California’s Accidental Lake is Saltier Than the Ocean & Shrinking Into a Public Health Crisis

The Salton Sea

In the 1950s, Hollywood stars flocked to the Salton Sea for yacht parties and water skiing.

Today, the same lake is a post-apocalyptic wasteland where dead fish wash up on abandoned beaches. The transformation took just 50 years and left behind one of the most surreal places in America.

Here’s the wild story of California’s strangest body of water.

California’s Accidental Sea in the Desert

The Salton Sea was born in 1905 when Colorado River water broke through irrigation canals and poured into the Salton Sink.

The water kept flowing for 18 months while engineers tried to fix the breach.

By the time railroad workers finally stopped the flow in 1907, a huge lake had formed 227 feet below sea level, stretching 45 miles long.

History shows this wasn’t a fluke. Ancient Lake Cahuilla had filled and dried up in this same basin many times over thousands of years.

The Colorado River Breach That Created a Lake

It all began with a mistake. The California Development Company built irrigation canals without proper safety measures or floodgates.

When their canals got clogged with silt in 1904, engineers cut a new opening but again skipped the floodgates.

Spring flooding in 1905 proved this was a bad idea. The entire Colorado River jumped its banks and rushed through the unprotected canal.

The town of Salton disappeared underwater along with a salt company and railroad tracks. The Torres Martinez tribe watched helplessly as half their reservation vanished beneath the rising water.

When Railways Battled Floodwaters to Save the Valley

The Southern Pacific Railroad stepped up when no one else could fix the problem. Their tracks were underwater and they needed the valley’s farm business.

They tried four times to close the gap, but the rushing water kept washing away their efforts. The situation looked hopeless.

In a final push, they brought in 2,000 workers who dumped thousands of train cars full of rocks and dirt into the breach.

On February 11, 1907, they finally won the battle. What started as a disaster had created California’s largest lake almost overnight.

The Rise of a Desert Playground in the 1950s

By the 1950s, this accident turned into gold as the sea became a hot vacation spot.

Ads called it “Palm Springs with water” and “California’s Riviera.”

Beaches filled with sunbathers while speedboats roared across the water. Fancy yacht clubs, motels, and marinas popped up along the shoreline.

Hollywood came to play too. Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and the Beach Boys were regulars at lakeside clubs and parties.

At its peak, more people visited the Salton Sea than Yosemite, with 1.5 million tourists showing up each year.

Record-Breaking Speedboats on Salty Waters

Boat racers found something special about the Salton Sea. Being 227 feet below sea level made it perfect for breaking speed records.

The low elevation and salty water made boats float higher and move faster. Newspapers called it “the fastest body of water in the world.”

Racers came from everywhere to test their luck. In 1929, five world speedboat records fell in a single event as crowds watched from the shore.

For years, anyone looking to set a new speed record knew this desert lake gave them the best shot at glory.

The Day Fish Were Introduced to Desert Waters

In the early 1950s, California wildlife officials saw potential in the salty lake. They stocked it with ocean fish like sargo, corvina, and croaker.

The fish loved their new home, growing big and multiplying fast. Word spread among fishermen that the catching was easy and the fish were huge.

Anglers lined the shores from dawn till dusk, hauling in full stringers. Later, hardy tilapia were added to the mix.

Soon the Salton Sea became California’s best fishing spot. These tough fish managed to survive even as the water grew saltier.

The 1970s Storms That Spelled Disaster

Two monster storms changed everything.

Tropical Storm Kathleen hit in 1976, flooding the valley immensely. A year later, Tropical Storm Doreen struck (the second “hundred-year storm”).

Water levels rose even higher. When waters finally dropped years later, they left ruins where vacation spots once stood.

Beach resorts, docks, and marinas were damaged beyond repair. Lakeside homes and businesses stood in several feet of water.

The communities never bounced back from this double blow.

The Massive Bird Die-Off of 1996

Summer 1996 turned the sea into a graveyard. Saltier water had already killed many fish, but now something worse was happening.

Dead tilapia rotting in the summer heat spread botulism. Birds ate the toxic fish and began dying by the thousands.

Workers collected 14,000 dead birds in just four months. Nearly 10,000 were pelicans. They burned carcasses day and night in makeshift incinerators.

TV news showed the world images of dead birds washing ashore. The vacation paradise was now known as a death trap for wildlife.

The Day Congressman Sonny Bono Took Action

Sonny Bono grew up water skiing on the Salton Sea. In 1995, now a congressman, he made saving it his mission.

After Bono died in a skiing accident in 1998, his wife Mary kept fighting. Their work led to the Salton Sea Reclamation Act that same year.

President Clinton signed the bill, putting the sea’s problems on the national map.

For the first time, Washington promised to help fix the mess. The plan offered hope, but real money and action moved slowly while the sea kept getting worse.

The Water Transfer Agreement That Sealed Its Fate

In 2003, a water deal changed the sea forever. The Quantification Settlement Agreement sent Colorado River water away from farms to coastal cities.

Farmers in Imperial Valley had to use less water or sell their share. It was the biggest farm-to-city water transfer in the country’s history.

California promised to restore the sea as part of the deal. But as water diversions grew, the promised fixes never came.

The sea began shrinking faster than ever.

The Toxic Dust Storms Poisoning Communities

As water levels drop, the sea reveals its poisoned bottom. Farm chemicals and metals from decades of runoff now lie exposed on the dry lakebed.

Strong desert winds pick up this toxic dust and blow it into nearby towns. The air fills with dangerous particles too small to see but easy to breathe.

One in five children in Imperial County now has asthma – the highest rate in California. Schools fly colored flags to warn kids when the air is too dangerous for recess.

The health crisis hits hardest in poor Latino communities around the sea. Some 650,000 people breathe this toxic air when the winds blow.

Visiting Salton Sea

You can reach the Salton Sea by driving Highway 111 along its eastern shore.

The State Recreation Area has camping spots, picnic tables, and great places to watch the hundreds of bird species that still call this place home.

Bombay Beach shows both decay and rebirth, with abandoned houses now covered in colorful art, check out Salvation Mountain and Slab City.

The Sonny Bono Wildlife Refuge lets you see some of the 400 bird species that stop here during migration.

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