Salton Sea Facts
(Some information courtesy of SaltonSea.ca.gov)
Fact 1
The Salton Sea is not an unnatural "accidental
sea". This myth begins with the factual history of the Sea. Indeed,
massive flooding in 1905 caused the Colorado River to break through an
irrigation canal head works and flow freely into the Salton Basin for a
year and a half. By the time the breach was closed, the present-day
Salton Sea was created.
This, however, suggests that a static, dry, natural state
exists in the basin. It does not. In tracing the Seas' origins, it is
found that Indians made use of a massive Seas' bounty during the 1500's,
leaving behind artifacts that recorded their practices. From 1824 to
1904, the Colorado River flows flooded the Salton Basin no fewer than
eight times. Each time and countless times before, the Colorado River
has meandered west and filled the Basin with fresh water. Water filled
the Salton Basin numerous times in the past, supplied by the Colorado
River. These inland seas have all been a 'natural' result of the
Colorado River as is the present Salton Sea. Unable to control the
Colorado River, man could not prevent another inland sea from forming.
As to its present state, drainage from 500,000 acres of farms in the neighboring Imperial and Coachella valley’s now sustains the Sea. The Sea is a designated federal repository of agricultural runoff, and agriculture is a billion dollar mainstay of the Valley's economies. Decreased flow into the sea, however, makes its future questionable.
Fact 2
The Sea is one of the most important wetlands along the
Pacific Flyway, and is increasingly so as over 97 percent of the inland
wetlands that provided habitat value to the birds along the Pacific
Flyway in California have disappeared.
The image here (courtesy of the University of
Redlands) shows areas of the North American continent where birds tagged
at the Salton Sea have been spotted.
Several
million birds migrate and inhabit the area every year. The Sea
provides a wintering habitat to over 450,000 ducks and up to 30,000 snow
and Ross geese. In fact, over 400 species of birds have been spotted
at the Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge, more than any other place in
the U.S., other than the Gulf Coast of Texas. Endangered species also
make the Sea their home, including the brown pelican and the Yuma
clapper rail. In the past, when the old seas of the Salton Basin dried
up, the Colorado River Delta provided the critical wetlands for the
migrating birds, but now, since the Colorado River no longer has a delta
in Mexico the Salton Sea is their last hope.
Fact 3
Before 1985, the Sea's State Park had more visitor days per
year than did Yosemite National Park, and press reports from the 1960's
highlight the popularity of the Sea as a recreational destination.
A 1985 California Department of Fish and Game study found
that the Sea was more productive (fish caught per angler hour) than any
California marine fishery and equal to the most productive freshwater
fisheries. In 1989, the Department found the annual direct impact of
the fishery to the local economy to be 50 to 65 million dollars. A
study now underway indicates that the fishery may be the most productive
in the world. Some estimates put the number of Tilapia in the Salton
Sea at as many as 200 million. That's a lot of fish!
The Sea and the agriculture industry provide mutual
economic benefit. The Sea itself could not exist without its primary
water source-inflow from irrigation runoff, and the agriculture industry
relies on the Sea for a repository of this runoff. Today, the annual
agricultural economy of Riverside and Imperial counties combined is $1.5
billion.
Business and academic interests have suggested that a restored Sea could drive the regional economy for years to come.
Fact 4
The water is clean.
The State Water Resources Control Board tests the Sea twice
a year and has not found pesticides at a significant
level in the Sea. Pesticide levels are periodically found to be high
at some drains, but the Sea's sheer volume and most pesticides' ability
to biodegrade seem to limit their impact.
This was further validated with two independent studies
conducted by the Salton Sea Science Subcommittee. This research
indicated there were no pesticides in the sediment and water of the
Salton Sea. A third study found extremely low levels of contaminants in
the Sea's barnacles, a finding which surprised the researchers, because
the levels were much lower than found in the waters of San Diego.
Selenium is a naturally occurring element in Colorado River
water, the source of the vast majority of the Sea's water. Selenium is
found at elevated levels in some inflows to the Sea and in the
sediments of the deepest parts of the Sea. Yet in water taken from the
Sea itself, selenium was found at only about 1 microgram per liter and
the federal standards allow up to 5 micrograms per liter. The water at the
Salton Sea is clean and many of the local residents and tourists
frequently swim in what they refer to as "the healing waters" of the
Salton Sea.
Fact 5
One of the sea's problems is its immensity and another is
its complexity; it is California's largest inland body of water and
supports a complicated and priceless ecosystem. Still another
problem is its location. Far from urban centers and the usually
vigilant eye of environmental interests, the Sea has been largely
ignored. The environmental community is waking to the Sea's problems
and possibilities (the Audubon Society has made the Sea a number one
priority).
There is much more to learn about the Sea. One major
factor has and continues to contribute to the Sea's downward spiral of
ecological and economic health: salinity. The Sea's salinity has
increased steadily over the years. Now at 44 parts per thousand, or at a
content level 25 percent greater than the ocean, the hypersaline
environment is jeopardizing the survival of fish and will ultimately
jeopardize the survival of much of the Sea's biological bounty including
the birds and surrounding wildlife.
The time for action is now, when there is still time to
develop short term and, ultimately, long term solutions for restoring
the Sea. Myths must be dispelled, myths and misperceptions that have
contributed to public confusion for so many years.
The Sea's immensity, complexity, and remoteness may, in the
past, have combined to create the Sea's greatest threat: uncertainty
leading to unease, leading to inaction.
However, the knowledge gained from the extensive research
on the real problems, coupled with political will to take responsible
action, will go far in debunking the myths and making the restoration of
the Sea a reality.
But the action we need is NOW. If we don't do something soon, the sea could be dead in as little as ten years.
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