HomeMy WebLinkAboutSupplemental - Non-Agenda Public Comment 2NEW CO ACHELLA VALLEY SALTON SEA GREENHOUSE GAS
RESOLUTION, April 2022
The State Water Board set the deadline December 31, 2022 for a long
range plan for the Salton Sea. This must also include plans for lowering
greenhouse gas emissions. This will coincide with California's plan to
reduce the use of fossil fuels in transportation, electricity generation, in
buildings and in our homes. A budget of $37 billion has been set aside to
ad dress fossil fuel pollution. A report by Jenny E. Ross, of the Stout
Research Center, entitled, "POTENTIAL MAJOR GREENHOUSE GAS
EMISSIONS FROM PROPOSED SAL TON SEA LONG-RANGE
PLANS," warns that many of the current proposed long-range plans will
cause large emissions of greenhouse gases in the form of carbon dioxide
and methane.
Ocean water import is likely the only restoration method that will not
cause a major increase in carbon emissions, and will support California's
plan to reach net carbon neutrality. Economic investment in ocean water
import will in the long run, be cheaper, refill the sea, restore the ecosystem,
and keep the carbon-rich lakebed fully submerged. It is scientifically
reasonable to choose a long-term plan for the Salton Sea that takes
greenhouse gas emissions into account.
Therefore, the Salton Sea Coalition respectfully requests that your
city consider passing a new resolution:
We Resolve: The Ocean Water Importation Independent Review Panel
must consider potential carbon emissions when conducting the
"comprehensive analysis of ocean water import," that was requested by our
city in 2019 and 2020 resolutions. This analysis must include emissions
from a drying lakebed and proposed shallow water bodies as well as
construction related emissions.
We Resolve: The Long-Range Planning Committee of the Salton Sea
Management Program must assess potential carbon emissions of all
suggested long-range solutions to address the man-made problems of the
Salton Sea.
We Resolve: Our continued support of ocean water import to refill the
Salton Sea. This is the long-range plan most likely to restore the
ecosystem, pr otect public health, sup port recreation and tourism,
contribute to a vigorous regional economy, and avoid ongoing releases
of greenh ouse gases to the at mosphere
Non-Agenda Public Comment 2
Short Summary of Report :"POTENTIAL MAJOR GREENHOUSE
GAS EMISSIONS FROM PROPOSED SALTON SEA LONG-RANGE
PLANS"
Summary by Chuck Parker, Salton Sea Coalition, pchuck48@gmail.com
The original scientific report by Jenny E. Ross, Research Affiliate, Stout Research
Center, was submitted to State and Federal agencies in January 2022.
A new report warns of a threat tha t the drying and shrinking of the Salton Sea will
cause large em issions of greenhouse gases in the form of carbon dioxide and
methane. For many years tons of excess fertilizer in the agricultural drains has
flowed into the sea. These nutrients fed a flourishing growth of algae which fed
millions of fish and invertebrates. These animals' waste, and when they died, their
bodies, sank to the bottom of the sea. This created a "natural carbon-capture
and-storage system, 11 or carbon sink.
The 2003 decision to divert large amounts of agricultural water which sustained
the Salton Sea, and sell it to urban areas, is resulting in exposure of the lakebed to
the atmosphere, collapse of the lake's ecosystem, and emission of greenhouse
gases into the atmosphere. These greenhouse gases, primarily carbon dioxide
(CO 2 ) and methane (CH 4 ), will ultimately be emitted in quantities large enough to
significantly offset emission reductions from current California plans to address
climate change, including those in Governor Newsom's $37 billion budget
allocation for actions to reduce the use of fossil fuels in transportation, electricity
generation, agriculture, and in cooling and heating buildings.
Failure to implement an appropriate long-range restoration plan for the Salton
Sea will worsen global warming and prevent California from attaining carbon
neutrality. On the other hand, refilling the Salton Sea with ocean water and
restoring the lake's ecosystem would help California fight climate change by
minimizing net greenhouse gas emissions. According to scientists quoted in the
report, "Maintaining and enhancing carbon sinks in the biosphere is a prerequisite
to hold global warming well below 2 degrees Centigrade."
