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ScienceCommitteeMeetingNotesHeldOctober4,2017–CoachellaPreparedbytheConsensusBuildingInstitute

KeyOutcomes• CarolRoberts,U.S.Fish&WildlifeService,willserveasthenewchairoftheScience

Committee.DougBarnum,USGS,isretiringlaterthisyear.• TheScienceCommitteewillsubmitcommentsasacommitteeonthedraftworkplanforthe

10-YearManagementPlan.• TheScienceCommitteewillplantohostasciencemeetingin2018toincreaseawarenessand

deepenunderstandingofthebreadthoftheresearchunderwayontheSaltonSea.

ActionItemsTimeline Who What10/11/2017 DougBarnum Sendoutdoodlepolltoscheduleconferencecallforweekof

10/23todiscusspreliminarycommentsonworkplan10/20/2017 ScienceCommittee

membersSubmitpreliminarycommentsonworkplantoCarolRoberts

10/23 CarolRoberts Reviewpreliminarycomments,identifydiscussionquestionsforconferencecall,anddistributetothecommittee

Weekof10/23

ScienceCommittee Holdconferencecalltodiscusskeyquestions

~10/27 SubmitcommentstoStateBynextmeeting

EarlWithycombe Draftsomeguidelinelanguageaboutcommitteememberswhoareregulatorystaffreviewingdustmitigationmeasures

ReviewProcessfor10-YearManagementPlanWorkPlanTheStatepresenteditsdraftWorkPlanattheOct.4thmorningAll-Committeesmeeting.TheCommitteeagreedtosubmitcommentsasagroup.TheStatewillpostitsmemoonwatersupplyanddemandforSaltonSeaManagementProgramprojectsshortlyafterthemeeting,buttheinputdataforthemodelswillnotyetbeavailable..Tofacilitatethisprocess,theCommitteewillfollowthesesteps:

§ DougBarnumwillsendoutadoodlepolltoscheduleaconferencecalltheweekof10/23.§ By10/20,CommitteememberswillsendpreliminarycommentstoCarolRoberts.§ Carolwillreviewpreliminarycommentsandframediscussionquestionsforconferencecall.§ Weekof10/23,theCommitteewillholdaconferencecalltodiscusscommentsandagreeon

processforfinalizingcommentstobesubmittedtotheState.§ Commentsaredue10/27,althoughBruceWilcoxsaidtheCommitteecouldhavealittlebitof

extratimeifneed.

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2018ScienceMeeting

ConceptOverthepastfewyears,anumberofinstitutionsandindividualshaveconductedscience-andSaltonSea-relatedinvestigations.SomeofthisisfundedindependentlyofStateofCaliforniaSSMPactivitiesandSaltonSea-relatedfederalprograms.Manyprogrammanagersandinvestigatorsarenotawareoftherangeofresearcheffortsandfindings.Theproposedsciencemeetingisintendedtobringtogetherinstitutionsandindividualsinacentrallocationtosharefindingsandresearchobjectiveswithawideaudienceofinterestedscientistsandmanagers.ACommitteemembermentionedthatidentifyingresearchneedsmightalsobehelpful.Anotherexpressedconcernthatresearchneedsseemendlessandbelievesthatnarrowingorfocusingtosupportimplementationisparamount.Committeemembersagreedthatameetingtoshareresearchfindingswouldbevaluable.Oneoptionmightbetohavepublishedabstractsonlywith15-minutepresentationsand5minutesofquestions–nolongwrite-upswouldbenecessary.

AdditionalResearchUnderwayDougBarnumsharedapreliminarylistofresearchthathewasawareof,andothersaddedin.AtUCSD/SIOthereareseveralfolksdoingresearcharoundtheSaltonSea:

§ DuncanAgnew–StrainmeterssetupinSaltonCityandtwoothersiteswithintheBasin§ AmatoEvan-Meteorologyandclimatologyofduststormsintheregion(andmodeling)§ JanKliessel-Solarenergyproductionandimpactsofsoiling

Otheridentifiedresearch:§ CDFWBermudaDunes-Fish/birdsurveys§ UCIrvineisworkingwithComitéCívicooncommunitymonitoringdata§ UniversityofSouthernCalifornia-Degreeoftoxicitycomingfromtheplaya§ UCSanDiegoandUCIrvine-RespiratorydiseasesintheImperialValley§ BureauofReclamation-Waterquality

LogisticsThiswouldlikelybeatwo-daymeeting.CollegeoftheDeserthastentativelyagreedtoprovidespace,butsomefundingwouldberequiredtopayforadditionalsecurityandothercosts.OriginallyproposedforJanuary2018,thecommitteeagreedthatthiswastoosoonsolaterin2018wouldbethetimeframe.Outreachwouldalsobenecessaryasabroadrangeofinterestedpartiesmightwishtoattendtolistenandlearnaboutresearch.

