Vegetation and bale arrays cut surface saltation in pilot Salton Sea projects; managers say mix of bales and plantings works fastest

State project managers told the State Water Resources Control Board in Thermal on May 21 that vegetation enhancement and temporary bale arrays are suppressing wind‑driven sand transport at pilot sites around the Salton Sea. The workshop was informational; no board action was taken.

Lede/what happened: The Salton Sea Management Program reported monitoring results from vegetation enhancement projects at three pilot locations — commonly called the Clubhouse, Tully Wash and a Bombay Beach demonstration — where managers placed bale rows, seeded or planted native species and used irrigation to establish cover. Field transects and monitoring stations show immediate reductions in saltation (the near‑surface hopping of sand grains) and declines in measured particulate matter downstream of treated areas.

Key data reported: Salton Sea program presenters and engineers said site transects show reductions of saltation in treated areas typically in the 75–95% range versus upwind monitors. Staff reported that as vegetation establishes over months to years, saltation reductions increase toward the higher end of that range. Project sizes reported included approximately 399 acres at "Clubhouse," about 1,215 acres at Tully Wash and smaller test plots (around 93 acres) at Bombay Beach; managers said additional phases were planned on adjacent IID land.

How it works: The program uses a staggered array of straw bales as a first line of defense and then plants native species with low‑volume drip irrigation. Bales slow near‑surface wind and trap coarse particles while seedlings establish; eventual plant canopy and root systems sustain suppression when irrigation winds down. Program engineers showed computational fluid dynamics modeling that aligns with field results, and a short video demonstrated dust being carried across a treated area but not being generated inside it.

Operational notes and constraints: Project managers said groundwater searches at some sites did not find usable aquifers, complicating irrigation plans; temporary water lines and other infrastructure are sometimes required. Staff highlighted a pending Wildlife Conservation Board grant application (about $5 million) to help fund turbines at Bombay Beach that would permit construction if approved.

Next steps: Managers plan to expand monitoring, optimize bale density and planting techniques (noting seeding sometimes matched planting success) and use lessons learned to reduce cost and labor per acre as projects scale. A statewide project tracker and the SSMP project portal will carry updates and monitoring results.