Abstract

    This is a study of the problems facing the Salton Sea and it reaching sustainability. Located in the Imperial Valley, 130 miles east of San Diego, the Salton Sea is one of the lowest points in the United States at 227 feet below sea level.  This brings the lake high temperatures which evaporate the water from the lake causing the salinity in the lake to increase at tremendous rates.  Currently the lake is nearly 25% saltier than the ocean.  Due to the short winters in the Imperial Valley, it is a prime spot for farming.  The Salton Sea has become a sink for much of the agricultural runoff, especially from the New and Alamo Rivers.  Such agricultural pollutants as selenium, DDT, DDE, and raw sewage have been found in the Salton Sea. These issues are becoming of major importance since there are tremendous numbers of fish dying off, and many birds (370 different species) who use this lake as a stopover point on their migration through the Pacific Flyway are dying at alarming numbers.  If this gigantic salt lake (the largest inland body of water West of the Rocky Mountains with approximately 115 miles of shoreline) goes untreated, the pollution and salinity could have a tremendous impact on the wildlife in the Salton Sea.  Currently the US Congress is discussing a bill in remembrance of the late Congressman Sonny Bono.  Proposing $327 million dollars be spent on cleaning up the Salton Sea, the lake just might be saved yet.

    The Salton Sea is the largest inland body of water West of the Rocky Mountains and a major stop over point for many migratory birds along the Pacific Flyway, including many on the endangered species list. (http://www.rl.fws.gov/news/saltbgrd.htm; Daily News, December 1997) Over the years, this lake has been polluted to the point that if nothing is done, it will be virtually lifeless in less than fifteen years. (Imperial Valley Press, January 1998)

Location and Average Weather Patterns

    The Salton Sea is located in the Imperial Valley in southern California, 130 miles east of San Diego in a large basin called the Salton Trough. (http://visearth.ucsd.edu/VisE_Int/aralsea/SaltSea_intro.html) At 227 feet below sea level, the Salton Sea is one of the lowest places in the United States. For six months straight, the Salton Sea sees summer temperatures that top 100 degrees while it records less than an inch of rain all year, making the it one of the hottest and driest places in the United States. (http://www.rl.fws.gov/news/saltbgrd.htm)

History

    The Salton Trough has a history of filling up and forming inland lakes, which eventually dry up. Based on the paleoshorelines left on the surrounding mountains scientists found that in 500 A.D., the trough filled to form a lake the size of Delaware (about 10 times the current size) they called Cahuilla Lake. Fossil remains show that this lake was probably a freshwater lake but over time would have evaporated and accumulated high salinity levels much like is happening with the current lake. (http://visearth.ucsd.edu/VisE_Int/aralsea/SaltSea_cahuilla.html)

    The current lake was formed by an engineering blunder in 1905 in an attempt to bring water to the farmers in the Imperial Valley. Engineers built dikes to divert the Colorado River into the Imperial Valley, however these dikes proved to be weak, and when the Colorado River flooded in 1905, it tore through the dikes, spilling water into and filling the Salton Trough. Water ran in the dry Salton Trough for two years while the federal government pondered how to stop the water flow into the trough. (Orange County Register, February 1998) In 1907, the water flowing to Salton Sea was stopped when boulders were used to plug up the hole in the dikes leaking the water from the Colorado River. (http://www.desertusa.com/salton/salton.html) The Salton Sea was left behind with approximately 115 miles of shoreline, varying in width from about 9 to 15 miles, and an average depth of about 30 feet. (http://www.rl.fws.gov/news/saltbgrd.htm).

Issues of Concern

    One of the major issues of concern to scientists and residents alike, is the rising salt level in the lake. Over time the fresh water in the Salton Sea has been evaporated by the sun, leaving behind very high levels of salt. The Salton Sea is currently 25 percent saltier than the ocean and is evaporating at a rate of 18 percent of its total volume each year. (http://www.rl.fws.gov/news/saltbgrd.htm) The higher the salt levels rise, the more damage is done to the Salton Sea forcing scientists and policy makers to try and find a solution to this problem.

