Brief Tour of Salton Sea History and Science

Transcription

1 Brief Tour of Salton Sea History and Science Salton Sea Presentation February 17, 2016 UCR Palm Desert, California Valerie Simon Salton Sea Program Manager Bureau of Reclamation

2 Historical Highlights 1500: Colorado River fills Lake Cahuilla to create a waterbody 26 times the size of the current Sea (calcareous water line remains visible on westerly mtns) subsequent periodic ephemeral lakes form. 1892: New Liverpool Salt Company mines salt from west of the railroad station named Salton. 1901: California Development Company contracted builds Alamo Canal for delivery of Colorado River by gravity flow to Imperial Valley farmer/settlers.

3 Historical Highlights 1905:Temporary diversion of the Co River to replace water from the blocked Alamo Canal is breached by a series of floods. River flows into the Salton Basin for about 2 years. 1907: Southern Pacific Railroad repairs the breach. USGS records Sea elevation at 197 feet below sea level. 1924: President Calvin Coolidge issues Public Water Reserve Orders 90 and 114 (in 1928) setting aside lands under the Sea as a permanent drainage reservoir for agricultural and surface water runoff from the Imperial and Coachella Valleys. All lands subject to the two Public Water Reserve Orders were revoked in their entirety by Public Land Order 6105 on March 5, Reclamation subsequently withdrew 79,576 acres from the public domain to maintain ag discharge sump.

4 Historical Highlights 1930: Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge (35,000 acres) designated by EO (Renamed Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge in 1998) : Fishermen supply mullet from Sea to coastal fish markets after German subs limit commercial ocean fishing during WWII : B-29s from the 393rd Heavy Bombardment Squadron, commanded by LtCol Paul Tibbets, drops highly secret dummy bombs into the Sea. On August 6, 1945, Tibbets, in the Enola Gay, drops the first Atomic Bomb over Hiroshima, Japan.

5 Historical Highlights : The CDFG introduces Corvina and Sargo, along with several other species, after which only tilapia, a freshwater fish, adapt to increased salinity and survive into the 21st century. 1955: Salton Sea State Park is dedicated; at the time, the largest in CA (120,682 acres - renamed the Salton Sea State Recreation Area in 1965.) 1968: USGS records Sea surface elevation at 233 feet below sea level (close to present day elev).

6 Historical Highlights 1974: Salinity documented at 38 ppt (about same as ocean water) 1993: The Salton Sea Authority is formed for the purpose of directing and coordinating activities relating to improvement of water quality and stabilization of water elevations and to enhance recreational and economic development potential of the Salton Sea and other beneficial uses 2003: The QSA is executed to quantify IID, CVWD, and MWD s share of California s 4.4 million acrefeet appropriation of Colorado River water.

7 Historical Highlights 2012: CA Financial Assistance Program awards $1.2M to FWS for Red Hill Bay Project (420 acres of shallow saline habitat for migratory birds); $700K to IID/Sephton for Salton Sea Water Habitat Pilot Project, and $1,1M to TMDCI/SSA for the Tribe s wetlands rehabilitation project. 2014: DOI and SSA enter into an MOU for collaboration and exchange of technical and scientific information. 2014: The SSA and the WRI at CSSB-PD establishes a Salton Sea Records Repository. 2014: The SWRCB convenes a workshop regarding the status of the Sea in response to a petition from IID.

8 Historical Highlights 2015: The IID Salton Sea Restoration and Renewable Energy Initiative released as an incremental approach designed to minimize environmental and air quality impacts, while using revenue generated by renewable energy projects to fund larger scale environmental mitigation and restoration efforts. 2015: Reclamation records Sea salinity in May at approx 57 ppt. 2015: Bruce Wilcox selected as the new Assistant Secretary for Salton Sea Policy, CA Natural Resources Agency. 2015: November 5 groundbreaking for Red Hill Bay project. 2015: Nov-Dec: State of California convenes series of Salton Sea Management Program agency stakeholder workshops.

9 Why is the Salton Sea Important? Human Health/Air Quality/Fugitive Dust Mitigation Approximately 20 Species of Conservation Concern Avian Diversity is Second in North America (+400 species) Regional Water Security (QSA) Geothermal and other renewable energy opportunities Permanent Repository for Agricultural Drainage Water Fishery/Recreation/Socio-economic opportunities Probable micro-climate for agriculture industries Largest lake in California

10 DOI Issues of concern: Migratory Birds

11 The Scientific Challenges Declining inflows Salinity increasing Nutrients increasing Fugitive dust Human health risk Avian disease H2S (The Big Stink of 2012) Selenium, arsenic Geothermal activity Earthquakes/faults Fisheries habitat (loss) Migratory bird habitat (loss)

12 Science at the Salton Sea 1969: DOI and other agencies complete recon study of water quality concerns in the Sea. 1970: Brown Pelican is listed as an endangered species habitat includes Sea. (De-listed in 2009). 1971: Salton Sea Project Act of 1971 (P.L ) authorizes DOI agencies to conduct a feasibility investigation to provide alternatives for lowering the salinity and maintaining water levels in the Sea.

