Salton Sea should be allowed to dry up

By: GERALD L. SUMMERS - Commentary | Saturday, October 21, 2006 6:44 PM PDT ∞

The Department of Water Resources has just completed its report on the possibility of saving the Salton Sea. It suggests the possibility of building dikes ranging in cost from $2.3 billion to $5.9 billion, but those plans are old hat and far from certain to solve the problems.

The department worries of air pollution from a dry lake, of migrating birds not having a rest stop on their way to the Sea of Cortez, but basically ignores the problem of fresh water being wasted into the sea in amounts ranging up to 900,000 acre-feet per year that could be used beneficially elsewhere in the state.

California takes in approximately 5 million acre-feet of water a year from the Colorado River. Historically, 3 million of that has gone to Imperial County, with about one-third of it being wasted into the Salton Sink. Contrast that with the water needs of the Los Angeles area at between 200,000 and 300,000 acre-feet per year.

The excess water from the irrigation system enters the Salton Sea because the Imperial County irrigation system is huge, inefficient and incapable of operating as it is without massive waste. Most of the water that enters the sea is fresh and has never passed through the soil, a fact that has been established in various lawsuits over the years. Without this waste, the Salton Sea would not exist.

The proposed solutions do not effectively address the waste problem, but rather focus on keeping some of the water clean for the birds and fish by building dikes and containing the polluted water. It is a rehash of ideas first presented and rejected in the 1960s.

The fact is, however, that no one in their right mind is going to vote to spend $2.3 billion to $5.9 billion in Imperial County, a place notorious for its lack of political clout, in order to continue this waste, when Southern California is in desperate need of that water for use elsewhere.

Can we justify such a project to save migrating birds who can just as easily get their drink from the Colorado River, or any of the other lakes and irrigated fields in the Imperial and Mexicali valleys on their way south? I don't think so.

The issue of air pollution from dust, if the sea were to be allowed to dry up, is one conjured out of thin air. Most of the soil in Imperial County is hard clay. Ask the farmers who must plow it up every year. And it has been compacted for millennia at the Salton Sink. The lake bed might crack a bit, but like other dry lake beds in Nevada, it is very unlikely to present serious dust problems.

And if it did, it would be a lot cheaper to water it all down occasionally and plant some trees to block the blowing dust than to spend all the money and waste all the water contemplated under the plan.

I understand the concern of the environmentalists, but they need to step back and take a good look at the situation. Building dikes to separate the good water from the bad will not stop birds from attempting to feed in the bad water. As it is now, thousands die every year from bacteria, viruses, and chemicals while visiting the sea, and if they live they are spreading those problems to other environments.

The only real solution is to help the Imperial Irrigation District fix its system, let the sea dry up, and deal with the problems that arise as they come. Southern California will benefit from being able to use that wasted water and the environment will be better off by eliminating a huge open sewage sump in our midst.

It may well be with all the hoopla generated by civic-minded environmentalists in their fervor to "Save the Salton Sea," as if it were Mother Teresa herself, the project may have developed a life of its own. But it will never be implemented for want of money or practicality, and the water will be taken when it is needed elsewhere. There is nothing quite as powerful as a large group of people in need of a drink.

Gerald L. Summers, J.D., of Temecula was a lawyer invovled in the Salton Bay Marina vs. Imperial Irrigation District lawsuit in the early 1980s. That case determined the IID's negligent operation and resulted in the state challenge to IID's perfected water rights.