Integrated Water Management Plan Evaluation: A review of the Salton Sea Authority's preferred project concept for rehabilitating the Salton Sea

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) | March 11th, 2005

The USGS Salton Sea Science Office convened an experts workshop, from November 15-17 in Riverside, California, to evaluate a Salton Sea rehabilitation proposal known as t

The USGS Salton Sea Science Office convened an experts workshop, from November 15-17 in Riverside, California, to evaluate a Salton Sea rehabilitation proposal known as the Integrated Water Management Plan (IWMP) (also known as the ‘North Lake Plan’). Salton Sea Restoration: Preferred Project Report (Salton Sea Authority 2004) describes the IWMP and provided the basis for this evaluation. As described further in the following, the IWMP would build a causeway across the middle of the current Salton Sea, creating a smaller north lake that discharges into a proposed 20,000 acres of shallow-water wetlands in the southern portion of the Sea, and a terminal brine pool, as well as various treatment wetlands. A recently implemented water conservation and transfer agreement, along with several unrelated actions, will significantly decrease the volume of water flowing into southeastern California’s Salton Sea in the next 20 years, shrinking the Sea and increasing salinity beyond the tolerances of most of the species currently present. Future conditions at the Sea will be very different from current conditions, whether or not the IWMP is implemented. The surface elevation of the Salton Sea fluctuates by more than 0.3 meter (one foot) annually, primarily in response to agricultural irrigation patterns in the Imperial Valley. On January 1, 2005, the surface elevation of the Salton Sea was ~69.8 meters (228.86 feet) below mean sea level. The Sea is a terminal lake; the only outlet for its waters is via evaporation. The Sea is an officially-designated sump for the water draining from fields in the adjacent Coachella and Imperial Valleys; the Sea also receives agricultural and municipal drainage from the Mexicali Valley, in Baja California. The Sea is currently 33% saltier than the ocean and getting saltier each year. The Sea is also eutrophic, with extremely high levels of biological productivity, fed by fertilizers draining off of the fields in the basin. This productivity has attracted more than 400 species of birds to the area, including large numbers of breeding birds and special status species. The objective of the experts workshop evaluation process was to develop a credible description of the future physical and biological conditions created by implementation of the IWMP. The objective of the evaluation process was not to support or reject the proposal. This was a scientific review process. Economic and recreational impacts generated by implementation of the proposal, although important, were beyond the scope of this evaluation process and were not addressed. The evaluation did not concern itself with regulatory, policy, political or agency positions. Based on the scientific expertise of the participants, the evaluation sought to identify any critical flaws in the proposal, as well as major beneficial outcomes, major questions to be resolved, and considerations of importance in judging the effectiveness of the proposal. The views and opinions reflected in this report are those of the participants and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of their agencies or affiliations, nor do they necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation or U.S. Geological Survey.

Irregular Focal Mechanisms Observed at Salton Sea Geothermal Field: Possible Influences of Anthropogenic Stress Perturbations

Stanford University | February 12th, 2018

At the Salton Sea Geothermal Field (SSGF), strain accumulation is released through seismic slip and aseismic deformation. Earthquake activity at the SSGF often oc

At the Salton Sea Geothermal Field (SSGF), strain accumulation is released through seismic slip and aseismic deformation. Earthquake activity at the SSGF often occurs in swarm-like clusters, some with clear migration patterns. We have identified an earthquake sequence composed entirely of focal mechanisms representing an ambiguous style of faulting, where strikes are similar but deformation occurs due to steeply-dipping normal faults with varied stress states. In order to more accurately determine the style of faulting for these events, we revisit the original waveforms and refine estimates of P and S wave arrival times and displacement amplitudes. We calculate the acceptable focal plane solutions using P-wave polarities and S/P amplitude ratios, and determine the preferred fault plane. Without constraints on local variations in stress, found by inverting the full earthquake catalog, it is difficult to explain the occurrence of such events using standard fault-mechanics and friction. Comparing these variations with the expected poroelastic effects from local production and injection of geothermal fluids suggests that anthropogenic activity could affect the style of faulting.

