The organizations that form the coalition initially united to participate in the intensive negotiations that took place around the creation of an agreement that requires the State of California to cut back its use of Colorado River water. The Quantification Settlement Agreement (QSA) calls for a significant amount of the water used by Imperial Valley agriculture, which helps to sustain the Sea, to be transferred to San Diego's urban coastal communities. This means that the Sea's water level will drop, which will deteriorate the wildlife and public trust values of the Sea if the State of California does not implement a successful ecosystem restoration plan.

We invested a great amount of time and resources to make certain that 2003 legislation enabling the QSA included language that charges the State of California with the restoration of the Salton Sea ecosystem and the permanent protection for the wildlife dependent on the ecosystem. The State is currently conducting an ecosystem restoration plan for the Sea. The Salton Sea Coalition actively participates in this planning process to ensure that the wildlife and public trust values at the Sea will remain for future generations.