Calipatria

Calipatria, California - a small agricultural town below the Salton Sea in Imperial County.

Last week (12/7) I was in Calipatria conducting burrowing owl surveys on large plots of agricultural land for a future solar renewable energy plant. My observations led me to find several active burrows with adult owls inside. I also noticed a massive raptor population, mostly consisting of red tail hawk, American kestrel, and northern harrier. Most of these raptors on site are considered to be a subsidized predator, which means there are increased amounts of the individual due to man-made unnatural perch areas. This allows the individual to have an otherwise unfair hunting advantage and in turn, their numbers are increased, making them a subsidized predator. 

Often times this is not a good thing as it attracts more predators to an area that can harm other animals, like with increased raven populations predating desert tortoise. I’m unsure whether they pose a threat to burrowing owl populations; I imagine they may be hunted by larger raptors. However, they are spunky and smart little owls and would likely surprise you with their camouflage and burrowing abilities. 

Among my other observations, I’ve noticed the not so little cow feed lots. The concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO's) that exist in Imperial County represent the rather dark side of California. For example, I noticed that directly on the other side of the feedlot farms exists a citrus farm with lemons and oranges. It’s funny because typically California is viewed as this healthy and perfect place, but the feed lots display the dark side, while the oranges represent the bright happy side of the state. In reality, California has largely gone unnoticed for its cattle production even though it remains in the top ten producers of cattle in the United States. According to this same study, Imperial County was responsible for the slaughter of 200,000+ cattle in the 90’s (California Agriculture 2002).

So, what are we going to do about the greenhouse gases omitted by CAFO's? It reeks of pollution out here, which is largely a result of hydrogen sulfide. This highly toxic odor is produced from organic matter, meaning the smell comes from cow sh*t. Not to mention, the Salton Sea, a man made lake full of agricultural runoff north of Imperial Valley, is drying up, releasing harmful agricultural chemicals into the air. This harmful runoff process is called eutrophication - when agricultural runoff builds up in water ways producing dead zones and decreasing the available oxygen for fish to breathe and survive. Yes, that means fish are dying and rotting on the beaches of the Sea, making the smell even worse. Unfortunately, two of the only living fish species left in what otherwise used to be a robust marine fishery are tilapia and the endangered desert pupfish (California Fish and Wildlife).

Why does this man-made lake exist in the first place? To funnel water from the Colorado River into Palm Springs for golf courses and to provide water for Imperial and Coachella Valleys. After traveling between these areas last week it was pretty evident how much water is wasted to make grass greener in a place that grass would probably otherwise not exist. 

Furthermore, the environmental issue becomes more complex due to avian migration. After the water was routed from the Colorado River in 1905, the Salton Sea became a migratory resting ground for over 400 different species of birds, including special status species like the Western Snowy Plover. As the California coastline continues to be developed, we've seen a decline in wetland areas - this is why the Salton Sea is now one of the most biodiverse wetland regions in the Southwestern United States. However, as the Sea continues to dry up and the process of eutrophication worsens, these avian species are at risk of losing the fish they need to survive in this necessary wetland stopover area (California Fish and Wildlife).

The most unfortunate side of this whole environmental disaster is that everyone living below the Salton Sea is at a much greater risk of wind flare-ups that expose toxins released from the Sea drying up. Eighty percent of the population in Imperial Valley is comprised of Latino communities, living and working in Calipatria and experiencing the harmful health effects of this process. Air pollution in Imperial Valley can lead to adverse health challenges like asthma, sickness from Valley Fever, and birth defects. In fact, El Centro was ranked in the top 10 most polluted cities to live in in the US, with children suffering and dying from asthma-related illnesses (National Institute for Health). 

All of this presents a glaring juxtaposition of the different ways Southern Californians experience the desert. While the citrus farms display the beauty and leisure associated with the Northern Coachella Valley, the feed lots represent the environmental injustices inherent in the Southern Imperial Valley.

The climate crisis cannot be solved if we don’t prioritize environmental injustices that come with our man-made mistakes. The Salton Sea is a microcosm for all other environmental disasters we need to manage around the world. I wish there was more that I could do, but for now I will write about it and document my experiences - from my biological observations to environmental issues I witness, to the remote towns and everywhere in between. 

Sources/more background info:

National Institute for Health - https://calag.ucanr.edu/Archive/?article=ca.v056n05p152

California Agriculture - https://calag.ucanr.edu/Archive/?article=ca.v056n05p152

California Fish and Wildlife - https://wildlife.ca.gov/Regions/6/Salton-Sea-Program/Background

Want to learn more? Check out this link for all things desert conservation.

 https://drecp.databasin.org/datasets/0dd0e2e0d742401592b9c8ee3ac3ac29/