Audubon California and the Salton Sea

When irrigation canals from the Colorado River jumped their levees near the U.S./Mexican border in 1905 on the desert east of San Diego, millions of gallons of fresh water spilled into the "Salton Trough", historically an arm of the Lower Colorado River Delta at the head of the Gulf of California. When the water finally stopped, it filled a trough 45 miles long, 17 miles wide, and 83 feet deep. The Salton Sea was born - or was it?

Looking back in time - before 1905, presents us with an altogether different account. In fact, the current Salton Sea, which persists today, appears to be far more "natural" than the accident as it is commonly portrayed. Before levees and pumps reduced the lower Colorado River to a narrow, muddy channel, wet winters would regularly send it careening northwest-ward from Yuma, Arizona, where it would flood the Salton Trough before reaching the ocean at the head of the Gulf of California. Ancient Lake Cahuilla, which persisted until just 500 years ago, was at times even larger than the current Salton Sea - and productive enough to provide a delta fishery for the Indians in the region, whose fish traps are still visible far above the shores of the Sea today.

So, when birds began to flock to the sea during the 1900s, they were actually following ancient migratory paths developed over millions of years. Pelicans, cormorants and terns began nesting on large islands formed at the southern end of the Sea, and shorebirds and gulls stopped to refuel along its shore. Rafts of Eared Grebes and ducks once again wintered on the open water of the Sea, which now covers 376 square miles (making it larger than Lake Tahoe).

But the Salton Sea and the Delta aren't the only important bird habitats in the area dependent on Colorado River water. The marshy irrigation canals and open agricultural fields of the Imperial Valley, immediately to the south, have also emerged as critical wintering and breeding areas for birds, including some that are confined to the pitifully-reduced wetlands of the lower Colorado (e.g. Yuma Clapper Rail). Other species found here have been pushed out of agricultural areas elsewhere in the state (e.g. Burrowing Owl, Mountain Plover), and now thrive in the Imperial Valley, as do thousands of shorebirds that use the flooded fields during late summer and spring migration, and countless songbirds that pour through the Salton Trough en route to northern breeding areas each spring and fall.

Over the past hundred years, a combination of naturally salty soils, high evaporation rates and constant run-off from the Imperial and Coachella valleys have made this now land-locked sea ever saltier, which significantly threatens the entire Salton Sea ecosystem. Meanwhile, increased pressure from urban water users have resulted in proposals for major water transfers away from agriculture (and the Salton Sea) toward growing cities in coastal southern California.

History of Audubon's Involvement

Since the late 1990s, Audubon has been involved in helping shape policy regarding the Salton Sea. Beginning with San Diego Audubon Society and other southern California chapters, a statewide letter writing campaign from chapters to Audubon California was undertaken to get Audubon to weigh in on this issue. At the time, the Salton Sea had no advocate in the conservation community. Audubon California helped organize a series of public information meetings in various locations to try to educate our members and the public on the issues at stake. In 1997, with considerable support from California chapters, we drafted a position statement on the Sea and formed the "Salton Sea Task Force" (1997-2001) which was chaired by Dr. Phil Pryde of San Diego Audubon.

In 1998, Fred Cagle, an original Task Force member, joined the Dept. of Interior's "Salton Sea Science Subcommittee" (1998-2001) as a representative of Audubon. That committee was charged with "providing the scientific evaluations and recommendations required to guide the NEPA/CEQA process to sound conclusions regarding alternative actions for mitigating current degradation of the Salton Sea ecosystem and restoring recreation, wildlife and economic values." Fred (now with Sierra Club), and later Tom Kirk of the State of California's Salton Sea Authority, communicated regularly with Audubon California on ways to provide input in conserving birds at the Sea.

The year 1999 saw the beginning of a brief partnership between Audubon and the Cabezon Band of Mission Indians, which resulted in the production of a video outlining conservation concerns at the Sea. In 2000, consultant Mary Raftery was hired to work with Audubon California staff to develop a Salton Sea Campaign Plan, which further served to shape our position on the Sea's future. Unfortunately, funding was never secured for this campaign, though limited support has been received from our Washington, D.C. policy office via a regional grassroots coordinator (Judd Klement, based in our San Francisco office), who remains active in education events to retain local support for the Sea from chapters and interested locals.

In April 2001, a coalition of conservation groups that had been working on Salton Sea issues for several years, including Audubon California, released a "Joint Statement of conservation and recreation organizations on the future of the Salton Sea". This body, called the "Salton Sea Coalition" developed a Mission Statement in 2002, which sets out five major tenets of Salton Sea conservation:

Promoting a comprehensive plan that protects and improves the long-term viability of the Salton Sea and surrounding areas, including fish and wildlife resources, air and water quality, and recreational opportunities.
Increasing public awareness and support for protecting the long-term health of the Salton Sea ecosystem.
Protecting the Salton Sea from any actions that may further degrade fish and wildlife resources and air and water quality at the Sea and undermine restoration of the Sea's ecosystem.
Promoting the Salton Sea as an integral part of the Pacific Flyway, Colorado River, Colorado Delta, and historic Lake Cahuilla.
Coordinating and collaborating with organizations working to protect and restore other ecosystems connected to the Salton Sea.

The Water Transfer

Since 2002, the conservation debate surrounding the Sea's future has been dominated by the proposal to transfer Colorado River water away from the agricultural operations around the Salton Sea to urban areas along the coast, via the Metropolitan Water District. Such transfers would have potentially devastating impacts on the Salton Sea, but would also serve to encourage and enable urban sprawl in the still-expanding Los Angeles/Riverside/San Diego metropolitan area, which has some of the most sensitive and species-rich bird and wildlife habitats on Earth.

To analyze and effectively respond to these proposals, Audubon California has shifted its presence from a grassroots campaign to a professional legal force, retaining the services of the Law Office of J. William Yeates in Sacramento. From April to July 2002, The State Water Resources Control Board and the Imperial Irrigation District held a series of hearings on the Salton Sea water transfers, in which Audubon was represented by J. William Yeates.

All testimony and exhibits from these hearings may be found at: http://www.waterrights.ca.gov/IID/IIDHearingData/LocalPublish/index.html.

Of particular interest are the closing arguments submitted on behalf of Audubon, which provide a very convincing case for our continued involvement at the Salton Sea: http://www.waterrights.ca.gov/IID/IIDHearingData/LocalPublish/Auduon_Legal_Brief_-_Final.pdf

In preparation for major changes in the form and function of the Sea, the Salton Sea Authority and other agencies have been evaluating numerous proposals to offset the negative effects of this transfer, which may include such features as a desalinization plant and "double moat" of fresh water and salty runoff around the Sea's perimeter. Unfortunately, no credible mitigation measures have been proposed to offset the inevitable increase in urban sprawl such transfers would generate in the undeveloped "backcountry" portions of San Diego County and neighboring regions of southern California.

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