Coalition attacks Salton Sea Authority’s plan for restoration By DARREN SIMON, Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 6, 2005 3:15 PM PST
A politically powerful coalition of environmental groups has taken a shot at the Salton Sea Authority’s proposal to save the sea from an environmental death.
The Salton Sea Coalition, formed as a watchdog for habitat protection at the sea, states the SSA restoration plan fails to address habitat and air-quality issues.
The coalition, in a letter dated Nov. 29, states the SSA has been too focused on economic development issues rather than coming up with a balanced restoration plan that would protect the environment.
In response, Gary Wyatt, president of the SSA, said the authority remains as focused as ever not only on economic development issues along the sea but on environmental and ecological issues.
“We have been focusing recently on economic development because we had to put together the financing package,” Wyatt said, speaking of recent action by the SSA to work toward a financing plan that would pave the way for massive housing development along the sea.
That housing development would be a way for the SSA to fund its restoration plan
“I think some people think we are ignoring environmental issues, but it is not true.”
The sea, the state’s largest inland lake, is at the forefront of debate as the state looks for the “preferred alternative” for offsetting the high salt content and selenium that could make the sea inhospitable to wildlife.
If that happens, the sea would become nothing more than an agricultural sump
with no economic benefit to either Imperial or Riverside counties.
The state is moving forward with a process to find the best method to save the sea, and the Legislature chose the state Department of Water Resources to head the effort.
The DWR has until December 2006 to select a restoration alternative.
Whatever method is chosen, the sea likely will drastically change as its size is reduced in light of a shrinking water supply.
The SSA has aggressively sought support for its own proposed restoration plan, which calls for dividing the sea in half with a dam down the center.
The northern portion would be a pristine lake with a greatly reduced salt content. The southern portion would include a shallow water habitat and a pond at the sea’s lowest level to collect the salt.
The SSA plan also calls for protecting the southern shore, using a dike system to maintain a large lake there.
The SSA plan represents the first such plan the Salton Sea Coalition has taken a formal stance against.
The coalition claims the SSA fails to include air-quality mitigation in its restoration effort, despite the potential health threat posed by a smaller sea.
The coalition states instead of dealing with air quality, the SSA plan will make matters worse by promoting development projects without stating how the SSA will mitigate the effects of such development on the air quality.
On habitat, the letter states: “The existing habitat values would be significantly degraded or lost to shoreline development, unrestricted access for recreational fishing and boating and increased selenium.”
The coalition goes on to state the SSA plan is not economically defensible.
“The SSA plan does not contain any standards for
energy, water quality and habitat goals of the restoration legislation,” the letter states.
The coalition further states the SSA has stated publicly it expects the state to assume responsibility for air quality and habitat creation and protection.
Mike Cohen of The Pacific Institute, which is part of the coalition, said of the SSA plan: “Fundamentally, we think it is the wrong approach.”
However, he said there is room for discussion between the coalition and the SSA.
“We are holding out hope there is room to work together,” Cohen said.
Wyatt said the SSA is ready to meet with the coalition to address any issues it may have with the authority’s plan.
Wyatt said the SSA plan addresses air quality and habitat issues, and he said the letter from the coalition is not specific as to where the SSA plan falls short.
“We are not trying to avoid resolving air quality and habitat issues,” he said.
Of the claim the SSA is deferring responsibilities to the state, Wyatt said the SSA has never suggested the state should be freed from its responsibility in resolving the sea’s issues.
Wyatt acknowledged the SSA plan is not perfect. He said no plan could be perfect, and he said that is why the SSA has sought public comment and asked for help in developing its plan.
He said the SSA plan is “an adaptive management” that can be changed.
“We are saying work with us toward a solution,” he said.
He added: “We are asking for help to do this. Instead of solutions we get more rocks.”
The SSA plan is only one of several under review by the state, and Cohen said all of them have issues.
“We certainly hope there is a successful plan,” Cohen said.
Another plan under review is one put forward by the Imperial Group, an organization consisting of local land owners.
The Imperial Group plan calls for developing a cascade system of lakes, each 20 feet below the other.
At the lowest level of the sea, ponds would collect the most saline water.
Asked whether the coalition is planning to take a stance on the Imperial Group plan, Cohen said there has been no discussion at this time on taking a stance on any other proposal.
He said the focus was the authority plan because the SSA has been the more aggressive in trying to build support.
However, he said the Imperial Group plan might have fewer air-quality issues because, he said, it has more water along the shores.
Cohen did say the Imperial Group plan does have problems.
He said one of which is there are questions as to whether it is even possible to build, and second, he said, there are questions as to how long it would take to build the proposed cascade system.
Cohen said it could take decades to build the Imperial Group’s project.
“My question is how much time do we have?” he asked.
If you have an account already, just enter your Member ID and Password to access this page.
If you're new to our site, please create a new account.
Register FREE
To use certain features of ivpressonline.com, you must register FREE on the form provided. The Imperial Valley Press’ use of any personally identifying information you provide as part of registration is governed by the following privacy policy:
ivpressonline.com does not, and will not, release your personal information to any third party without your consent. We may, however, share some of the information we gather, in aggregate or demographic form, with advertisers and other partners. That is, we may provide general information about ways people use our site without identifying any particular individuals.
The opinions above are from readers of ivpressonline.com and in no way represent the views of the Imperial Valley Press staff or Schurz Communications Inc.
ivpressonline.com encourages readers to offer their opinions on our local stories. We ask readers keep their comments on topic and avoid derogatory comments about fellow readers. Our goal is to promote a civil discussion about the news.
We will never edit or alter comments, but we do reserve the right to remove comments that violate our code of conduct. No comment may contain:
Subscribe Get the Imperial Valley Press every morning at your home or office. Start a subscription for your family, for yourself or give it to someone special. Click here.
Text Message AlertsReceive text message alerts on breaking news, latest updates, sports scores, offers and much more on your cellphone or PDA. Sign up here.
RegisterRegister free and start receiving email alerts on breaking news, a sneak preview of upcoming stories, reminders and much more. Click here to begin.
About UsWant to know more about the Imperial Valley Press? Want to contact us? Get general and contact information. Click here.
