Tractors build the earthen berms recently for the Red Hill Marina wetlands project at the Salton Sea. Work has resumed on the wetlands, which will cover as much as 530 acres of exposed playa. The Red Hill Marina wetlands is one of the projects included in the State’s Salton Sea Management Program Phase 1 10-year Plan, which could receive a $200 million boost from a proposed water and parks bond.

Votes by the State Senate and Assembly on Friday, Sept. 15, in support of a $4 billion water and park bond includes $200 million for the Salton Sea—not quite as much as stakeholders would have liked to have seen in the bond—but still a significant boost to the State’s Salton Sea Management Program (SSMP) Phase I 10-Year Plan. That is if the bond is approved by voters in 2018. The legislation for the bond, SB 5, is currently in the

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San Diego County Water Authority General Manager Maureen Stapleton (left) and Imperial County Counsel Katherine Turner discuss the jointly proposed Stipulated Order to address restoration at the Salton Sea before the State Water Resources Control Board during its workshop held Sept. 7 in Sacramento. IID General Manager Kevin Kelley also participated on the panel. The Draft Stipulated Order was proposed by IID, Imperial County and the San Diego County Water Authority

On Thursday, Sept. 7, the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) held a workshop on the Salton Sea to consider the Draft Stipulated Order on the Salton Sea proposed jointly by the Imperial Irrigation District (IID), Imperial County and the San Diego County Water Authority (Water Authority). The State Water Board listened to a full-day of testimony, and is expected to vote on the proposal in the coming weeks.

The Draft Stipulated Order, which would be an amendment to the original Water Rights Order that approved the Quantification Settlement Agreement water

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The Water Authority’s wheeling rate case against MWD could have implications that not only affect how government agencies charge for the movement of water, but also affect the Water Authority/IID Water Transfer Agreement.

The San Diego County Water Authority has petitioned the State Supreme Court to consider and reverse a recent ruling by the First District Court of Appeal on a matter stemming from the Water Authority’s ongoing water wheeling rate case against the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. A pending decision by the State’s highest court on whether to hear the matter or not could have far-reaching implications across California that would not only impact how agencies can charge customers for the movement of water but also potentially impact the future of the Water Transfer Agreement between the Water Authority and the Imperial Irrigation District.

In 2010 and 2012, the Water Authority filed lawsuits against MWD arguing that

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