Scientists Warn Salton Sea In Peril

The Salton Sea is less than a decade from possibly drying up, which could pose major problems to the eco-system, and affect the quality of life in the desert, according to scientists.

The Renaissance Esmeralda Resort and Spa hosted the Salton Sea Stakeholder’s Symposium on Thursday in Indian Wells, where environmentalists joined together, and discussed ways to prevent what some are calling a potential catastrophe.

The smell of the Salton Sea is inescapable.

The water is often used as a garbage dump, and it’s polluted to the point where some fish can no longer survive there.

“It’s declining at a relatively gradual rate for the next several years,” said Michael Cohen, a senior associate at the Pacific Institute.

More than 500 concerned citizens listened carefully Thursday morning to the dozens of speakers that took the stage, where the attention was squarely on the desperate state of the Salton Sea.

“The salts and the brine and the area that would be left, subject to the winds that we have in this area, would cause an economic and physical catastrophe,” said Supervisor John Benoit.

Cohen has studied the Salton Sea for more than 12 years.

“As the Salton Sea recedes, we’re going to get more dust blowing off the Salton Sea, off the lake bed, which is going to have a real impact on public health,” he said.

The sea could dry out by 2018, according to Cohen. Some of the water will evaporate. But, the main reason is because much of it is transferred out of the Imperial Valley, to San Diego.

“Four hundred-plus species of birds use the Salton Sea,” said Cohen. “The problem in California is we’ve dried up most of the wetlands throughout the state.”

Scientists warned that the sea water will become more salty as the water level continues to drop, which will kill off fish, and force birds to go elsewhere to feed.

“We might actually start losing more and more species,” said Cohen.

“We got to figure this out locally,” said Benoit, who is also a member of the Salton Sea Authority.

“Having been in the Legislature, I know that this is not high on the agenda,” said Benoit, although he does believe it’s an important issue.

One proposed solution to the problem is to reduce the size of the sea, which would create a smaller, but more manageable body of water.

“We can prevent these air quality impacts,” said Cohen. “We can preserve habitat for species and we can preserve some economic value.”