Poisons and Perils on the Salton Sea | Hacker News Reader

Poisons and Perils on the Salton Sea

scientificamerican.com

29 pointsjelliclesfarm19 comments

True and regrettable fact: congressman Sonny Bono was on this problem in a major way when this problem was far less ominous/advanced and had legislation and fed dollars in sight when he skied into a tree and died. His Congressional seat passed to his wife, who named a wetlands and large scale bird sanctuary on the southeast corner of the Salton Sea in his honor. Congressperson Mary Bono reprioritized on matters of real estate development for whatever reason and for all intents and purposes, forgot about this long looming disaster. To her credit, property values in the Coachella valley (6 miles and a mountain ridge away from the Salton Sea) have appreciated handsomely since she was widowed. Like the proverbial coal mine canary, Migratory Birds voted with their wings in ways that poor humans in the area can't when the the Salton Sea became unhealthy and the Bono bird sanctuary is these days, defunct.

The similarly named Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea is one of my favourite documentaries of all time, I find it so fascinating: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TjGAWxL23c

The video made to sell the place as a paradise in the 60s is also fascinating: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jvguw1KkBB4

Here's another interesting piece by Vice about the Salton Sea: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDniDNY03JE

Much of the salts come from decades of excessive agricultural runoff from beyond wasteful irrigation practices that still continue to this day. Mainly because Colorado river water rates were way under market value in the 30's when they were first established and have barely changed ever since, making them wildly ridiculously undervalued today. If CA farmers were charged realistic market rates then they might be incentivized to improve their irrigation practices which would pretty much solve the "water crises" as well as stop increasing the poisoning of the Salton Sea.

Ironically the only reason the lake still exists is the runoff that's poisoning it. As agricultural practices tighten up, the lake will dry/concentrate even more.

The natural state of the Salton Sea today would be a dust bowl with no water without human intervention. Without waste from Farm water there would be no Lake to be poisoned at all.

People can make the argument that we want a man-made lake in the location to cut down on dust in the air. However, appeals to preserving a natural environment or ecology are not historically based

Ah, Niland, California. Visited there a year or so ago when we were in Joshua Tree. Super weird place and well worth a day trip! In Bombay Beach, we went to some dive bar called the Ski Inn[0] which was great. Check out the Ruins[1] nearby. As odd as those are, they pale in comparison to the not distant "towns" of Slab City[2], and further, East Jesus[3]. An on your way to both, make sure you check out Salvation Mountain[4]. East Jesus "closes" at dusk. All of this is totally worth the trip. It's bizarre and very entertaining.

[0] https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g32784-d157514... [1] https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g13838771-d138... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slab_City,_California [3] https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g32784-d596188... [4] https://www.salvationmountain.us/

Quick reminder that the Salton Sea is a man-made lake that was created a massive geoengineering accident and is maintained solely by runoff from irrigation.

In a natural state without human intervention the whole thing would be a dust bowl today

"East of Los Angeles" ??? Scientific American done did San Diego dirty there.

The Salton Sea is SD's beautiful mess.

Almost identical drive time from downtowns of both as of this comment heh.

It’s not entirely true to say its creation was an accident, for a long time the Colorado river would sometimes flow there as it meandered, and in the 1900s there was an intentional effort to develop it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salton_Sea

Especially in the context of environmental justice it’s important to consider why/how it got to be like it is today, and it seems like there’s a pretty clear line from the current conditions to the land speculators/railroads and the bureau of reclamation.

It absolutely wasn't intentional - a flood destroyed the diversion works, funneling the entire Colorado river into the valley. It took two years for them to force the Colorado river back into its original channel. It was the impetus for what eventually became Hoover Dam after it left such a negative impression of the devastation an untamed Colorado river could do.

From the SA article:

> Furby: The Salton Sea is the largest lake in California, but it actually started out as an accident.

This is not true, or at least not fully accurate, and not what I expect of a publication like Scientific American.

Not sure if you read the history section of the wikipedia article but it was intentional:

> In 1900, under Governor James Budd, the California Development Company began construction of irrigation canals to divert water from the Colorado River into the Salton Sink, a dry lake bed. After construction of these irrigation canals, the Salton Sink became fertile for a time, allowing farmers to plant crops.

> Within two years, the Alamo Canal became filled with silt from the Colorado River.

> Engineer Charles Rockwood, faced with bankruptcy and "after mature deliberation", directed the construction of a breach in the bank of the Colorado River approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) south of the existing wooden headgates (the Chaffey Gate).

> Rockwood's action in ordering the breach was later described as a "blunder so serious as to be practically criminal."

> Not sure if you read the history section of the wikipedia article but it was intentional:

you're mis-reading the history there. Water was diverted into the area to use as irrigation for farming, at this point there was no sea nor was anything on that scale intended.

It wasn't until the heavy rains and unintentional diversion of the Colorado that the sea formed.

My quibble is with the statement from the article: "it actually started out as an accident", it's just not good reporting.

It didn't start as an accident, there was a prehistoric lake there, occasionally inhabited. Because of the lake that used to be there the area has fertile soil. Humans diverted water there intentionally for farming. Some people profited off of this and have left residents and others to deal with health effects and pick up the tab of dealing with the problem.

The problem is that the area is returning to it's natrual evironment.

Some people profited and while they did so, they incidentaly did everyone a favor by preventing the harms that mother nature would do in their absence.

IF not for the accident, most of the lake wouldn't exist as it does today.

It was absolutely a disaster and unexpected. There was an intentional and deliberate effort to divert more water from the Colorado River. This involves breaching the banks to allow some more water to flow out. Erosion at the bridge led to a failure Cascade to the point where more than 90% of the Colorado River was diverted from its current course to the Salton Sea. Closing the took several years to complete

Historically, the Colorado would periodically take that course, but it shifted on the timescales of several hundred years. The fact that there is anything there today but a dry lake bed can be solely attributed to human intervention. The last time the lake was natrually full was in the 1700s.

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