    Nutrient pollution is another issue of concern to scientists studying the Salton Sea. Since the Salton Trough is known for such mild winters, it is a prime area for agriculture. The lake is surrounded by year round farms with crops including cotton, sugar beets, lettuce, and many citrus crops. Runoff from many of the farms surrounding the Salton Sea makes its way into the lake through the New and Alamo Rivers causing serious lake eutrophication problems. Mixing the various contaminants causes the oxygen levels to drop dramatically, endangering the remaining fish in the Salton Sea. (http://visearth.ucsd.edu/VisE_Int/aralsea/SaltSea_intro2.html)

    The bird population in the Salton Sea is also threatened. Outbreaks of diseases like avian botulism and avian cholera kill thousands of birds each year. There have been a reported 370 different species of birds spotted in the Salton Sea, some of which are endangered and only found at the Salton Sea. (Imperial Valley Press, 1998) Scientists intend to find a way to help decrease the number of deaths each year due to disease, but must first find the source of the problem.

Social Aspects

    The Salton Sea community relies on tourism each year for its’ economic stability. Many of the hotels, restaurants, and shops would not survive if it were not for the people that the community sees during the popular tourist months each year. The community relies on the traffic it sees from sport fishing and bird watching as well as camping. However with the number of birds and fish on the demise, this community is in serious trouble.

    In the 1960’s, the Salton Sea was a popular tourist attraction, bringing nearly half a million tourists each year. People enjoyed the lake for the camping, water skiing, fishing, bird watching, and boating the Salton Sea offered its visitors. There were many waterside restaurants as well as resorts built to support the number of visitors. However this prosperity all came to an end in 1976, when torrential rains raised the level of the lake, flooding shoreline resorts. (Orange County Register, February 1998)

Sonny Bono Salton Sea Restoration Act

    US Congressman Sonny Bono was a major advocate for the Salton Sea. Residing in the Imperial Valley Sonny realized the urgency of the Salton Sea problem, and was preparing a bill for Congress to review. However with his passing, the bill was sure to be cast aside until the Speaker, Newt Gingrich, decided to pick up the bill and bring it before Congress as the "Sonny Bono Salton Sea Restoration Act." (Orange County Register, February 1998)

    This $327 million dollar restoration act will attempt to flush the Salton Sea of its high salinity. (Los Angeles Times, February 1998) Opponents of this bill argue that the bill has a high price tag to fund; however the proponents argue that this would bring a permanent solution to the salinity problem and is worth the cost in the long run. (Orange County Register, February 1998)

    The bill proposes a pipeline be built to pump the considerably less salty water from the Sea of Cortez in Mexico, to the Salton Sea. Brine would then be drained out of the Salton Sea and pumped into the dry lake bed of Laguna Salada, also in Mexico, and left to evaporate. (Orange County Register, February 1998)

Other Proposals

    The Sonny Bono proposal is not the only idea being pondered. Another proposal is to cut the lake in half with dikes. Half of the lake would be used to impound the salt water to be evaporated. The other half would remain intact, with a pump draining salt water into the diked half to evaporate. The freshwater runoff would decrease the salinity in the undiked half of the lake. (Orange County Register, 34)

How to Deal with Other Pollution

    The New and Alamo Rivers, whose origins are in Mexico, have been found to be the main contributors of pollution to the Salton Sea. Such contaminants as selenium, untreated raw sewage, DDT, and DDE have all been found in the Salton Sea and traced to these rivers. The problem is that many of the contaminants that are being found in these rivers are outlawed in the US, however not in Mexico. Mexico’s regulations are not as stiff, and thus many contaminants are dumped into these rivers and transported to the US over the border and into the Salton Sea unregulated. (http://visearth.ucsd.edu/VisE_Int/aralsea/SaltSea_pollut2.html)

    The obvious solution being implemented is the building of a treatment plant to filter the water in these rivers. The fear is that once these rivers are running with clean water, agriculture in Mexico is going to tap into this source and take the newly cleaned water for their farming operations. This is a problem because these rivers also bring much needed fresh water into the Salton Sea, thus reducing the salinity to a great extent. Without this water flowing into the Salton Sea, the salinity would probably have killed the lake by this point. (Orange County Register, 33)

Wildlife in the Salton Sea

    The Salton Sea is a sanctuary to many different species of fish and wildlife. It is home to many tropical fish such as tilapia and corvina, plus over 370 different species of birds are found there. (Imperial Valley Press, January 1998) However, with pollution and salinity increasing these animals are in danger.

