A History of Water — and the Salton Sea

Imperial Valley Press  Saturday, March 21, 2015  A7 Land of Extremes

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UNCERTAIN FUTURE A history of water — and the Salton Sea — in Imperial

BY NEAL V. HITCH Special to this Newspaper/Imperial Valley here is a current debate Sediments from the Grand Canyon among geol- and Colorado Pla- T ogists as to teau fill in the Gulf when the Grand Can- yon formed. In 2011, new evidence suggest- ed the Colorado River began carving into the Colorado Plateau 17 million years ago. This is different than the ABOVE: About 3.5 million years ago silt from the Colorado River ﬁ lled the Gulf of California leaving a large salt lake in traditional theories what would become the Imperial Valley. PHOTOS COURTESY OF IMPE- dating to 6 million RIAL VALLEY DESERT MUSEUM years ago. What is clear, however, is what happened to the ma- terial after it left the ABOVE: Design of the Topographical Water Interactive by Wel- don Exhibit. RIGHT: Lake Cahuilla was created when the Col- Grand Canyon. orado River changed its course and ﬁ lled the Imperial Valley. When it reached 39 feet above sea level, the water would open An interactive a breech and spill back into the Gulf of California. the Colorado River drained take advantages of the abun- topographical map into the Gulf until it was dance of resources the lake closed off. offered. The lake was com- This week at the museum A body of salt water re- pletely dry by 1700. Cycles of drying and we are finishing an interac- mained. The saltwater rem- In 1905, excessive flooding filling have recurred tive exhibit that will show nant evaporated to almost caused the Colorado River to into modern times how the Colorado River nothing, exposing a desert breech irrigation canals in has historically changed its where the Imperial Valley the Imperial Valley. Sea receives water from the The future of course to fill the Imperial is today. Subsequently, the For two years the water New, Whitewater and Alamo Valley and create the large Colorado River overflowed flowed, creating the current rivers and agricultural run- the Sea inland lake known as Lake and rerouted into this basin Salton Sea in the lowest part off. Cahuilla. But, as most people are Archaeologists, based on filling the Valley to 39 feet of Lake Cahuilla’s basin. their understanding of past A touch-screen program above sea level. The Desert Beach Yacht aware, the Salton Sea is at projected onto a topographic a critical juncture and has cycles, project that if there The first infill of Lake Club opened in 1927 and for were no infusions of water map will allow visitors to see Cahuilla could date back as more than 40 years offered a been receding. A receding how the Valley has changed Salton Sea will expose more coming into the Salton Sea, much as 3.5 million years, beautiful water playground in it would evaporate within from an ocean, to a lake, to a with it reforming again and the middle of the desert. than 50,000 acres of lakebed desert. made up of silt and fine-grain the next 10 years, just as it again throughout the millen- Located 241 feet below sea has four times during the last nium. The oldest shorelines level, the resort catered to the soil particles that contain farm-field sediments. millennium. The story of water are too old to date with Car- rich and famous with burn- This caused major chang- bon 14, but the oldest dates ing sands, 95-degree water This exposure poses an Millions of years ago, the urgent threat to air quality es for the people living here we know are about 26,000 and warm hospitality. during that time, disrupting Imperial Sea existed as far years ago. Speedboat races were held for residents in the Imperial north as the Coachella Valley. Valley as desert winds mov- their migration patterns, Archaeologists have ver- each fall and the buoyancy of hunting and fishing patterns, Fossil remains of inverte- ified that in the last 1,000 the salt-packed water made ing across the “playa” will and access to fresh water. brates like corals, mollusks years, Lake Cahuilla has for record-breaking runs. cause fine dust and toxins to There is a current debate and sand dollars indicate that filled and receded four times, The Salton Sea has been in become airborne. on how to care for the Salton the sea existed before the taking about 100 years each trouble since the 1970s when The sea is approximately Americas were joined at the time to fill up and then dry rising salinity due to water 44 feet deep and loses rough- Sea. Just this week issues Isthmus of Panama — a con- completely. evaporation started to kill off ly a half-foot of elevation were being presented before nection existed between the It was during this period sport fish. each year, which translates the State Water Resources Caribbean Sea and the east- that Native Americans mi- People stopped coming and to about 925 acres of newly Control Board, which could ern tropical Pacific Ocean. grated from the mountains the resort developments were exposed lakebed. be read in this newspaper. Sediments coming down to shores of Lake Cahuilla to abandoned. Today, the Salton There are also ecological No one can predict with concerns. The Salton Sea is certainty the future of the one of the few remaining wa- Salton Sea. It is clear from terways in Southern Califor- the archaeological record, nia, and therefore an import- however, that Lake Cahuilla ant stop for migratory birds reached a critical point where on the Pacific Flyway — more life could not be sustained than 400 species that rely on and this caused a major dis- the habitat provided by the ruption for the people who Salton Sea. lived near it.

Graph Î shows the known Í inﬁ lling and re- cession of Lake Cahuilla over the last 1,000 years. ASM Af- ﬁ liates. ! % # " % $ ! ! ! ! % " ! ! # ! ! %

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