Californians approve bond measure that will provide $200 million for Salton Sea

Ian James | The Desert Sun

Show Caption Hide Caption Explained: 2018 California primary election propositions A breakdown of the propositions on the 2018 primary election ballot

Californians approved the $4.1 billion bond measure Proposition 68 on Tuesday, giving a boost to California’s long-delayed and underfunded effort to build thousands of acres of wetlands around the shrinking Salton Sea.

A total of $200 million for Salton Sea projects is rolled into the statewide ballot measure, which will also provide money for a variety of water projects, state and local parks, and wildlife conservation programs.

Supporters said they hope the infusion of funding for the Salton Sea will help state officials get moving with the construction of ponds and wetlands on sections of the exposed shoreline, as envisioned under a 10-year plan released last year. The projects along portions of the shoreline are intended to help control lung-damaging dust while also creating wetlands to revitalize bird habitats.

The measure passed with 56 percent of the vote, according to preliminary results. Supporters celebrated the result on Tuesday night.

"It’s very exciting. I think right now the biggest challenge will be for the state of California to honor the trust of the California voters," said Frank Ruiz, Salton Sea program director for Audubon California. "Addressing the crisis of the Salton Sea should be now one of the top priorities for officials in the state."

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Ahead of the vote, supporters of Proposition 68 said it would secure critical funding to support the state’s Salton Sea plan and reduce dust in surrounding communities where people already suffer from high asthma rates.

Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia, D-Coachella, said at a rally last month that the measure “is about saving the Salton Sea."

Other supporters of the measure included the Coachella Valley Water District and environmental groups, such as The Nature Conservancy and the Sierra Club.

Opponents argued the $4.1 billion bond is too expensive and will leave the state with too much debt.

State Sen. Jeff Stone, R-Temecula, urged voters to reject Proposition 68, saying in a post on Facebook: “We can afford to pay for this with CASH with our $9 Billion surplus this year!”

Even though more than 2.1 million Californians voted yes to pass the bond, the measure fared worse in Riverside County, where more than 52 percent voted no.

The Salton Sea’s shorelines are retreating as pressures grow on the dwindling supply of Colorado River water, and as the Imperial Valley sends increasing amounts of water away from the area’s farmlands to cities in San Diego County and Coachella Valley under a water transfer deal.

The 2003 water transfer agreement called for the Imperial Irrigation District to deliver “mitigation water” to the lake for 15 years. Those water deliveries were cut off at the end of 2017, speeding up the lake’s decline.

Over the next 30 years, the Salton Sea is projected to shrink by about a third, releasing more toxic dust into the air.

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The sea formed between 1905 and 1907, when floodwaters from the Colorado River burst through irrigation canals and filled the low-lying basin known as the Salton Sink, covering an ancient lakebed.

The sea is sustained largely by agricultural runoff from surrounding farmland. It has no outlet and is growing progressively saltier, leaving few fish and triggering declines in populations of birds, such as pelicans and double-crested cormorants.

The agricultural runoff and wastewater that flow into the Salton Sea have filled it with high levels of nutrients that feed algae, and the lake regularly gives off a stench of decay resembling rotten eggs.

Over the past 15 years, the surface of the Salton Sea has declined 7.6 feet as the amount of water flowing in has decreased and evaporation has taken its toll. The retreating shorelines have left about 20,000 acres of dry lakebed exposed — a growing band of dusty soil that threatens to spew more dust into nearby communities.

Imperial County already has the highest rate of asthma-related emergency room visits for children in California. Residents and environmental activists have urged state officials to pick up the pace on the wetlands projects to prevent a public health disaster.

California’s Natural Resources Agency released its 10-year plan for the Salton Sea in March 2017. The $383-million plan called for building thousands of acres of ponds and wetlands around portions of the shorelines.

More than a year later, state officials have said less than 50 acres of wetlands have been built — an initial project on the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians’ reservation on the north shore. State officials have yet to break ground on other wetlands projects planned on the south shore.

And meanwhile, the estimated cost of the so-called Salton Sea Management Program has grown to $410 million.

Until Proposition 68’s approval, only $80.5 million had been approved for the plan. Now the state has about two-thirds of the total funding secured.

