Imperial Valley Press Online - Opinion - Our Opinion: Don’t limit early sea work

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Our Opinion: Don’t limit early sea work

Saturday, July 21, 2007 9:28 PM PDT

It seems the fight over restoring the Salton Sea is never-ending. The proposed nearly $9 billion plan to save the sea was just a starting point.

Now the politicians and special interest groups are digging their hands into the deal — and could be fouling it up.

We knew the expensive, 75-year plan would not be approved without changes, but what is happening to the bill is problematic, to say the least. It appears that the environmental lobby has added language to the bill that would limit state and federal expenditures over the first five years to habitat and water quality improvements as well as air-quality monitoring. That’s it.

While those areas obviously need attention, they are not enough. The environmental impact report as well as soil testing to find the best place to locate a dike on the sea needs to be done quickly. These are important steps that can’t wait five years to be started. The dike or dam, which will help clean the sea and create the lakes, will take six years to build.

So by 2011 the construction needs to be under way because by 2017 a full third of the water that flows into the sea will be lost because of the San Diego water transfer. That fresh water is the thing that dilutes the sea enough to keep the salinity levels manageable. If the dike is not in place by 2017, it could be too late.

We also support forming a new governing body that includes local decision makers. This project is much too important to leave in the hands of state or federal officials only.

We understand that this is a large, complex and costly project. We also understand that the input of many is not only required but will ultimately be good for the sea.

At the same time, we believe that the people who will most be impacted by what does or does not happen with the Salton Sea should have a strong voice in the sea’s future.

State lawmakers cannot sit on this and must establish a new Salton Sea governing body as soon as possible.

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