State of the Salton Sea: A Science and Monitoring Meeting of Scientists for the Salton Sea

The Salton Sea (Sea) is an ecosystem facing large systemic changes in the near future. Managers and stakeholders are seeking solutions to the decline of the Sea and have turned to the scientific community for answers. In response, scientists gathered in Irvine, California, to review existing science and propose scientific studies and monitoring needs required for understanding how to retain the Sea as a functional ecosystem. This document summarizes the proceedings of this gathering of approximately 50 scientists at a September 8–10, 2014, workshop on the State of the Salton Sea (SoSS). 

In 1997, a similar gathering of nearly 100 scientists and others in Palm Springs, Calif., yielded a number of scientific proposals establishing a foundation for a program of integrated science investigations. The 1997 workshop results were combined with recommendations from a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Tiger Team (Shipley and others, 1999), resulting in the eventual creation of a Strategic Science Plan (SSP) for the Salton Sea (Salton Sea Science Subcommittee, 2000). The vision from the 1997 workshop of an integrated and coordinated program of scientific investigations, embraced by the SSP, was implemented through the SSC and the USGS Salton Sea Science Office (Science Office). The integrated science program, mandated by the Salton Sea Reclamation Act of 1998 (Public Law 105–372) and spelled out in the SSP, directly led to an increased scientific understanding of the Salton Sea ecosystem. The workshop concluded that “rehabilitation of the Sea is essential and requires that current ills be rectified in a manner that allows the Sea to sustain social values of importance to the human populations of the Imperial and Coachella Valleys, as well as society in general” (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1997). The 2014 SoSS workshop built upon the foundations of the 1997 workshop, with particular emphasis on changes in the condition of the Sea and its environment in the intervening years.

Over the past five decades, investigations of the Salton Sea have addressed water quality, biological, recreation, and (or) economic issues at the Salton Sea (California Resources Agency, 2006, chap. 8). Many stakeholders believe that the Salton Sea has been “studied to death” (Claiborne, 1996). Although it is true that a great deal of research has been completed at the Salton Sea, much of it has been short term and focused on specific topics with little or no integration across science disciplines, time, and space. Additionally, there have been numerous attempts at resource management of the Salton Sea (previously referred to as restoration planning). 

Study objectives have differed, but the main focus has generally been on methods to control the salinity and elevation of the Salton Sea (California Resources Agency, 2006, chaps. 1 and 4). Most investigations resulted in proposed plans to preserve the Salton Sea as a thriving fishery and recreational destination, and most of these plans addressed methods to preserve the “whole Sea.” More recently, however, studies have recognized that maintaining a smaller Salton Sea should be considered, owing to declining inflows to the Salton Sea (California Resources Agency, 2006). 

Prior investigations considered hundreds of alternatives for managing Salton Sea salinity, nutrients, and water elevation. Some alternatives generated revenue to help pay for rehabilitating the Sea. These alternatives have been addressed in multiple studies, as summarized in chapters 1 and 4 of the “Salton Sea Ecosystem Restoration Program Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Report” (California Resources Agency, 2006). 

Although there have been multiple efforts to characterize the Salton Sea ecosystem and develop management plans, it was not until 1996 that a comprehensive and integrated research needs assessment was developed (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1997). The 1997 report captured the combined thinking of scientists and managers and identified several areas of scientific research that would be required for a fuller, more complete understanding of the Salton Sea necessary to undertake any management project. The report defined these broad categories of science as physical environment, biological environment, cultural resources, pathogens and diseases, and contaminants. These categories form the basic framework for all scientific investigations at the Salton Sea. Some science categories continue to receive greater emphasis because limited funding has required the prioritization of projects. 

A Salton Sea Science Subcommittee (SSC) authorized by Public Law 105–372, representing a broad range of Federal, State, local, and other stakeholder interests, endorsed a long-range Strategic Science Plan for the Salton Sea (Salton Sea Science Subcommittee, 2000). Whereas the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1997 report established the types of science needed, the SSP further established the governing processes and expectations of how this science program should be conducted. The SSP provided the framework for scientific investigations and remains the source for identifying how scientific studies should be undertaken to better understand the Salton Sea ecosystem. Based substantially on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (1997) analysis of science needs, and in consultation with many stakeholders, the SSC authorized and funded a number of initial reconnaissance-level projects.

The structure of this SoSS document follows the basic framework of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1997 report, placing emphasis on physical environment (air and water quality), biological environment (birds, fish, invertebrates, carbon, and algae), contaminants, and socioeconomics. 

The SoSS meeting in 2014 was convened to build upon previous scientific efforts and to provide guidance to managers on what experts believe are the most critical science needs going forward. Experts were invited to participate in the SoSS meeting based on a review by the organizing committee of individuals with subject area expertise and experience working at the Salton Sea or in similar environments. The SoSS organizing committee presented a synopsis of known science to the gathered scientists, who were then tasked to evaluate the completeness of that science and make recommendations for science needs to fill information gaps. Participants were challenged to think and act independently of their organizational affiliation in order to generate conceptual proposals designed to address scientific and monitoring concerns identified by the managerial meeting participants.