The current Salton Sea was created when agricultural canals from the Colorado River were being built and overflowed, filling up an empty lake basin. The Salton Sea is kept full in part by agricultural runoff, causing it to be twice as salty as the ocean and full of toxins.
Years ago, it was much cleaner and in the 1950s different beach towns popped up around the waters edge. Now these towns are ramshackle and mostly abandoned. The water have been receding for decades and as the lake bed dries up, the toxic dust created from the dried agricultural sediment causes chronic asthma with many of the locals. The strong stench of the water sits over the whole area. I wouldn’t dream of swimming in the Sea but it was an interesting sight to behold. While most the fish have died off due to the high salinity and toxicity of the water, there are many unique and exotic (to us) birds in the area as well.
There are a lot of art installations built with debris scattered hither and yon over the beach.
I certainly would not want to linger for long in this place but the water reflecting the bright blue sky was beautiful and the mountains in the distance were breathtaking.
No comments:
Post a Comment