After a misty and way too early Spring wake up in the town of Brawley – a small agricultural community just north of Highway 8 in southern CA – I continue my journey to one of the most interesting and eccentric areas in the whole of SoCal – the Salton Sea. Isolated from its from is original banks and seemingly time itself, the stories, history and of course the environment of the Salton Sea are all F$%#ing nuts…. and just part of the reason you should visit California’s vanishing sea.
The Salton Sea is a mistake but what a mistake it is. The largest lake in California is only about 50 feet deep (at its deepest point) and is – in its current form – the results of a man-made flood. It’s also 25+ times saltier than the ocean and is host to one of the most critical migratory flyways in North America. But… if as it disappears we will start to see the impacts to our environment and perhaps way people live in one of the largest cities in the world.
To increase water flow into the area for agriculture in the 1900’s, canals were dug from the Colorado River into the valley and in a planned moment of greed… a cut was made in the bank of the Colorado River further increasing the water flow. The additional flow overwhelmed the canal system and the entire Colorado River flowed into the Salton Basin for two years. Before it could be stopped, it filled the ancient lake bed and created our modern Salton Sea.
Over the past millions plus years, the Colorado River changed course countless times, flowing back and forth between the Salton Sink (where the sea is now) and into the Sea of Cortez. These historic cycles created a freshwater lake, a saline lake, and a dry desert basin – all dependent on river flows, mountain snow packs, temperatures and time. And since the sea is in a desert region, evaporation always gets the best of the Salton.
To be continued…. Part 2: Vanishing Sea – The Bizarre
