Salton Sea
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| Salton Sea | |
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| Location | Colorado Desert Riverside and Imperial County, California |
| Coordinates | Coordinates: |
| Lake type | Endorheic rift lake |
| Primary inflows | Alamo River New River Whitewater River |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Surface area | 974 km2 (376 sq mi) |
| Max. depth | 16 m (52 ft) |
| Water volume | 9,250,000 dam³ (7,500,000 acre·ft) |
| Surface elevation | -69 m (230 ft) (below sea level) |
| Settlements | Bombay Beach, Desert Beach, Desert Shores, Salton City, Salton Sea Beach |
| References | USGS GNIS: Salton Sea |
The Salton Sea is a saline, endorheic rift lake located directly on the San Andreas Fault. The lake occupies the lowest elevations of the Salton Sink in the Colorado Desert of Riverside and Imperial County in Southern California. Like Death Valley, it is located below sea level, with the current surface of the Salton Sea at 226 ft (69 m) below sea level. The deepest area of the sea is 5 ft (1.5 m) higher than the lowest point of Death Valley. The sea is fed by the New, Whitewater, and Alamo rivers, as well as a number of minor agricultural drainage systems and creeks.
The lake covers a surface area of approximately 376 sq mi (970 km2), the largest in California. While it varies in dimensions and area with changes in agricultural runoff and rain, it averages 15 mi (24 km) by 35 mi (56 km), with a maximum depth of 52 ft (16 m), giving a total volume of about 7,500,000 acre·ft (9,250,000 dam³), and annual inflows averaging 1,360,000 acre·ft (1,680,000 dam³). The lake's salinity is increasing by about 1 percent annually, at about 44,000 mg/L, is greater than the waters of the Pacific Ocean (35,000 mg/L), but less than that of the Great Salt Lake.[1]
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[edit] History
Once part of a vast inland sea that covered a large area of Southern California, the endorheic Salton Sink was the site of a major salt mining operation. Throughout the Spanish period of California's history the area was referred to as the "Colorado Desert" after the Rio Colorado (Colorado River). In the 1853/55 railroad survey, it was called "The Valley of the Ancient Lake". On several old maps from the Library of Congress, it has been found labeled "Cahuilla Valley" (after the local Indian tribe) and "Cabazon Valley" (after a local Indian chief - Chief Cabazon). "Salt Creek" first appeared on a map in 1867 and "Salton Station" is on a railroad map from 1900, although this place had been there as a rail stop since the late 1870s. The name "Salton" appears to be connected with salt mining in the area, at least as early as 1815. A yearly expedition to the area mined salt for Los Angeles residents. With the extension of a rail line through the basin, large scale salt mining started in 1884. After that, the general area is referred to as the 'Salton Sink' or the 'Salton Basin', "sink" or "basin" referring to the area's bowl-shaped topography.
[edit] Creation of the current Salton Sea
The creation of the Salton Sea of today started in 1905, when heavy rainfall and snowmelt caused the Colorado River to swell and breach an Imperial Valley dike. It took nearly two years to control the Colorado River’s flow into the formerly dry Salton Sink and stop the flooding. As the basin filled, the town of Salton, a Southern Pacific Railroad siding and Torres-Martinez Indian land were submerged. The sudden influx of water and the lack of any drainage from the basin resulted in the formation of the Salton Sea.
[edit] Bird use at the Salton Sea
The Salton Sea has been termed a "crown jewel of avian biodiversity" (Dr. Milt Friend, Salton Sea Science Office). Over 400 species have been documented at the Salton Sea. The Salton Sea supports 30% of the remaining population of the American White Pelican. [1] The Salton Sea is also a major resting stop on the Pacific Flyway. On 18 November 2006, a Ross's Gull, a high Arctic bird, was sighted and photographed there.[2]
Unfortunately, the combined effects of increasing, highly polluted inflow from the New River, Mexico and agricultural runoff have resulted in elevated bacterial levels and large algal blooms in the Salton Sea. With the lack of an outlet, salinity has increased by approximately 1% per year. Due to high selenium levels, the public was strictly advised to limit fish consumption from the Salton Sea in 1986, after which any amount was likely a health risk. Increasing water temperature, salinity and bacterial levels led to massive fish die-offs (1992, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2006, 2008), and created the ideal breeding grounds for avian botulism, cholera and Newcastle disease, which also led to massive avian epizootics from 1992-2008. Currently, the Salton Sea has a salinity of 4.4% (4.4 parts per 100), making it saltier than ocean water (3.5% for Pacific), and many species of fish are no longer able to reproduce or survive in the Salton Sea. It is now believed the tilapia may be the only fish species able to persist there for a limited time. Without restoration actions, the sea will likely increase in toxicity and remain an ecological trap for avian species.
