Achieving the environmental mitigation required by the California Department of Fish and Game and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department will permit the continued water transfer, Wilcox told the IID Board of Directors at Tuesday’s meeting.
The QSA, the nation’s largest agriculture-to-urban water transfer aims to transfer 200,000 acre-feet of water to San Diego and 103,000 acre-feet to Coachella.
By creating a wetlands habitat in the managed marsh just south of Niland, IID makes up for impacts caused by the water transfer, and provides for maintenance and operation of drains and canals, Wilcox said.
In a perimeter around the marsh, IID has a mix of native trees, mostly mesquite to act as a buffer zone, Wilcox said. As part of the process the IID will monitor for a return of Yuma clapper rails and California black rails, a sure sign mitigations efforts are succeeding, Wilcox said.
Air quality mitigation moves forward with six monitoring stations installed around the Salton Sea. And pilot projects will evaluate different dust control techniques, Wilcox said.
Environmental mitigation will cost between $6 million and $10 million per year. But the cost is borne by the QSA joint powers authority comprised of IID, San Diego County Water authority and the Coachella Valley Water District.
