Examining legal responsibility for dust control
To understand who might have to pay for dust control at the Sea, we did the following:
We found that under local regulations, landowners may have to pay for dust control costs. The map below shows the land that each entity owns. These are the areas that each landowner may have to pay dust control costs for. Imperial Irrigation District (IID) and Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD) are both parties to the Quantification Settlement Agreement and have some funding available for implementing dust control. Funding for other landowners', such as private landowners and the Torrez Martinez tribe, are unclear. The State of California also has a 10-year plan that includes both dust control implementation as well as habitat restoration.
The graph below on the right shows the expected costs of dust control for each landowner if our recommended dust control strategies are used in the respective areas (see Cost-Effective Mitigation Plan).
- Examined legal regulations to see if local air districts had specific rules on dust control responsibility
- Researched similar drying lakes, like Owens Lake, to see if outcomes could be applied to the Salton Sea
- Talked to environmental lawyers to get their perspective of dust control liability at the Sea
We found that under local regulations, landowners may have to pay for dust control costs. The map below shows the land that each entity owns. These are the areas that each landowner may have to pay dust control costs for. Imperial Irrigation District (IID) and Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD) are both parties to the Quantification Settlement Agreement and have some funding available for implementing dust control. Funding for other landowners', such as private landowners and the Torrez Martinez tribe, are unclear. The State of California also has a 10-year plan that includes both dust control implementation as well as habitat restoration.
The graph below on the right shows the expected costs of dust control for each landowner if our recommended dust control strategies are used in the respective areas (see Cost-Effective Mitigation Plan).