A Conversation with California State Senator Denise Ducheny

The other part of the legislation was to advance the notion that since the federal government study didn’t get to a preferred alternative, the state would take the lead. The Salton Sea Advisory Committee – which has federal participation, local participation and state participation – was created to bring everybody to the table at one time to hear the same information and try to move the discussion forward. I think one of the frustrating things about what has been going on with the Sea over the last several years is that there has been a new theory or a new study every year. We never seemed to get all of the scientists together to argue it out in front of a group of folks that can build fences around the pieces that made sense.

The other part of the idea was to have people be part of making that occur, so that we have a deadline, we actually have to identify a preferred alternative that we can move forward with.

Q: With the state programmatic EIR process underway and the Salton Sea Authority poised to identify a preferred alternative to kick off its own project level EIR things could get very confusing. Could there be two Salton Sea environmental reviews going on at the same time?
A. All of the Salton Sea Authority member agencies are members of the state task force charged with looking at all these things and engaging in the EIR process which the state is required to perform.

The state has to do the EIR because of the Quantification Settlement Agreement and because of the responsibilities and liability for Salton Sea environmental issues that the state accepted as part of the QSA agreements. I would hope that we do not get into a duplication of effort. That is why all of the partners were put on this task force. We do not want to re-invent the wheel. I will make sure that does not happen.
There has already been a lot of work done. I am hopeful that we avoid getting into a situation where people are on two different tracks at the same time. That would not benefit the Sea.

Q: There has been a lot of press supporting local leadership for the restoration effort. How important do you think local involvement and leadership is to the effort?
A: Every local entity that has a stake in the Salton Sea is a member of the Salton Sea Advisory Committee. This includes members of the Salton Sea Authority, the local government, Tribal governments, and representatives of the agricultural, recreational and environmental communities. The state is convening the task force because the state is responsible for the CEQA process, must do the EIR, and has a statutory mandate to come up with a preferred alternative.

Unfortunately, we are in a position where the state has to figure out how to fund these projects, as well as convince the federal government to provide some of that funding. Neither Congresswoman Bono nor I can go to our colleagues and ask for huge amounts of money unless we are clear about where we are going. That is what was so frustrating about the fact that we didn’t get a preferred alternative from the federal government in the early 2000s when we were supposed to.

We need some consensus on that, so we’re in a position to say, “here’s the goal.” We need local participation in order to set the goals and to look at things like: how do you live with less water in the Sea, how do we stabilize the shoreline, how do we ensure the right salinity and deal with the issues of the biology of the sea to ensure there are fish to bring birds?
The long-term vision that I have, and that I believe is a vision most local community people share, is one that allows for better economic development in the area to the benefit of the Coachella and Imperial Valleys by bringing more recreational users back to the Sea. We need to do some good things in the communities along the Salton Sea in order to have the recreational resource used to a greater degree.
So, clearly local participation is critical to that vision and critical to understanding the actual impacts of proposals.

Q: Some local constituents are concerned that state funding from the QSA would be spent away from the Salton Sea on the Colorado River Delta or even in Mexico, is that possible?
A: I know that people are concerned about that. When you are considering environmental impacts you have to consider the entire ecosystem. The Salton Sea is part of an ecosystem that includes the lower Colorado River and south to the Mexican Delta.

I don’t think anybody contemplates spending the Quantification Settlement money, which was set aside for the Sea, on projects away from the Sea. Certainly some of the studies may have to include analysis of those regions and how they inter-relate with each other. Because it’s the Pacific Flyway, you can’t ignore the Delta and the Sea or the connection between them.

Q: What do you see is the biggest challenge ahead for the state restoration efforts?
A: Getting dollars. This task force needs to get together on the first critical piece - getting a broad consensus on a preferred alternative. They need to understand the relative feasibility of the different phases, and the cost of doing these things. The next challenge is to convince people statewide, whether it’s through bond funding or legislatively, to implement that vision.

Q: What would you like to see happen next?
A: Next is having the task force sift through all of the different studies and build some consensus around the environmental issues that need to be addressed.

I think that the first step for that group is to define the goal. What are the goals here and what do we want to see? This is where the local participation is so important. What are the goals in terms of restoration of wildlife and shoreline stability and things that will help the communities be able to build economic vitality around the Sea? What techniques or what proposals will actually advance these goals? How can these be phased-in, and at what cost? Then the trick is to go out and find the money