Salton Sea Bill Unveiled as Bono Tribute

WASHINGTON — One of Sonny Bono’s last acts as a Palm Springs congressman was to invite House Speaker Newt Gingrich on a helicopter tour of the dying Salton Sea, figuring that a visit by one of the most powerful men in Washington would raise political consciousness about a lost California treasure.

Bono worried that the speaker would not accept, and died on a Lake Tahoe ski slope Jan. 5 before getting word that he had.

On Wednesday, Gingrich more than kept his promise, making an unusual appearance at a Capitol news conference to unveil a $327-million bill to reclaim the contaminated sea in Bono’s memory.

“In literally the last conversation I had with Sonny Bono about public policy, this was one of the two topics,” Gingrich told a packed room. “We knew how personal and deep his commitment was.”

In death, Bono has managed to elevate a body of water all but forsaken for 30 years to--in the words of Gingrich--”the most important single environmental concern in Southern California today.”

The bill directs the Department of the Interior to determine the best way to stop the deadly salinization of the sea, which once provided the backdrop to a thriving resort that attracted the likes of Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby and the Marx brothers.

The sea was created 30 miles south of Indio in 1905 by an agricultural mistake, when the Colorado River burst through dikes and filled a hole called the Salton Sink. Today it is a killing pond with no outlet, the victim of drain water from nearby farms that experts say collects enough salt each day to fill a train one mile long.

In 1996, thousands of endangered pelicans and other kinds of birds that pass the sea along the Pacific Flyway were wiped out after they stopped there during migration. Although the exact cause remains unknown, experts note that one of the world’s most polluted rivers, the New River, empties into the sea from the city of Mexicali across the Mexican border.

Before his death in a holiday skiing accident, Bono, 62, had made it his life’s work to reclaim the sea.

“Sonny wanted to be known for saving the Salton Sea more than for his songs and more than for his entertainment,” said his widow, Mary Bono, who is running to fill his seat in the 44th Congressional District and attended Wednesday’s news conference.

While proponents bet that a desire to honor Bono will win the bill quick passage, some environmentalists warned that it does not do enough to rescue the state’s largest inland body of water and one of its most neglected.

“The bill chooses haste over thoroughness in an effort to expeditiously honor the late congressman,” said Evan Hirsche, director of the National Audubon Society’s wildlife refuge campaign.

The bill requires Interior officials to report to Congress within 12 months on the feasibility of reclaiming the sea. The officials also will recommend a plan of action.

Hirsche called the time frame “impossibly short,” saying that a thorough ecological analysis would take at least two years.

He also faulted the bill for limiting the cleanup options that can be considered when a broader range might lead to more long-term ecological benefits.

Despite bipartisan support and the endorsement of Gov. Pete Wilson, proponents conceded that cleaning up the sea will be no easy task, involving about 17 government agencies and Mexico. For instance, one potential plan calls for pumping salt out of the sea and depositing it south of the border.

Nevertheless, a task force of several California lawmakers that Sonny Bono had assembled--many of whom had gathered in his office the last Sunday he was in Washington to discuss the polluted sea--vowed Wednesday to move the bill forward without bureaucratic delay.

“Sonny’s motto was, ‘Can’t we just get this thing done?’ ” said Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-El Cajon).