SALTON SEA COALITION, P.O. BOX 10693, PALM DESERT, CA. 92255
Non-Agenda Public Comment 2
RE: SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION Regarding Potential Major
Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Proposed Salton Sea Long-Range Plans
From: Jenny E. Ross [mailto:jenny@jennyross.com]
Sent: Monday, April 04, 2022 3:35 PM
To: cnra-saltons ea@resources.ca.gov Excerpts from email message: "I have calculated a rough estimate of the potential future net CO2 emissions resulting from implementation of a proposed Salton Sea long-range plan that does not refill the lake to its late 20 th-century level with a restored saltwater ecosystem. The attached calculations indicate that approximately 26 million metric tons of
CO 2 emissions per year may be released as a result of implementation of a
Salton Sea long-range plan that leaves vast areas of dry lakebed exposed, and
that includes additional highly-emissive features such as large expanses of significantly disturbed lakebed ( e.g., regions where furrowing is utilized for dust control), areas of exposed lakebed that are periodically rewetted, fresh or lowsalinity water impoundments constructed on portions of the exposed lakebed, and an extremely hypersaline brine sink. To put the amount of26 million metric tons of CO2 emissions per year in perspective, it is more than 160% of the annual CO2-equivalent emissions of all
the petroleum refineries currently operating in California, and 7.3% of all
energy-related CO2 emissions in California annually. As explained in my January 2022 report, and as the attached Supplementary Information makes clear, if a long-range plan for the Salton Sea is selected and implemented without first analyzing the net carbon emissions associated with each proposed plan, and without a selection process committed to choosing a carbonneutral or carbon-negative plan, there is a major risk that the State of California's actions and omissions will cause the release of very large quantities of greenhouse gases on an ongoing basis for the foreseeable future, thwart California's efforts to attain carbon neutrality, and worsen climate Kn.ge." Jenny Ross. Non-Agenda Public Comment 2
HOW THE DUST CONTROL MEASURES, AND SHALLOW WATER HABITAT
PROJECTS PLANNED BY THE SALTON SEA MANAGEMENT PLAN (SSMP) COULD
MAKE GLOBAL WARMING WORSE. report by Jenny Ross, January 2022,
"POTENTIAL MAJOR GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS FROM PROPOSED SALTON SEA
LONG-RANGE PLANS." Summary by Chuck Parker, Salton Sea Coalition.
These measures were planned without taking greenhouse gas emissions into
account. All of the projects in the current SSMP, and all of the proposed projects
other than ones involving refilling the Salton Sea, leave large areas of exposed
lakebed. These exposed sediments contain large amounts of organic materials
which will emit greenhouse gases. Additional aspects of ongoing, planned, and
proposed projects which will increase gree nhouse gas emissions are:
1)"Frequent, significant disturbance of lakebed sediments." Disturbances like
plowing and digging increase sediment exposure and oxygenation, and make CO2
emissions worse. Exampl es of this which are going on now are surface roughening
for dust control, construction and maintenance of impoundment berms, levees,
and dirt roads. 2) "Periodic rewetting of large areas of exposed lakebed.11
Rewetting of dry lakebed will cause significant pulses of greenhouse gases into
the air. Rewetting will result from natural processes like rain, or wetting by
blowing water from the sea or its tri butaries onto dry lake bottom, as well as by
dust mitigation measures such as periodic wetting of exposed lakebed sediments,
or filling furrows with water.
3)"Small areas of shallow pon ded water on portions of the exposed lakebed."
The Salton Sea Management Plan incl udes several projects that would create
small shallow ponds for wildlife habitat. These shallow ponds will emit
greenhouse gasses at higher rates than the larger, more saline Salton Sea.
4)"Large areas of ponded water on portions of the exposed lake bed. 11 These
larger projects, such as the proposed Perimeter Lake and North Lake, are likel y to
be higher emitters of greenhouse gases than the former larger Salton Sea. This is
because shallow, freshwater ponds and lakes emit more greenhouse gases than
deeper saline lakes.
5)"Extremely hypersaline brine sink(s).11 Several of the plans, including the
proposed Perimeter Lake, would leave brine sinks in the deepest parts of the
Salton Sea sink. Biological and chemical processes in brine sinks yield a very high
rate of methane production and emission, and the global warming potential of
methane is up to 80 times greater than that of carbon dioxide.
SALTON SEA COALITION, P.O. BOX 10693, PALM DESERT, CA. 92255
Non-Agenda Public Comment 2
SUMMARY OF SCIENTIFIC STUDIES ON DRY INLAND WATERS.
report by Jenny Ross. Po tential Major Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Proposed
Salton Sea Long-Range Plans," January 2022
summary by Chuck Parker, Salton Sea Coalition, pchuck48@gmail.com
Increasing concern for the dangers posed by global warming has caused scientists
around the world to study the carbon emissions from dried inland lakes and
rivers. These numerous studies have shown:
1)"Elevated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are an intrinsic characteristic of
exposed lake sediments."
2)"CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions from exposed lakebed were significantly
higher than from the lakes thems elves."
3)"The strongest predictors of very high CO2 fluxes from dry inland waters were
high organic matter content, the presence of some moisture, and elevated
temperatures. 11
4)"Portions of inland waters that have become dry and then are rewetted are
major emitters
of GHC's (greenhouse gases.)
5)"Significant disturbance of exposed dry lakebed increases GHC (greenhouse
gas) emissions."
6)"Smaller and shallower lakes, ponds, and impoundments emit GHCs
(greenhouse gas) to the atmosphere at a much higher rate than large lakes."
7)"Production and emissions of GHC's (greenh ouse gases) tend to be lower in
lakes that are more saline."
8)"Extreme hyper salinity in brine sinks and industrial salt-production ponds is
associated with high methane emissions. 11
9)"Highly productive eutrophic lakes ••• have elevated carbon sequestration
rates. High carbon burial rates are strongly correlated with nearby extensive
agricultural land cover. Biological and biogeochemical proces ses in the water
and sediments enable such waterbodies to function as net carbon sinks." The
Salton Sea has all of these charac teristics.
SAL TON SEA COALITION, P .0. BOX 10693, PALM DESERT, CA. 92255nk
Non-Agenda Public Comment 2