NextSteps§ AndreaJones,TomAndersen,andCarolRobertswillformtheinitialplanningcommittee.

Theywouldlike1-2otherparticipants.§ TheStateofferedassistanceofconsultantJoshZipperman,BurkeRixCommunications,to

assistwithoutreach.

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CommitteeStructureThecommitteediscussedandconfirmeditsproposedmembership,forcomposition,size,andexpertise.Committeemembersconcurredthatcallinginexpertsforparticularworkshopsmaybenecessaryperiodically,especiallywithregardstopublichealth/toxicologyandgeothermalresources.Forpublichealthandtoxicology,thecommitteemaybeabletocallinthestate’sOfficeofEnvironmentalHealthHazardAssessment(OEHHA).

MembershipCarol Roberts CHAIR.USFWS(SeleniumandOtherContaminants)Tom Anderson USFWS(Avian)Michael Anderson UCRiverside(Water&WaterQuality)Doug Barnum USGS(SeleniumandotherContaminants)Steve Bigley CoachellaValleyWaterDistrict(Water&WaterQuality)Tim Bradley UCIrvine(Aquatic)Mike Chotkowski USGS(Biology)Amato Evans UCSDScrippsAndrea Jones AudubonCalifornia(Avian)Kurt Leuschner CollegeoftheDesert(Biology)Jeong-Hee Lim RegionalWaterQualityControlBoard(WaterQuality)Jason Low SouthCoastAirPollutionControlDist.(AirQuality)Robert McKernan Avianconsultant(Birds)Kathy Molina LACountyNaturalHistoryMuseumGeoff Schladow UCDavis(WaterandWaterQuality)Dave Shuford PointBlueConservation(Birds)Ramona Swenson ESAAssociates(Aquatic)Earl Withycombe CARB

ChargeandGuidelinesTheCommitteeapproveditsguidelinesasaworkingdraft,butdiscussedaddinginaprovisiononmediarelations.Committeemembersagreethatmemberswillonlyspeakontheirownindividualperspectiveandavoidcommentingonbehalfofanothermemberoronbehalfofthecommitteeoritswork.BruceWilcox,AssistantSecretaryofNaturalResources,wouldbecalledupontospeakonbehalfofcommitteeoutcomes.

PublicCommentInresponsetoapubliccommentonhowthecommitteememberswhoarealsoregulatorystaffwillmanagethereviewofdustmitigationmeasuresthatarenotcurrentlyagency-approvedBestApprovedControlMeasures(BACM),EarlWithycombe,CARB,saidthathewouldneedtothinkthisoverandprovidesomelanguagetothechairforcommitteeconsideration.

2018MeetingTopicsInadditiontothesciencemeeting,theCommitteeidentifiedsometopicsthatmightbeofinteresttodiscussin2018;however,thegroupdidnotreachaconclusion.ChairCarolRobertswillthinkaboutthismore,andtheCommitteecancontinuetoconsultwithconvenerBruceWilcox,thinkingthroughtheState’sneedsandpriorities.

§ Monitoring

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§ Adaptivemanagement–whendataareavailable§ Perimeterlakeconcept–wasonlyreviewedonce17yearsagoforaproposalsubmittedby

MichaelCohen

PublicCommentAlanBoyeswouldliketospeakwithascientistaboutgrowingtreestoreducedustemissions.HeisworkingwithprofessorsfromStanfordandanotheruniversitytoremoveseleniumonprivatelands.

MeetingAttendeesAbout10membersofthepublicattendedtheScienceCommitteemeetinginadditiontothefollowing.

StateofCaliforniaBruceWilcox,AssistantSecretary,NaturalResourcesBillBrownlie,Consultant,TetraTech

MembersAttendingPresent

✓ Carol Roberts CHAIR.USFWS(SeleniumandOtherContaminants)✓ Tom Anderson USFWS(Avian)✓ Michael Anderson UCRiverside(Water&WaterQuality)✓ Doug Barnum USGS(SeleniumandotherContaminants)✓ Steve Bigley CoachellaValleyWaterDistrict(Water&WaterQuality)✓ Tim Bradley UCIrvine(Aquatic)✓ Mike Chotkowski USGS(Biology)✓ Amato Evans UCSDScripps✓ Andrea Jones AudubonCalifornia(Avian) Kurt Leuschner CollegeoftheDesert(Biology) Jeong-Hee Lim RegionalWaterQualityControlBoard(WaterQuality)✓ Jason Low SouthCoastAirPollutionControlDist.(AirQuality)✓ Robert McKernan Avianconsultant(Birds) Kathy Molina LACountyNaturalHistoryMuseum Geoff Schladow UCDavis(WaterandWaterQuality)✓ Dave Shuford PointBlueConservation(Birds)✓ Ramona Swenson ESAAssociates(Aquatic)✓ Earl Withycombe CARB

FacilitatorCBIFacilitatorGinaBartlett,gina@cbuilding.org,415-271-0049