Laserfiche WebLink
<br />. LJ' 3 - 4- <br />t . l j' ! <br />V ,~.:.. <br /> <br />Senate Committee on Agriculture and Water Resources <br />Assembly Committee on Water, Parks, and Wildlife <br />Page 7 <br />August 31,2001 <br /> <br />led to the development and introduction of AB 985 and AB 1561 with respect to state legislation <br />and H.R. 2764 with respect to federal legislation. H.R. 2764 also provides $60 million for the <br />first phase of Salton Sea restoration if Congress authorizes it prior to 2007 or for enhancement <br />programs to protect endangered species habitat around the Salton Sea, and $53 million for off- <br />stream small re-regulating reservoirs and associated facilities to improve water conservation and <br />river management, which will also provide improved water supply management options for <br />Mexico. The Bureau of Reclamation estimated that last year about 300,000 acre-feet was lost <br />from Colorado River reservoir storage because of the inability to re-regulate lower Colorado <br />River flows. <br /> <br />The Salton Sea was created shortly after the turn of the century when the entire flow of the <br />Colorado River was accidentally diverted into the Salton Sink for two years. It has been <br />maintained since by Colorado River water diverted to irrigate the Imperial and Coachella Valleys <br />in California and the Mexicali Valley in Mexico. Today the Sea is a primary resting place for <br />migratory birds, including some endangered species. With a surface elevation nearly 220 feet <br />below sea level, the only way water leaves the Salton Sea is through evaporation that leaves salts <br />behind making today's Sea saltier than the ocean. <br /> <br />Reclamation of the Salton Sea is an issue that Congress and the state need to address as a <br />separate matter. That was provided for in the 1998 Salton Sea Reclamation Act which directed <br />the Secretary, in cooperation with the Salton Sea Authority and the Governor of California. to <br />prepare a feasibility study of options to reclaim the Salton Sea and to present findings to <br />Congress for its evaluation. In crafting options to reclaim the Salton Sea. Public Law 105-372 <br />directed the Secretary to account for reduced inflows to the Salton Sea caused by transfers of <br />water out of the Salton Sea Basin. <br /> <br />The conservation and transfer of water from the lining of the All American Canal and Coachella <br />Canal is another QSA core transfer that provides water to MWD and for purposes of the San <br />Luis Rey Indian Water Rights Settlement Act. All state funding and construction agreements will <br />soon be in place for the implementation of these projects. It is essential that state funding <br />remain available in order to complete the lining projects by the year 2006. The conserved water <br />from the lining projects are essential to complying with the water use reduction benchmarks of <br />the Colorado River Interim Surplus Guidelines. Supplemental state funding will probably be <br />needed to complete the projects because of increasing costs and better cost estimates. <br /> <br />Another item beyond our control is prolonged below average hydrology. However, the effects of <br />dry years can be addressed, in total or in part, by the development of dry-year and storage and <br />conjunctive use programs. State partnering with the Agencies on Colorado River storage and <br />conjunctive programs will provide for timely project implementation. <br /> <br />7 <br />