The Environment and Water Needs

The column by Marc Reisner (“Planting Seeds for a Water Harvest,” Op-Ed Page, Oct. 3) concerning the availability of water in Southern California is correct in every respect, and yet it proves again that when water is discussed, everything else is set aside.

In this case Reisner considers Metropolitan Water District’s water purchase from Imperial Irrigation District as an “. . . all-carrot and no-stick approach . . .” to the water problem, where MWD gets at least 100,000 acre-feet of water, up to a possible 420,000 acre-feet of water in the future. The 100,000 acre-feet water has, supposedly, been conserved over the past number of years by IID, and the additional water is to be conserved by IID over the next number of years. But where is that water now going, and what effect will its loss have on the environment?

The overflow from IID’s antiquated irrigation system has been maintaining what is now California’s largest inland body of water, the Salton Sea. And now it is suffering. The Salton Sea will shrink in size because that water will be conserved, and the flow to the sea will be cut back, since water for human consumption always wins out over the environment. But that does not mean the Salton Sea has to die.

There are a number of programs available that can help keep the Salton Sea at a livable salinity while the inflow is cut back and the body of water shrinks, but even with coordinated local, state and federal efforts in the form of the Salton Sea Task Force in Sacramento, things aren’t moving fast enough to save it. The Salton Sea is shrinking, and the salinity is increasing at an astounding rate.

The unfortunate thing about all this is that California law demands that action be taken . . . and it is not being taken. Under CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act), the ongoing destruction of this most unique and magnificent ecosystem must be mitigated.

But who should pick up the mitigation tab? Does IID pay the bill to save Salton Sea because it is conserving the water which is killing it? Does MWD pay the bill, because it intends to sell the water to users in and around Los Angeles? Or do the people pay the bill, because they are the ultimate users of that water?

Apparently these questions are going unanswered. But even worse . . . nobody seems to be looking for the answer.

BILL KARR

Associate Editor

Western Outdoors Publications

Costa Mesa