Irrigation in Southern California

Scientific American | December 17th, 1904

As an example of the beneficent results of irrigation of desert lands, a project which has been undertaken in Southern California is probably one of the most notable i

As an example of the beneficent results of irrigation of desert lands, a project which has been undertaken in Southern California is probably one of the most notable in America, for its promoters selected a region most of which was entirely devoid of vegetation in any form, the soil, if it can be called such, not even containing enough elements of fertility to nourish the sparse vegetation found in the so-called desert of the Southwest. Prior to the reclamation of this land, one could travel for miles without seeing any vegetation. Most of the area referred to forms a part of the Colorado Valley, and is situated in San Diego County. The head of the canal was located on the river at a point seven miles west of Yuma, Arizona, and but a short distance from the boundary between California and Mexico. Here the elevation is 120 feet above sea level, a sufficient altitude to give an average fall of from four to six feet to the mile. It was found impossible to construct the waterway in a straight line, owing to the topography of the country, and in its course it makes a wide detour, passing through a portion of the Mexican republic. It is unique from the fact that it is probably the only international irrigation canal in the world, the water being used to cultivate a considerable area in the southern republic.

Joining Forces: Innovative Co-Funding to Enhance Corporate Water Stewardship Impact in the Colorado River Basin

Pacific Institute | May 16th, 2023

The premise of this paper is that co-funding with existing and emerging funding mechanisms can help corporations tackle more complex problems at more meaningful scales in

The premise of this paper is that co-funding with existing and emerging funding mechanisms can help corporations tackle more complex problems at more meaningful scales in the Colorado River Basin and beyond. Corporations often have more flexibility than other funders, particularly federal and state agencies, in deciding how to spend their water stewardship budgets. This flexibility is an important asset, allowing funding to be deployed strategically. This white paper defines innovative co-funding as the intentional and focused use of corporate water stewardship funding alongside other funders and funding sources in new ways that expand the impact of corporate spending.

Just the Facts: Land, Water, and Agriculture in the Colorado River Basin

Babbitt Center for Land and Water Policy (Babbitt Center) | March 1st, 2022

Late Holocene Lacustrine Chronology and Archaeology of Ancient Lake Cahuilla, California

Quaternary Research (Elsevier) | May 1st, 1983

Freshwater lakes existed intermittently in the Salton Trough of southern California during the late Holocene. The lakes formed north of the subaerial Colorado River Delta

Freshwater lakes existed intermittently in the Salton Trough of southern California during the late Holocene. The lakes formed north of the subaerial Colorado River Delta whenever the Colorado River flowed west into the trough instead of south to the Gulf of California. Water filled the trough to a maximum altitude of 12 m. Stratigraphy, radiocarbon dates, and supplementary evidence document four lacustral intervals of Lake Cahuilla between A.D. 700 and 1580. Archaeological sites are associated with the 12-m shoreline and their occupation correlates with these lacustral intervals.

Letter from John J. Entsminger, General Manager, Southern Nevada Water Authority, to Debra Haland, Secretary, U.S. Department of Interior

Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) | August 15th, 2022

Letter to Governor Brown and the Legislature on the Salton Sea

Little Hoover Commission | June 24th, 2016

The Little Hoover Commission in a letter sent Friday to Governor Brown and the Legislature again renewed its call for urgent action at the Salton Sea to prevent a massive

The Little Hoover Commission in a letter sent Friday to Governor Brown and the Legislature again renewed its call for urgent action at the Salton Sea to prevent a massive public health, environmental and economic disaster in Southern California. Policymakers must replicate the effective approach taken to meet the state’s rewewable energy goals, wrote the Commission in its letter. Then, the Govenor gave a senior official the authority to do what it took to get projects through red tape at all levels of government. The model was remarkably simple: Get everyone together and get it done. The letter results from continuing oversight to which the Commission pledged in its 2015 report, Averting Disaster: Action Now for the Salton Sea. The Commission held an April 2016 hearing to get an update on the state’s progress in strategically managing the Salton Sea. It heard from the assistant secretary for Salton Sea policy at the Natural Resources Agency, as well as stakeholders from local government and the environmental community. The Commission’s letter acknowledges that momentum is building and that the state has made important progress in managing the sea, particularly with $80 million in funding in the Governor’s proposed 2016-17 budget. However, the Commission’s letter maintains that the state is not moving fast enough or allocating sufficient resources to prevent a disaster. Timelines have been delayed, short-term goals scarcely cover a fraction of exposed lakebed and much more than $80 million is needed to manage the sea.

Lower Basin Alternative for the Post-2026 Coordinated Operation of the Colorado River Basin

Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) | March 6th, 2024

Lower Colorado River Basin Plan letter to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, 5/22/23

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) | May 22nd, 2023