The Salton Sea became a popular destination, but there were problems. The agricultural runoff feeding the lake was driving up its salinity, making the ecosystem increasingly uninhabitable for fish and the birds that fed on them. The runoff was also laden with pesticides, heavy metals and even raw sewage from across the Mexican border.
In the late 1970s, a series of tropical storms brought record rainfall to southeastern California. The Salton Sea has no natural outlet so the water level rose by more than ten feet, inundating shoreline communities and forcing out local residents.
The floodwaters eventually receded, but the health of the sea continued to deteriorate. In recent years, it has reached a critical tipping point. The water is now receding. The birds are disappearing. The air is hazardous to breathe. And little remains of the once-thriving communities and resorts along the shore.
What is playing out at the Salton Sea is more than simply a story of boom and bust, as it’s often portrayed in the media. It’s also a story about a neglected corner of the American West now facing a confluence of crises, from drought and pollution to poverty and mismanagement.