Fish

    The salinity in the lake has been devastating to the fish population. After it was found that the native freshwater fish population was dying off in the 1950s, the California Department of Fish and Game introduced some saltwater fish. Among these were corvina, tilapia, gulf croaker, and sargo. (http://www.rl.fws.gov/news/saltbgrd.htm) Of these fish the tilapia is one that has had the most success, however it will not be able to survive much longer. The salinity in the lake is rising at about 1% per year to nearly 45 parts per thousand. At this point, the tilapia will no longer be able to reproduce. Yet another reason to implement a desalinization plan quickly. (http://visearth.ucsd.edu/VisE_Int/aralsea/SaltSea_pollut.html)

Birds

    The number of birds that die at the Salton Sea each year is alarming. Hundreds of thousands of birds stop here every year, yet many of them never leave. They get infected with various diseases like avian cholera and avian botulism, as well as with some unknown diseases. (http://www.rl.fws.gov/news/saltmort.htm) The number of bird deaths has alarmed scientists and prompted the construction of the Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge. All of the animals found sick or dying at the Salton Sea are brought to the refuge to be rehabilitated and released back to the wild. However, during times of outbreak, there are far to many birds for the refuge to handle. Consequently, many birds die each year. Table 1 lists the deaths of various species of birds since 1987, as well as the diseases that claimed them.

Table 1. Salton Bird Deaths

Problems of Sustainability

    There are many things that must be considered when we attempt to reach sustainability of the Salton Sea. Among the problems at hand for the Salton Sea are political matters, economic concerns, and technical constraints.

Political Constraints

    The cleaning of the Salton Sea will require international cooperation. One of the plans being brought before Congress to filter the water of the New and Alamo Rivers before it reaches the Salton Sea to reduce salinity as well as stop the contaminants from flowing from Mexico. Congress fears that once there is clean water flowing in these rivers, farmers in Mexico will begin to use it for their crops. The clean water made by this filtering plant will then be diverted away from the Salton Sea where it is desperately needed to solve some of the lake’s problems, slowing its recovery. Congress will not spend US money on a filtering plant that Mexico is just going to irrigate their crops with. (Orange County Register, 1998)

    There are many people that believe that one option that is being overlooked is doing nothing. The Salton Sea having a history of filling and evaporating, may just be the way it is suppose to, and we should let nature take its course. In recent years, one of the fish thought to be on the decline (the corvina) has made a shocking comeback, adding to the idea that humans should just leave it be. Says Imperial County resident ranger Merrill Ingles, "If we just leave well enough alone, the sea might revive on its own. The corvina are back. There are plenty of ducks. Maybe we don’t need to do anything." (Orange County Register, 1998)

Economic Constraints

    In order to repair the damage done to the Salton Sea, it is going to take a large investment of financial capital. Estimates for clean-up have reached a $327 million dollar price tag. (Los Angeles Times, February 1998) However, once the lake is clean, many believe the town of Salton City will again flourish and will more than pay for itself.

    There are numerous condominium and casino projects being proposed in the Salton Sea area, yet none are being put into action. No one will invest in an area where there is so much that is unstable. It is hard to tell where the level of the sea is going to be each year let alone how the bird and fish populations are surviving from year to year. No business is ready to invest in such an unsure business environment, so until the Salton Sea can be stabilized, it will continue to be the plan that never was. (Orange County Register, 1998)

Opportunities

Politically

    Congress must be willing to share any clean water that we take from Mexico. Any water that we would take belongs to Mexico, before it would belong to the US. An agreement must be made with the government of Mexico to allow the Salton Sea to benefit from the clean water coming from the New and Alamo Rivers, while allowing farmers in Mexico to use some of the water for their crops.

    If an agreement can not be made between these two governments, then what can be done? One idea that has been thought of is building a pipeline from the Pacific Ocean to the Salton Sea, instead of building a pipeline from the Sea of Cortez in Mexico. This would help with the salinity problem, however this would not help to stop the contaminants running into the Salton Sea from the New and Alamo Rivers. Inevitably, there must be an agreement between these to countries to save this resource.

Economically

    Many of the constraints to the sustainability of the Salton Sea revolve around it getting cleaned up. Once the salinity is reduced to levels that the fish can survive, and pollution into the lake is stopped, the lake could once again flourish. More businesses would be willing to invest in projects near the Salton Sea, bringing more people to the Salton Sea. More people visiting the Salton Sea would bring the Salton Sea communities more money and prosperity.

