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<br />.~ 0" ,.......8 <br />v 1~.1' <br /> <br />934 <br /> <br />ECOLOGY lA W QUARTERLY <br /> <br />[Vol. 28:903 <br /> <br />Mexicali valleys, and later by Mexican municipal wastewater <br />flows from the New River. 198 <br />The Sea has no outlet, and its size depends solely on the <br />amount of wastewater inflow balanced against the rate of <br />evaporation from the Sea's surface. Today, it is about 35 miles <br />long, from 9 to 15 miles wide, and lies 227 feet below sea leve1.199 <br />Due to years of high-salinity agricultural wastewater inflow and <br />the concentrating effects of evaporation, the salinity of the Sea <br />now exceeds that of the ocean; at. the same time, nutrient <br />loading from fertilizers has produced gigantic toxic algae blooms <br />within the Sea.2OO Nevertheless, the Salton Sea is a critical <br />environmental refuge, serving as a stopping point for more than <br />380 species of birds on the Pacific Flyway.201 The Salton Sea is <br />one of the few remaining refuges along the Pacific Flyway north <br />of the Delta because most wetlands in Califomia's Central Valley <br />have been drained or filled. Unfortunately, due to avian cholera <br />and botulism, the Sea produces enormous mortality among <br />these birds.202 As the water quality of the Sea continues to <br />deteriorate due to salt, pesticide, toxics, and nutrient <br />concentration, it is likely that this bird mortality will increase.203 <br />Recent interest in the Sea as a refuge for migratory waterfowl <br />has spawned efforts to save it. In the mid-1990's, the late Sonny <br />Bono, a United States Representative from Southem Califomia, <br />took on the Salton Sea as his personal crusade.204 In his honor, <br />Congress passed the Salton Sea Reclamation Act in 1998, which <br />authorized the BOR, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and <br />U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to undertake a <br />feasibility study for restoring the Salton Sea.205 The Act renamed <br />the refuge the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge <br />and provided $8 million for the feasibility study and for clean-up <br />efforts along the New and Alamo rivers (which empty into the <br />Sea).206 In January 2000, the Salton Sea Authority and the <br />Bureau of Reclamation released a Salton Sea Draft <br /> <br />h <br /> <br />i <br /> <br />" <br /> <br />198. See WORSTER, supranote 174, at 197-198. <br />199. SeeCOHENETAL., supranote 192, at 1. <br />200. See id, at 15-16. <br />201. See id at 18. <br />202. See id. at 19-20. <br />203. See id at 15-20. <br />204. See id at 25. <br />205. See id. at 27; Salton Sea Reclamation Act, 112 Stat. 3377 (1998); see also <br />Michelle Nijhuis. Accidental Refuge: Should We Save the Salton Sea?, HIGH COUNTRY <br />NEWS. June 19,2000, available atwww.hcn.org. <br />206. See also COHEN ET AL., supra note 192. See generaUy Nijhuis, supra note <br />205. <br />