Salton Sea Restoration Projects: Public Invited To Weigh In

SALTON SEA, CA — Virtual workshops are scheduled this month to allow public comments on proposed Salton Sea projects that could greatly impact the region.

A team of state agencies will host three September events to discuss the projects that are part of the “Draft Salton Sea (Sea) Management Program Phase I: 10-Year Plan Project Description (SSMP Project).”

The purpose of the proposed SSMP Project is habitat restoration and dust suppression around the Salton Sea to reduce the effects of declining water flow to the shallow lake that straddles across Riverside and Imperial counties, according to the California Natural Resources Agency.

CNRA, the California Department of Water Resources, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife are hosting the workshops.

“Fish and wildlife habitat at the Salton Sea is being lost due to increasing salinity and the declining sea elevation. In addition, the exposed lakebed poses dust threats to regional air quality,” the CNRA stated in a news release.

The proposed projects would include 29,800 acres of habitat and areas of lakebed that have been, or will be, exposed at the Salton Sea by 2028.

“At least 50 percent of the 29,800 acres would be restored aquatic habitat projects that would convert exposed lakebed areas to aquatic habitat suitable for fish and wildlife,” according to the CNRA. “While all of the aquatic habitat projects would suppress dust, their primary function is to provide habitat for fish and wildlife. Dust suppression projects may also have habitat benefits by establishing vegetation or creating freshwater wetlands on exposed areas.”

Construction of aquatic habitat restoration projects would begin in areas of exposed lakebed near water sources and would move downslope as the Sea recedes, and as more lakebed becomes exposed over time, according to the agency.

The projects would provide habitat for fish, including desert pupfish, a variety of bird species and invertebrates, according to the CNRA.

Salinity in the proposed aquatic habitat restoration projects could range from freshwater or brackish water, which are managed at salinity levels less than 20 parts per thousand, to saline pond habitats with a target salinity of 20 to 40 ppt that would support fish species not able to survive in an increasingly saline Salton Sea, the CNRA said.

The development of these habitat types, ranging from mudflats and shallow water to deep- water habitat, as well as permanent vegetated wetlands, would also provide dust suppression in those areas, according to the CNRA.

Aquatic habitat ponds would have different water depths to provide fish refugia and accommodate shoreline habitat. Desert pupfish habitat would be designed into projects where connectivity and habitat benefits could be achieved.

Proposed water-reliant dust suppression projects include vegetation plantings, shallow water habitat, shallow flooding and stormwater spreading. Waterless dust suppression could include temporary surface roughening, soil stabilizer application, sand fencing, engineered roughening, gravel or other cover, and enhancing soil crusts.

Some public use activities could be available at the Sea, including picnicking, hiking, birdwatching, non-powered watercraft use and hunting, the CNRA said.

The upcoming virtual public workshops via Zoom will be accessible online and by phone, with instructions available on the SSMP website www.saltonsea.ca.gov. Spanish translation will be available at all three workshops.

The following are dates and times for the upcoming workshops:
—Tuesday, September 22, 2020, from 1 – 3 p.m.
—Wednesday, September 23, 2020, from 6 – 8 p.m.
—Thursday, September 24, 2020, from 6 – 8 p.m.

Additionally, written public comments will be accepted on the SSMP Project through September 30, 2020 and can be submitted via email at cnra-saltonsea@resources.ca.gov

View the “Draft Salton Sea (Sea) Management Program Phase I: 10-Year Plan Project Description (SSMP Project).”