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, Levees have been constnicted to protect adjacent farmland Hnd structures at some' sites along the shoreline: the remaining managed acreage of the Salton Sea Na- ttona1 Wildlife Refuge is also protected .from the sea by levees. Potential Solutions Over the years, the U.'s: Bureau of Rec- 1amatton and other:; have considered po- tential soluttons fOl stabilizing the sea's, - salinity and e1evatton. Most recently the Salton Sea Authori'y has been performing appraisal-level evaluattons of some of the frequently suggested alternativf'1s. Catego' ries of a1ternattves considered include: ~ Diking off pacts) of the sea to create evaporatton pond(s) adjoining the primary ,waterbody. This approach would entail diverting part of the sea's water into man- aged impoundrnen:s, where the water would be concentrated into a brine and the salts would evt:ntually be removed. The facilittes would 'be sized to maintain a primary waterbody af some desired salini- ty concentration and e1evatton. The'de- sired salinity concentration would prob- ably be near that of ocean water (or slight- ly greater) to allow for maintenance of the I recreattonal fisheI:r. ' ~ Pumping Salton Sea water and,ex- porting it to some oth,er 10c'iltton. Possible discharge 10cattqns include nearby dry desert 1akebeds (to create evaporatton ponds), evaporattcn' ponds to be constructed near 1be sea, the Gulf of Mex-' ico, or the Laguna Salada in Mexico. ~ Building treatment facilittes (such as a desalting plant) to remove salts from in- flows to the sea. ~ Importing fresh water to the sea. The probable source would be the Colorado Riv~r"but only in years when surplus wa- ter would be available an the river. .' The Authority is focusing on the diking alternattve as being the most likely solu- tion to meet its needs. Efforts are begin- ning to develop a consensus' among local , interests on specifics' such as sizing and 10catton of facilities. Carrying tl).e alterna c ttve further will entail preparing feasibil- ity-level planning studies and completing environmental do~umentatton. Authority representattves esttmate that 2002 would be the earliest date that 'conl,truction of facilittes could occur. :: Fresno County Land U~e Survey BARBARA c~oss is a supervising land and water . use analyst in DWR's Statewide Planning Branch. \ D\YR is publishing a report on its 1994 iand use survey of Fresno County. This is the first of a new series of DWR land use ' survey reports.'DWR conducts six to eight county surveys each year. From photo-in- "terpretatton of high elevation photogra- phy, DWR surveys and maps fields which are approximately three acres or larger. Lan? use attributes are a~signed to each area based on the aerial surveys .andfield identification, to the extent that fields are accessib1e for ground inspectton. Between survey years, DWR staff annuallyestt-' mate crop acres with informatton from , , past surveys and current sources, such as county agricultural commissioners and other state and local agencies. . .' The information collected from actual ' Surveys and interim estimates is used for esttmattng present and future water de- . mands for the- California Water Plan Up- date (Bulletin 160 series). DWR land use survey data are useful for a variety of oth- er purposes including studies of agricul- tural drainage- problems. wate~ transfers. urban encroachment. and groundwater , pumping. ~ 4