[Taxacom] Salton Sea restoration!!!

[Ken Kinman]

Dear All,
      With the draining of wetlands, the Salton Sea of southern California 
became an important lifeline in the Pacific Flyway.  Now it too is dying.  
Even though it's resurrection in 1905 was due to poor planning and massive 
flooding, it was a blessing in disguise after having been dried up for at 
least 200 years.

      Construction of a canal reconnecting it with the Gulf of California is 
the only sensible solution.  Pumping in water from the Colorado River 
(already severely tapped for other purposes) make no sense whatsoever.  
Neither does the energy-intensive idea of pumping its salty and polluted 
water out, which will solve nothing if there isn't clean water to replace 
it.

      The cost of a canal might be upwards of three billion dollars, but 
that seems like an extreme bargain compared to hundreds of billions we are 
pouring into Iraq.  This investment here at home would not only save the 
Pacific Flyway from a major disaster, but also save it for human settlement 
by the fast-growing population of California.  And transportation to the new 
inland ports would decrease costs, decrease congestion at other California 
ports, and create huge numbers of new jobs on both sides of the border.

     Don't know if it would do much to mitigate rising sea levels, but ever 
little bit would help, not to mention helping to humidify the southwest 
which is in increasing danger of further desertification.  And a dried-up 
Salton Sea will create a horrible, toxic Dust Bowl for the region if nothing 
is done.  Restoration of the Salton Sea could also be a stepping stone to 
the future restoration of Death Valley as well.  Anyway, the canal seems 
like a no-brainer to me.  Improve the environment for both wildlife and 
humans, provide a new transportation system, and prevent a toxic Dust Bowl 
in Southern California.  Done right, it could pay for itself fairly quickly, 
not even considering the costs of doing nothing and dealing with the 
consequences later on.  We could just let the area deteriorate, but what a 
wasted opportunity that would be.
  -----Ken Kinman

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