[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 15 (Wednesday, February 25, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E220]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


             SONNY BONO MEMORIAL SALTON SEA RECLAMATION ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. GEORGE MILLER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 25, 1998

  Mr. MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, the Salton Sea is a unique 
resource in the Southern California desert. It was created by accident 
of man, and over the years it has become an attractive, if unlikely, 
home and resting area for migratory birds and many species of fish.
  Now, nearly one hundred years after the permanent Salton Sea was 
created, it is a polluted mess, always increasingly salty, often smelly 
and noxious, and most useful as a sump for agricultural and municipal 
wastewater, almost none of it treated. The birds and fish that once 
thrived here are now threatened every day with death and disease as the 
tons of salts and toxic contaminants that are constantly dumped into 
the Salton Sea become more and more concentrated and deadly over time. 
Economic development of the area has been frustrated because of 
conditions in and around the Salton Sea.
  Congressman Sonny Bono worked very hard to bring national attention 
to the plight of the Salton Sea, and he will always and rightly be 
remembered for that effort. I agree that Congress should act quickly at 
the Salton Sea. We need to stabilize salinity and contaminant levels to 
protect the dwindling fishery resources and to reduce the threats to 
migratory birds, and we need to devise long-term solutions as well.
  I do not, however, believe that Congress should act in haste to 
authorize and construct an expensive project at the Salton Sea before 
we know what we are doing. The legislation introduced today is well-
intentioned, but I believe it could force Congress to make decisions 
and spend taxpayer dollars before the scientists and engineers have 
supplied us with the information we need to make good decisions. I am 
particularly concerned that we preserve the integrity of the National 
Environment Policy Act, and that we do not hastily commit to 
``solutions'' at the Salton Sea that may limit our options for 
addressing other water and resource management problems in Southern 
California and elsewhere in the Lower Colorado River Basin. The 
problems at the Salton Sea are closely tied to many controversial water 
quality and water management issues in southern California and 
elsewhere in the Lower Colorado River Basin, and our solutions for the 
Salton Sea should properly be made in that broader context.
  I sincerely appreciate the efforts that have been made by the 
Congressional Salton Sea Task Force and by the Salton Sea Authority, 
and I look forward to consideration of this bill in the Resources 
Committee.

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