on the drainage basin of the Colorado." While this report was greeted with enthusiasm by people along the river's lower stretches, it was viewed with alarm by those in upper reaches. -
Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge Complex
Appendix J Cultural Setting - Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge Complex Appendix J: Cultural Setting - Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge Complex The following sections describe the cultural setting in and around the two refuges that constitute the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge Complex (NWRC) - Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR and Coachella Valley NWR. The cultural resources associated with these Refuges may include archaeological and historic sites, buildings, structures, and/or objects. Both the Imperial Valley and the Coachella Valley contain rich archaeological records. Some portions of the Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWRC have previously been inventoried for cultural resources, while substantial additional areas have not yet been examined. Seventy-seven prehistoric and historic sites, features, or isolated finds have been documented on or within a 0.5- mile buffer of the Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR and Coachella Valley NWR. Cultural History The outline of Colorado Desert culture history largely follows a summary by Jerry Schaefer (2006). It is founded on the pioneering work of Malcolm J. Rogers in many parts of the Colorado and Sonoran deserts (Rogers 1939, Rogers 1945, Rogers 1966). Since then, several overviews and syntheses have been prepared, with each succeeding effort drawing on the previous studies and adding new data and interpretations (Crabtree 1981, Schaefer 1994a, Schaefer and Laylander 2007, Wallace 1962, Warren 1984, Wilke 1976). The information presented here was compiled by ASM Affiliates in 2009 for the Service as part of Cultural Resources Review for the Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWRC. Four successive periods, each with distinctive cultural patterns, may be defined for the prehistoric Colorado Desert, extending back in time over a period of at least 12,000 years. -
Colorado River Slideshow Title TK
The Colorado River: Lifeline of the Southwest { The Headwaters The Colorado River begins in the Rocky Mountains at elevation 10,000 feet, about 60 miles northwest of Denver in Colorado. The Path Snow melts into water, flows into the river and moves downstream. In Utah, the river meets primary tributaries, the Green River and the San Juan River, before flowing into Lake Powell and beyond. Source: Bureau of Reclamation The Path In total, the Colorado River cuts through 1,450 miles of mountains, plains and deserts to Mexico and the Gulf of California. Source: George Eastman House It was almost 1,500 years ago when humans first tapped the river. Since then, the water has been claimed, reclaimed, divided and subdivided many times. The river is the life source for seven states – Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming – as well as the Republic of Mexico. River Water Uses There are many demands for Colorado River water: • Agriculture and Livestock • Municipal and Industrial • Recreation • Fish/Wildlife and Habitat • Hydroelectricity • Tribes • Mexico Source: USGS Agriculture The Colorado River provides irrigation water to about 3.5 million acres of farmland – about 80 percent of its flows. Municipal Phoenix Denver About 15 percent of Colorado River flows provide drinking and household water to more than 30 million people. These cities include: Las Vegas and Phoenix, and cities outside the Basin – Denver, Albuquerque, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico. Recreation Source: Utah Office of Tourism Source: Emma Williams Recreation includes fishing, boating, waterskiing, camping and whitewater rafting in 22 National Wildlife Refuges, National Parks and National Recreation Areas along river.