A water plan for Salton Sea, too
The Press Enterprise - 7/12/03
Editorial: Our View

Gov. Davis has proposed that rarest of things in a California water war: A compromise plan with a fresh approach. All parties to the fight ought to stand down and see if an equitable, lasting truce can't be built on such a foundation.

The biggest breakthrough in this compromise proposal is this: It finally concedes that provision must be made for preservation of the Salton Sea. That has been the ignored element in other plans, and that has made no sense. The sea's health is central to the whole, complicated mix of issues in this mess. The sea issue has to be solved for a broader solution to work.

In a nutshell, urban San Diego wants Imperial County's agricultural water. But the irrigation runoff from those farms is what keeps the sea alive. Farmers fear they'll get stuck with the huge cleanup bill if the sea fails. There's just no moving forward without untangling that particular knot.

It's desirable to untangle it for other reasons, too. With preservation, the sea is stabilized as a crucial natural wetlands for migrating waterfowl; as the state's largest Inland body of water, it offers new economic opportunity in the desert. Without preservation, it becomes a huge dust bowl of an environmental nightmare that will demand mitigation at huge cost.

The governor's proposal would put $20 million in bond money toward stabilizing the sea and solving its problems. The proposal would sanction the transfer of part of Imperial County's historic draw on the Colorado River to San Diego. It would pay most of the costs associated with this historic rearrangement not with water bond revenues (the governor's previous idea) but with surcharges on water use -- from $3 per acre-foot for urban users to $1 per acre-foot for desert farming interests.

Nobody is leaping to embrace the package. Initial responses range from carefully interested to noncommittal to cool. But with so much on the line -- and so much contentious history on the books -- that's to be expected.

More important at this stage is that the Davis administration has produced what looks like a good starting point for a fresh run at a tough problem. It's worth a long, careful look.

Copyright 2003 Salton Sea Authority - All Rights Reserved