Salton Sea

It's hard to believe that this huge, 35-mile-long body of water wasn't here until just over one hundred years ago. And that it was an accident.

In ancient times, there was a large lake here in this desert region of what is now southeast California. But it had long since dried up. In the late 1800s, farming began to flourish in the area. Irrigation canals were dug to channel water from the Colorado River to the crops. In 1905, the Colorado rose to flood stage and the waters broke through the canal walls. For more than a year, the entire flow of the Colorado River poured into the Salton Sink, a valley more than 200 feet below sea level. By the time engineers managed to stop the raging waters in 1907, the Salton Sea had been born. It was predicted to dry up within twenty years, but runoff waters from surrounding farmland have continued to feed the enormous lake. It teems with fish and is a major stopover for birds on the Pacific Flyway.

The Salton Sea lies over an ancient salt bed and is saltier than the ocean. Unfortunately, its rising salinity is causing concern for the health of the fish and animals that live in and around it.

The campground at Salton Sea State Park is essentially right on the water. I was here for only one night, but I enjoyed meeting my next-door neighbors from Riverside, CA, and attending a presentation by a park ranger who explained the background and geology of the Sea and told of the ecological challenges it faces.

I can't seem to get enough of sunrises and sunsets so I pointed my camera at them once again.