13 Science at the Salton Sea 1996: Type C avian botulism outbreak causes an estimated 15-20% decimation of western population of white pelicans and more than 1,000 endangered brown pelicans die at the Sea. 1997: Reclamation and SSA provide evaluation of alternatives to Congress to address salinity and elevation concerns at the Sea. 1997: A workshop is held in Palm Springs, which becomes the genesis for future scientific endeavors at the Sea. Workshop participants include FWS, CA DFG, Reclamation, and USGS. 1998: The Salton Sea Reclamation Act of 1998 authorizes DOI to complete studies of options to stabilize salinity and surface elevation, as well as maintain fish and wildlife populations and enhance the potential for recreation and economic development.

14 Science at the Sea 1998: In August, 7.6M tilapia and croakers die from oxygen depletion due to algae bloom. The Sea still had the most productive fishery in the world at that time. 1998: SSA awarded EPA grant to conduct scientific investigations: Restoring and Sustaining the Salton Sea: Supporting Science and Environmental Data Collection and Analysis Scientific oversight conducted by Science Subcommittee and USGS Salton Sea Science Office. 1999: Reclamation begins quarterly water quality monitoring at the Salton Sea. 1999: The Water Resources Development Act of 1999 authorizes the Secretary of the Army to provide assistance to Federal, state, and local agencies to implement restoration measures in the Sea. 2000: The USGS Salton Sea Science Office is established to provide continuity of the science effort, effectiveness of the science undertaken in support of the restoration project and efficiency of operations in serving management needs (Salton Sea Science Subcommittee, 2000). 2000: The Secretary of the Interior submits to Congress a Reclamation-produced DEIS/DEIR and Strategic Science Plan for restoring the Sea.

15 Science at the Sea 2004: The Water Supply Reliability and Environmental Improvement Act of 2004 required the Secretary of the Interior, with CA and the SSA, to complete a feasibility study on a preferred alternative for Salton Sea restoration : USGS and Reclamation construct Shallow Saline Habitat Ponds (SHPs) to evaluate the ecological risk to birds from selenium (blended water strategy). USGS publishes An Ecological Risk Assessment documenting that SHPs are a viable alternative for restoration of wetlands at the Sea (Case III, H.L. et al. 2013). 2007: Per the Water Supply and Reliability and Environmental Improvement Act of 2004, Reclamation releases a summary report titled Restoration of Salton Sea. 2007: CA finalizes their PEIR on Salton Sea Restoration.

16 Science at the Sea 2013: The USACOE and CA release their Final EIR/EIS for the SCH. The preferred alternative permits 3,770 acres of shallow saline ponds at the mouth of the New River. (Construction commences in 2016). 2013: UCI starts The Salton Sea Initiative to harness the research, teaching, and service resources of the UCI campus to help address the multiple sustainability challenges faced by the region. 2014: Genetics analyses prove that the endangered bird formerly known as Yuma Clapper Rail is a subspecies of the newly designated Ridgway s Rail, also classified as endangered. 2014: USGS convenes meetings for stakeholders, scientists, and managers to review all the Salton Sea science conducted to date to assess knowledge gaps, and make recommendations for immediate and near future science and monitoring needs, including anticipated funding requirements for Salton Sea management decisions.

17 Hazard s Toll Report Pacific Institute report highlights: Flows to Sea decrease by 40% in the next 15 years Volume decrease of more than 60% = 100 sq mi of exposed playa. Salinity concentrations triple. Estimated costs by 2047 habitat loss $10-26B health effects from blowing dust $21-37B property values decrease $400M recreation revenues decrease $ M

18 Colorado River Drought was the driest 15-year period in over 100 years of historical records This 15-year period is less than the 1 st percentile from tree-ring reconstructions that date back over 1200 years The observed 2015 April through July runoff, above Lake Powell was 97% of average QSA mitigation water to Salton Sea: 110k in k in k in 2017 (finito) 1 Percent of average is based on the period of record from

19 Declining Inflows Daily lake water surface elevation at the USGS gage at the New River, near Westmoreland, CA.

20 Elevation Salinity Loss of brine shrimp Loss of brine flies Loss of fish Effect of No- Action on Salinity and Lake Elevation Modified from Cohen and Hyun, Hazard: The Future of the Salton Sea with No Restoration Project

21 Inflow Reductions Decrease 30-40% less in water waterquality Increase The Salton in Sea air pollution will shrink Loss of wildlife habitat Salton Sea Sea at elevation -252 ft. Salton at elevation

22 SALTON SEA 2001 DAVIS ROAD Fugitive Dust issues associated with exposed dry playa and receding lake level

23 California county listing for childhood asthma hospitalizations Riverside and Imperial County marked in red (Salton Sea straddles both counties).

24 Success Story N USGS/Reclamation Shallow Habitat Project Site at southern end of Sea Davis Road Aerial photo November 2007

25 Shallow Habitat Project pond 2, mixed gulls, White pelican, mixed shorebirds

26 Salton Sea Management Large, one-time expensive solutions are not practical Focus should be on incremental effective solutions Red Hill Bay