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<br />THE SALTON SEA <br /> <br />Located in the low desert of southern California. a <br />40-mile long depression has been filled by the <br />meandering Colorado River at least three times over <br />the past 1,000 years, In 1905, the Colorado River <br />broke through a series at dikes and flooded the sally <br />basin for 18 months, forming the Salton Sea in the <br />Imperial Valley. <br /> <br />In the 1950s. the sea was an ideal location for <br />recreational boaters, weekend campers and tourists. <br />Many believed it would become the next Lake Tahoe <br />and investors purchased land around the sea on the <br />premise of one day developing resorts. Today, those <br />plans of grandeur are distant memories. The area <br />attracts visitors, primarily fishermen and bird <br />watchers who come to gaze at the close to 400 <br />species of birds which continue to flock to the sea. <br /> <br />Since the Salton Sea is located along the Pacific <br />Flyway, it is a reststop for migrating birds and home <br />to a variety of fish species. Although a variety of <br />disease agents have been identified, the periodic <br />fish die-ofts primarily occur in the nutrient rich sea <br />from low dissolved oxygen during algae blooms and <br />from cold winter water which kills millions of the <br />introduced African Tilapia.ln 1999, 7.6 million liIapia <br />and croakers died from oxygen depletion due to algal <br />growth. Bird die-offs are more alarming. In 1992. <br />150.000 eared grebes died from unknown causes <br />and more recently, 1,400 endangered brown pelicans <br />perished from a form of botulism. <br /> <br />The 7.5 million acre-feet sea is a depository for <br />agricultural drainage from the surrounding Imperial. <br />Coachella and Mexicali Valley farmlands. Salty <br />irrigation water and high evaporation rates in the hot <br />desert have created water that is 25 to 30 percent <br />sallier than the Pacific Ocean. About 4.5 million tons <br />of salt combine with the 1.3 million acre-feet of inflow <br />entering the sea. About the same amount of water <br />evaporates annually, leaving salls behind and the <br />remaining water sallier each year. Approximately 10 <br />percent of the inflow to the sea originates in Mexico <br />and enters the sea via the New River. Because of <br />the discharge of industrial pollutants and poorly <br />treated sewage in Mexicali, the New River is among <br />the most polluted rivers in the U.S. <br /> <br />In 1998. Congress passed two federal bills to help <br />restore the Salton Sea. The first provided $13.4 <br />million through Ihe Environmental Protection Agency <br />to investigate mitigation possibilities at the sea. The <br />second. the Salton Sea Restoration Act. authorized <br /> <br />Interior to spend $8 million on restoration efforts - <br />$3 million for cleaning up the heavily polluted Alamo <br />and New rivers and $5 million for wildlife resource <br />studies. Efforts to restore the sea are spearheaded <br />by Interior through the Bureau and the Salton Sea <br />Authority, a joint powers agency representing Riv- <br />erside and Imperial counties and CVWD and 110. <br />Restoring the sea is made more complex by <br />proposed water transfers, tribal claims, California's <br />4.4 Plan and other issues. It is unknown what would <br />happen if irrigation districts began to conserve the <br />water which flows from farmlands and into the sea, <br />environmental assessments are underway to <br />determine the result. <br /> <br />In 2000, a decision was made to explore restoring <br />the sea using evaporative technologies in reducing <br />the sea's salt load. Currently. evaporation tests are <br />being conducted using solar evaporation ponds. <br />Tests using evaporative blowers that shoot mist into <br />the air, allowing water to evaporate quickly and salt <br />to be collected. were discontinued afler the proposal <br />was determined to be too expensive a solution. Tests <br />are underway until mid-2002 to gather data about <br />the effectiveness of the evaporation ponds in <br />removing salt. Some estimates of total costs to <br />restore the sea have exceeded $1 billion. <br /> <br /> <br />':1" <br />./ <br /> <br />:',y <br />III <br /> <br />\Vhat 10 do ahoutlhe s/(lle <br />oflhe Sa/lOll Sea is a lopic <br />generating milch dehate. <br /> <br />!:; <br /> <br />::;I <br /> <br />~- <br />~~~. <br />""~ <br />~ <br />m <br />