USBR: Desalting effects already addressed
A Sonora state legislator has raised concerns about the potential environmental impact Yuma's desalting plant could pose on the Sea of Cortez when the plant goes into operation for a yearlong pilot run.
Leslie Pantoja, who represents San Luis Rio Colorado, Son., called for international efforts to protect the wetlands in an article in a recent issue of Bajo El Sol.
However, concerns raised by the lawmaker have already been addressed and several agreements are in place by the U.S. government, Mexican government and international environmental organizations to ensure the wetlands won't be adversely impacted, said Jennifer McCloskey, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation area manager in Yuma.
Those agreements and letters of commitment are spelled out in the environmental assessment on the planned pilot run, McCloskey said Friday. These documents will ensure that the wetlands will continue to receive water and be monitored throughout the pilot run. The environmental assessment also concluded that the run would have "no significant impact" on the environment.
The desalting plant, essentially completed in 1992, was built to treat agricultural runoff water that would then be provided to Mexico as that country's share of Colorado River water under a treaty with the United States. Since then, though, the U.S. hasn't needed the water to meet the treaty and the plant has been mothballed.
Meanwhile, the runoff from farmland in the Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District has been sent through a bypass canal to the cienega, where the wetlands has become a refuge for 225 bird species and been designated by the Mexican federal government as a protected environmental zone.
With the lingering drought and the rising population in the Southwest depleting the Colorado River's water supply, attention has again turned to the desalting plant.
As a result, Reclamation decided to conduct a yearlong pilot run of the plant in collaboration with three water agencies from Arizona, California and Nevada. The pilot run is to begin in May and last 365 days, with the plant operating at one-third capacity.
The intent is to run the plant as intended, using the saline water from WMIDD. The treated water would then be returned to the Colorado River to become part of the water delivered to Mexico.
Pantojza raised concerns that the wetlands will dry up once the runoff is rediverted to Mexico through the Colorado River and called for a cooperative approach to the issue.
"Each day there is greater awareness among authorities in both countries of the need to work together on issues as noble as the protection of the environment," she told Bajo el Sol. "It's important to guarantee that measures are taken to avoid harm to areas like the cienega because in the end, there will be consequences for both countries."
McCloskey responded that "we've been trying to work cooperatively and binationally to address concerns" about the cienega. "There has been a trilateral effort by the U.S. and Mexican governments and the Binational Environmental Coalition."
It has become an example, she said, of binational cooperation between the two countries to address water matters when they cross international borders.
McCloskey said the desalting plant will take 29,000 acre-feet of water from the bypass canal for its pilot run. To replace the water source for the cienega, the U.S. government and Mexican government have each committed to providing 10,000 acre-feet. The Binational Environmental Coalition will come up with the remaining 10,000 acre-feet.
The three water agencies that are collaborating with Reclamation on the pilot run have agreed to fund monitoring of the cienega by the University of Arizona and the Sonora Institute, she said. In addition, Mexico government representatives who manage the cienega will be keeping an eye on the habitat area.
A copy of the environmental document and the agreements can be found at www.usbr.gov/lc/yuma/environmental_docs.