    Recreation would pick up once again. People would be able to safely use the lake for fishing, boating, swimming, and there would be larger numbers of birds for bird watchers since there would no longer be bird die-offs due to contaminated wildlife. This increase in recreation will bring money to all of the resorts, restaurants, and markets along the Salton Sea shores and improving the economy.

Recommendations

    The biggest problem facing the Salton Sea is the high level of salinity in the water. The salt currently in the Salton Sea must be removed and the lake must be made safe from the salinity increasing in the future.

    Of the plans that have been proposed so far, there is one that seems to stick out to me. This plan proposes that a portion of the Salton Sea be blocked off to impound all of the saltwater. A pump would transfer the saltwater to this side and would be left to evaporate. Meanwhile, the other half of the lake would be receiving new water from the surrounding rivers and reducing the salinity of the Salton Sea.

    I like this plan because it would allow the Salton Sea to become its own self-contained system. It would not as other plans propose, be pumping it’s saltwater into other places where the saltwater could possibly do more damage to the environment.

    As long as the Salton Sea is used as an agricultural dumping site, the Salton Sea will not be a sustainable environment. The amount of contaminants that enter the Salton Sea must be stopped. Regulations on the water that is allowed to enter the Salton Sea must be stiff to deter the farmers from dumping into the New and Alamo Rivers. There must also be a filtration plant built to clean out any contaminants that might make their way into these rivers.

    Mexico and the US must agree that the Salton Sea must be saved. Since Mexico dumps their contaminants into the New and Alamo Rivers as much as the US, they must be willing to limit their dumping to help keep the Salton Sea clean. Without Mexico working as hard as the US, contaminants will still make their way into this great lake. International cooperation is a must to sustain the Salton Sea.

Bibliography

Internet Sources

Unknown Author. "Why is the Salton Sea Important?": 8 pp. Online. Internet. 25 Jan. 1998. Available http://www.rl.fws.gov/news/saltgbgrd.htm

Unknown Author. "Wildlife Mortality Estiamtes 1987-1996 Salton Sea." Online. Internet. 25 Jan. 1998. Available http://www.rl.fws.gov/news/saltmort.htm

Unknown Author. "1997 Fish and Wildlife Mortality Estimates.": 11 pp. Online. Internet. 25 Jan. 1998. Available http://www.rl.fws.gov/news/salt97.htm

Unknown Author. "The Salton Sea.": 25 pp. Online. Internet. 25 Jan. 1998. Available http://www.desertusa.com/salton/salton.html

Unknown Author. "The Salton Sea." 1 pp. Online. Internet. 24 Jan. 1998. Available http://visearth.ucsd.edu/VisE_Int/aralsea/SaltSea_intro.html

Unknown Author. "The Salton Sea." 1 pp. Online. Internet. 24 Jan. 1998. Available http://visearth.ucsd.edu?VisE_Int/aralsea/SaltSea_intro2.html

Unknown Author. "The Salton Sea." 1 pp. Online. Internet. 24 Jan. 1998. Available http://visearth.ucsd.edu?VisE_Int/aralsea/SaltSea_pollut.html

Unknown Author. "The Salton Sea." 3 pp. Online. Internet. 24 Jan. 1998. Available http://visearth.ucsd.edu?VisE_Int/aralsea/SaltSea_pollut2.html

Unknown Author. "The Salton Sea." 1 pp. Online. Internet. 24 Jan. 1998. Available http://visearth.ucsd.edu?VisE_Int/aralsea/SaltSea_cahuilla.html

Periodicals

Garlington, Phil. "Saving the Salton Sea." Orange County Register 1 Feb. 1998: News 33-34

Rosenberg, Alec. "Audubon Society Inspired to Action by Bird Die-offs." Imperial Valley Press 11 Jan. 1998.

Story, Paula. "Babbitt Promises Study of Salton Sea: Dying Fish, Birds Alarm Interior Seceretary." Daily News 20 Dec. 1997.

Fiore, Faye. "Gingrich Unveils Salton Sea Bill as a Tribute to Bono." Los Angeles Times 26 Feb. 1998.

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