Bruce Wilcox, the state’s assistant secretary for Salton Sea policy, said the approval of the bond was critical for the state's plans.

"It will make a big difference," Wilcox told The Desert Sun on Tuesday night. "It means we have the ability to move forward with a good share of phase 1."

He said construction of wetlands on the south shore is scheduled to begin by the end of the year.

Ruiz said now that the funding is secured, he hopes to see quicker progress.

"Californians are waiting for these projects to be implemented on the ground," Ruiz said. "There is no more time for delays. There is no more time for excuses."

Joan Taylor, conservation chair for the Sierra Club's local chapter, said the bond is hugely significant for the Salton Sea and the surrounding communities.

"The Salton Sea is entering such a steep decline that basically it’s going to become a dead sea with tons of dust emanating from it," Taylor said.

Some critics in the Coachella and Imperial valleys have been asking whether state officials will be able to deliver on their timeline of proposed projects over the next decade.

During a legislative hearing in Sacramento on May 8, lawmakers questioned state officials about the delays and expressed frustration with the slow pace.

Wilcox attributed the delays largely to government lawyers sorting out liability questions.

Garcia asked Wilcox during the hearing if there’s something that could be done to expedite the process: “How do we eventually set some benchmarks to be able to meet some of these goals?”

Wilcox said he and other officials have “a clear process to get us back on track” and are making progress.

Sen. Ben Hueso, D-San Diego, said the Salton Sea is one of the biggest issues affecting all of Southern California, “and it’s a solvable problem.”

“We need to push this agenda a little bit more vigorously,” Hueso said. “This park bond is essential, but even then, it will not be enough.”

If the wetlands and dust-control projects are fully built as proposed, they would cover up less than half of the more than 60,000 acres of dry lakebed that are projected to be left exposed within a decade.

Proposition 68 isn’t the only ballot measure this year that includes funding for the Salton Sea. A larger $8.9 billion water bond, the Water Supply and Water Quality Act of 2018, has qualified for the November ballot and would free up an additional $200 million for projects at the Salton Sea.

More: Toxic dust and asthma plague Salton Sea communities

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At the end of last year, Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration also started accepting proposals for bringing water from elsewhere to boost the level of the Salton Sea in the long-term. The state has received 11 proposals, which call for bringing water from the Sea of Cortez or the Pacific Ocean, and Wilcox said those concepts are being considered.

But none of the bond money is earmarked for piping more water to the Salton Sea. Rather, the funding is being put toward the state’s 10-year plan and the goal of adapting to what proponents describe as a “smaller but sustainable” Salton Sea.

The measure was placed on the ballot by the state Legislature. Sponsored by former Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, the bill’s formal name was the California Drought, Water, Parks, Climate, Coastal Protection, and Outdoor Access for All Act of 2018.

The measure includes $4 billion in new bonds, as well as the use of $100 million in unsold bonds that voters had previously approved.

Here is a breakdown of the Proposition 68 bond funds:

more than $1.5 billion for “natural resource conservation and resiliency,” including state conservancies and wildlife conservation, climate change preparedness and habitat projects, coastal protection and river and waterway improvements;

nearly $1.3 billion for parks and recreation, including neighborhood parks, local and regional parks, state parks and other trails and recreation areas;

and nearly $1.3 billion for water projects, including flood protection, wastewater recycling, groundwater recharge and cleanup, and projects to combat the problem of contaminated drinking water.

The $200 million for Salton Sea-related projects will include $170 million for the California Natural Resources Agency to pay for work on the state’s plan, plus $30 million for a local agency, the Salton Sea Authority, to support “projects that improve air quality and habitat benefits” and that implement the state’s plan.

Of that $30 million, at least $10 million is to go toward work on the polluted New River, one of three main tributaries that flow into the Salton Sea. The river flows across the border from Mexicali into Calexico, and carries a mix of partially treated sewage and agricultural runoff.

State officials have a plan to encase the river underground in a pipe in Calexico, routing it past an adjacent neighborhood where residents have long complained about the stench of sewage. The funding in the bond measure will pay for a portion of that project.

Ian James writes about water and environmental issues for The Desert Sun. Reach him at ian.james@desertsun.com, (760) 778-4693 or @TDSIanJames.