[edit] Saving the Salton Sea
[edit] Past efforts and Proposals for a Sea Level Canal
Alternatives for "saving the Salton Sea" have been evaluated since 1955. Early concepts included costly "pipe in/pipe out" options, which would import lower salinity seawater from the Gulf of California or Pacific Ocean and export higher salinity Salton Sea water; evaporation ponds that would serve as a salt sink, and large dam structures that would partition the sea into a marine lake portion and a brine salt sink portion. Others advocate building a sea-level canal to the Salton Sea from the Gulf of California. Given that the Sea is over 200 feet (60m) below sea level, a sea level canal would allow thousands of tons of lower-salinity sea water to flow into the Sea without costly pumping or pipelines. Such a canal could be built large enough for recreational use and by ocean-going vessels. A sea-level canal would promote dual purposes, as both an inland port for Southern California and also a recreational/environmental asset along its course for humans and wildlife in Mexico and the U.S. A sea-level canal would also likely provide a way to regulate the shoreline of the Sea in a predictable manner. However, without a means to export salt, even this approach would eventually leave the sea with ever-increasing salinity levels.
In the late 1990s, the Salton Sea Authority, a local joint powers agency, and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation spearheaded efforts to evaluate and develop an alternative to save the Salton Sea. A Draft Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement, which did not specify a preferred alternative, was released for public review in 2000.
Since that time, the Salton Sea Authority has developed a preferred concept [3] that involves the construction of a large dam that would impound water to create a marine sea in the northern and southern parts of the sea and along the western edge. The plan has been subject to some criticism for failing to address ecosystem needs, and for engineering practicality concerns such as local faulting, potentially devastating to such a plan.
Criticisms of the preferred plan issued by the Salton Sea Authority include:
- Construction failure when identified 200 feet (60m) of sediments fail to hold up the rock structures placed on top of them
- Geological catastrophe when a major earthquake hits the nearby San Andreas Fault (feet (meters) away from the east end of the dike)
- Physical catastrophic failure as water is depleted from the south pond and water pressure pushes across the north pond against the soft sedimentary underlayment
- Possible catastrophic failure by water blowing under the dike as water from the higher north pond etches its way under the dike
- Massive alkali storms blowing across the area destroying crops from the south basin [4] exposing dried salt sediments, resulting in crop damage and increased respiratory problems.
Many other concepts have been proposed [5], including piping water from the Sea to a wetland in Mexico, Laguna Salada (Mexico), as a means of salt export, and one by Aqua Genesis Ltd to bring in sea water from the Gulf of California, desalinate it at the Sea using available geothermal heat, and selling the water to pay for the plan. [3] This concept [6] would involve the construction of over 20 miles (30 km) of pipes and tunneling, and, with the increasing demand for water at the coastline, would provide an additional 1,000,000 acre feet (1.2 km³) of water to Southern California coastal cities each year.
[edit] Current state restoration process
The California State Legislature, by legislation enacted in 2003 and 2004 (SB 277 [7], SB 317 [8], SB 654 [9]and SB 1214 [10]), directed the Secretary of the California Resources Agency to prepare a restoration plan for the Salton Sea ecosystem, and an accompanying Environmental Impact Report. As part of this effort, which is based on State legislation enacted in 2003 and 2004, the Secretary for Resources has established an Advisory Committee to provide recommendations to assist in the preparation of the Ecosystem Restoration Plan, including consultation throughout all stages of the alternative selection process. The California Department of Water Resources and California Department of Fish and Game are leading the effort to develop a preferred alternative for the restoration of the Salton Sea ecosystem and the protection of wildlife dependent on that ecosystem. The Secretary of Resources is required to submit a report to the legislature, including a preferred alternative, by 2006 December 31.
