2020 Annual Report on the Salton Sea Management Program

California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) | February 21st, 2020

Improving air quality and creating habitat at the Salton Sea are key priorities for Governor Gavin Newsom and the California Natural Resources Agency. The Sea’s continu

Improving air quality and creating habitat at the Salton Sea are key priorities for Governor Gavin Newsom and the California Natural Resources Agency. The Sea’s continuing decline in elevation and resulting exposure of lakebed negatively impact surrounding communities and reduce remaining habitat for fish and wildlife. The California Natural Resources Agency, the California Department of Water Resources, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (together, the State Team) are focused on implementing the Salton Sea Management Program’s (SSMP’s) 10-Year Plan to improve conditions by constructing 30,000 acres of habitat and dust suppression projects around the Sea.

A Salton Sea Chronology (Prehistory-2015)

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) | January 14th, 2016

A Spatial Hedonic Analysis of the Housing Market around a Large, Failing Desert Lake: The Case of the Salton Sea in California

Journal of Environmental Planning and Management (Taylor & Francis) | March 2nd, 2018

Many lakes around the world exhibit acute environmental stress due to water transfers, persistent droughts, and polluted runoff. In addition, falling water levels worsen

Many lakes around the world exhibit acute environmental stress due to water transfers, persistent droughts, and polluted runoff. In addition, falling water levels worsen air quality by exposing desiccated shores. To our knowledge, however, no published hedonic study has analyzed the costs of deteriorating water quality jointly with the air quality impacts of falling water levels for a large inland water body. We conduct such an analysis for the Salton Sea, the largest lake in California. Our spatial autoregressive models estimated on single-family properties located within 10 miles (16.1 km) of the Sea show that a 1 km reduction in distance to the Sea results in a $595 decrease in the price of a single-family residence. In addition, a 1% increase in annual particulate matter concentration reduces the value of the average family residence by $1,140. These results highlight the vulnerability of poor rural communities to deteriorating environmental conditions.

Averting disaster: Action now for the Salton Sea

Little Hoover Commission | September 1st, 2015

The Salton Sea is shrinking. Currently the state’s largest inland body of water, as it dries up, the Sea poses a substantial threat to public health and the environment

The Salton Sea is shrinking. Currently the state’s largest inland body of water, as it dries up, the Sea poses a substantial threat to public health and the environment. Left unaddressed, desert winds will lift dust from thousands of acres of newly-revealed lakebed and blow it into population centers, agricultural areas and world-class resort economies. This impending crisis is long in the making, a policy paralysis driven by years of government process without implementing a fix. There are clear, understandable and specific mitigation steps that should be taken immediately. The decisions California leaders make in the near future about this remote desert lake will determine whether this dismal scenario will be averted. The Commission urges the Natural Resources Agency to begin implementing shovel-ready projects and the Governor and Legislature to immediately begin planning and funding the next phase of Salton Sea projects while developing a long-term restoration plan. ... When California signed the QSA, it agreed to mitigate the impacts on the Salton Sea caused by the water transfers. The state clarified its intent to restore the sea through the QSA’s implementing legislation. Experts testified it would be tens of billions of dollars cheaper to mitigate the impacts of a shrinking sea up front than to deal with the adverse impacts of inaction. Fulfilling California’s commitment to the Salton Sea is an element of maintaining the terms of the QSA, which provides water security to many Californians. Continued inaction, and the consequent public health and environmental impacts, could undermine political support for the QSA. Further, in the larger picture, California’s fulfillment of its commitments is critical to its ability to negotiate future difficult agreements. ...    

California Fish and Game, Volume 39

California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) | April 2nd, 1953

California Natural Resources Agency 2019 Annual Report on the Salton Sea Management Program

California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) | March 1st, 2019

On November 7, 2017, the State Water Resources Control Board adopted an order accepting an agreement defining the state’s commitment to stabilize and manage the Salton

On November 7, 2017, the State Water Resources Control Board adopted an order accepting an agreement defining the state’s commitment to stabilize and manage the Salton Sea to protect public health and critical Pacific flyway habitat.  Order WR 2017-0134 outlined the State Water Board’s oversight role in monitoring and ensuring progress toward the goals of the Salton Sea Management Plan (SSMP), which sets annual milestones for habitat restoration and dust-suppression projects over the next 10 years. 

California Natural Resources Agency Annual Report on the Salton Sea Management Program

California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) | March 25th, 2024

Significant, measurable progress continued at the Salton Sea (Sea) over the last year. The largest restoration project in the Sea’s history neared completion, suppressi

Significant, measurable progress continued at the Salton Sea (Sea) over the last year. The largest restoration project in the Sea’s history neared completion, suppressing dust and restoring habitat across thousands of acres at the south end of the Sea. In other areas along the Sea, hundreds of acres now host native vegetation recently planted to suppress dust over coming decades. These plants have taken root, are growing and are beginning to serve their purpose. This year also witnessed the first major investment by federal agencies to stabilize the Sea; the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) granted $70 million to accelerate local restoration projects.

Formation of California's Salton Sea in 1905-07 was not "accidental"

2020 Desert Symposium Field Guide and Proceedings | April 26th, 2020

It is widely thought that the Salton Sea was created accidentally in 1905-07 because of engineering negligence in the diversion of Colorado River water for agricultural u

It is widely thought that the Salton Sea was created accidentally in 1905-07 because of engineering negligence in the diversion of Colorado River water for agricultural use in California’s Imperial Valley. This is a misconception. Scientific data and historical records establish that formation of the Salton Sea was not accidental. The lake formed during 1905-07 in the same manner that numerous other large Salton Basin lakes did for at least tens of thousands of years from the Late Pleistocene through the late 19th century: as a result of the lower Colorado River’s natural hydrodynamic regime, floodplain morphodynamics, and established avulsion style in combination with changes in streamflow attributable to regional hydroclimate. A large body of scientific and historical evidence indicates the 1905-07 Colorado River flooding into the Salton Basin and the creation of a large lake there would have occurred regardless of man-made modifications to the river’s natural levee and distributary channels. In fact, the flooding would likely have been even worse in the absence of human intervention.

Fundamentals of estimating the net benefits of ecosystem preservation: The case of the Salton Sea

Hydrobiologia (Springer) | July 15th, 2008

This article, both theoretical and methodological in nature, argues the potential merits of using a net benefits’ framework as a tool to aid policy-makers in their eff

This article, both theoretical and methodological in nature, argues the potential merits of using a net benefits’ framework as a tool to aid policy-makers in their efforts to compare Salton Sea restoration alternatives and inform the public as to the potential magnitude and distribution of trade-offs associated with each alternative. A net benefits approach can provide a more accurate comparison and evaluation of the potential net returns from public spending on Salton Sea restoration than what wouldbe provided under the suggested criteria of current legislative mandates. Furthermore, a net benefits framework provides a more lucid and systematic accounting framework by which to enumerate the full array of benefits and costs of each alternative for policy analysis. Finally, net benefits’ analysis serves to add transparency to the decision-making process sothat the public gains an understanding of how its scarce resources, including both financial and natural capital, are being appropriated. Additionally, we illustrate and emphasize the importance of estimating the non-market values associated with many of the ecosystem services provided by the Salton Sea and describe the major techniques that do so.

Groundwater Availability within the Salton Sea Basin

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) | January 29th, 2008