Salton Sea, February 2012, by John Fleck
Via Henry Brean, Pat Mulroy shares her views of the Imperial Irrigation District’s efforts to funnel water into the Salton Sea:
Mulroy is definitely worried about Lake Mead, which supplies about 90 percent of the Las Vegas Valley’s drinking water. But she also voiced broader concerns about river water being used to prop up a shallow lake in the California desert that was formed by a man-made flood on the Colorado more than a century ago and is now sustained by water running off fields in the Imperial Valley.
“The Salton Sea is an accident,” Mulroy said. “It’s agricultural runoff; that’s all it is.”
She said it’s ludicrous to imagine fresh water being sent to evaporate in a lake that’s already saltier than the Pacific Ocean while Lake Mead threatens to shrink low enough to shut down Las Vegas’ water intakes and the turbines at Hoover Dam.
No, Pat, tell us what you really think.
(Quipping aside, the context is a significant story on a dispute between IID and the Bureau of Reclamation on water IID sent to the “Sea”.)
I was just there a couple weeks ago. Not impressed at all. Although I admit that some folks in Yukon, Sask. or Manitoba must think it is heaven come February.
Best,
D
Apparently, Judge Connelly didn’t think so either.
http://www.sddt.com/Law/article.cfm?Sourcecode=20130605ca&_t=Judge+upholds+SD+Imperial+water+accord#.UbB9pUAcdqI
Pat’s right about the Salton Sea. It wasn’t a natural body of water in the first place. Putting efforts into saving a few acres of it is a waste of resources and tax payer’s money.
dg