On January 24, 2008, the California Legislative Analysis Office released a report entitled "Saving the Salton Sea" [11]. The preferred alternative outlined within this draft plan calls for spending a total of almost $9 billion over 25 years and proposes a smaller but more manageable Salton Sea. The amount of water available for use by humans and wildlife would be reduced by 60 percent from 365 square miles (945 square kilometers) to about 147 square miles (381 square kilometers). Fifty-two miles (84km) of barrier and perimeter dikes - constructed most likely out of boulders, gravel and stone columns - would be erected along with earthen berms to corral the water into a horseshoe shape along northern shoreline of the sea from San Felipe Creek on the west shore to Bombay Beach on the east shore. The central portion of the sea would be allowed to almost completely evaporate and would serve as a brine sink, while the southern portion of the sea would be constructed into a saline habitat complex. If approved, construction on this project is slated to begin in 2011 and would be completed by 2035.
[edit] Media attention
The 2006 documentary film Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea (narrated by John Waters) documents the lives of the inhabitants of Bombay Beach, Niland, and Salton City, as well as the ecological issues associated with the Sea.[2]
The episode "Engineering Disasters 18" of The History Channel's show Modern Marvels showcased the creation and current rehabilitation efforts of the Salton Sea.
The episode "Future Conditional" (#302) from the series Journey to Planet Earth (narrated by Matt Damon) talks about the plight of the sea, and if nothing is done, a repeat of the fate of the Aral Sea will occur.[3]
The 1926 film The Winning of Barbara Worth, starring Ronald Colman and Gary Cooper, and the best-selling novel (1911) it was based on by Harold Bell Wright, are loosely based on the history of the creation of the Salton Sea, depicting the flooding of the Colorado River.[4]
On 1958 July 11 the radio station KPFA broadcast a documentary called The Salton Sea disaster as part of its California Calamities series. This recording is currently stored at the Pacifica Radio Archives in North Hollywood.
In the August 4, 2008 episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, on the Travel Channel, Tony visits and documents the culinary and cultural life of Bombay Beach on the Salton Sea.
In the book and movie Into The Wild by John Krakauer, the main character, Chris McCandless (Alexander Supertramp) camps by the Salton Sea for a time before deciding to head up to Alaska where he lost his life.
On March 24, 2009 a series of earthquakes in the Salton Sea was reported on by the LA Times in the article entitled "At the Salton Sea, a warning sign of the Big One?" The article quotes several prominent Geophysicists who discuss the potential for these small quakes to spawn a massive earthquake on the San Andreas fault.
 Dead Tilapia |
 Near Obsidian Butte |
 Where the New River enters the Salton Sea |
 Abandoned Buildings |
 Sign on the west shore |
 More ruins on the east shore |
 Sunset in Salton Sea |
 White Pelicans on the North Coast |
 Field of mud volcanoes. |
 View from Mecca Beach |
 Alkali flats from the South shore |
 View from the East Coast of the Salton Sea near Niland |
[edit] References
- ^ Khaled M. Bali (27 March 2009). "Salton Sea Salinity and Saline Water". UC Davis, Cooperative Extension Imperial County. http://tmdl.ucdavis.edu/Salton_Sea_and_Salinity.htm. Retrieved on 2009-03-26.
- ^ Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea
- ^ "Future Conditional" (#302) - Journey to Planet Earth
- ^ The Winning of Barbara Worth - IMDb
- Metzler, Chris and Springer, Jeff - "Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea" Tilapia Film, [2006] - Thorough history of the first 100 years at the Salton Sea and the prospects for the future - http://www.saltonseadoc.com/.
- Stevens, Joseph E. Hoover Dam. University of Oklahoma Press, 1988. (Extensive details on the Salton Sea disaster.)
[edit] Further reading
- Setmire, James G. et al. (1993). Detailed study of water quality, bottom sediment, and biota associated with irrigation drainage in the Salton Sea area, California, 1988-90 [Water-Resources Investigations Report 93-4014]. Sacramento, Calif.: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.
- Setmire, James G., Wolfe, John C., and Stroud, Richard K. (1990). Reconnaissance investigation of water quality, bottom sediment, and biota associated with irrigation drainage in the Salton Sea area, California, 1986-87 [Water-Resources Investigations Report 89-4102]. Sacramento, Calif.: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Salton Sea |
- Salton Sea Authority
- Salton Basin chronology
- Salton Basin overview
- Salton Sea overview
- Salton Sea data and other resources
- Salton Sea Portal at the Digital Universe
- US Bureau of Reclamation's Salton Sea Restoration Project Office
- Documentary - "Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea" - narrated by John Waters
- National Geographic photos of the Salton Sea
- Geothermal energy generation in Imperial Valley
- Calexico New River Committee, New River Tributary
- [12]Salton Sea Synergy
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