Angelika Right around the corner from the Anza Borrego Desert is Salton Sea, an oversalted, practically dead lake, behind which tells the story of a major environmental disaster. It's an unreal, fascinating, but also somewhat eerie landscape in the middle of the hot desert. An area that once saw glorious times with major Hollywood artists visiting, and nowadays attracts bohemians with interesting, but often also tragic life stories.

Such areas also have a magical pull on me, so it was clear that we would make a trip to Salton Sea from our base in Anza Borrego. But now what happened to the lake? Even the lake's origin story is crazy. How does such a large lake end up in the California desert? It was due to an oversight by an engineer.

First, you must know that a sophisticated and now very controversial canal system, which taps into the Colorado River, irrigates farmland in Southern California's Imperial and Riverside Valleys. Without such water sources, no vegetables would grow on Californian fields. One of these canals, namely the Alamo Canal, became clogged with mud around 1900, and it was not possible to clear it. The farmers urgently needed the water and protested and pleaded with the responsible company, the "California Development Company," to let the water flow again.

Since the company was already on the verge of bankruptcy, their engineer Charles Lockwood must have thought, everything's lost anyway, so I might as well make a breakthrough at another location along the Colorado River and let the water flow uncontrolled by dams through different channels to the farms in the Imperial Valley. Naturally, this didn't go well for long, and in 1905, due to heavy snowmelt, the Colorado River had high water levels. Because of the overburdening of the canal system and further breaches, the river water flowed unhindered into the Salton Sink for two years, forming the lake.

This inflow was stopped in 1907 by repair works. Now, however, the lake hasn't had any natural inflow or outflow and its level has been maintained for decades by agricultural wastewater. However, this wastewater carries pesticides and other chemicals, making the lake practically completely saline. Its salinity is higher than that of the Pacific Ocean! As the water level in the lake continues to drop due to various environmental factors such as higher evaporation due to rising temperatures and less wastewater inflow, the salinity continues to increase, and chemicals that have accumulated in the mud of the lake bed over decades are released. The air quality in this area is often poor, and diseases such as asthma and cancer are increasing, not to mention the death of fish and other species. The state of California has been trying to find a solution to the problem for decades, but the responsible authorities and politicians cannot agree on the right approach, and then they prefer to do nothing.

Strangely, in the 1950s and 60s, when the salinity of Salton Sea hadn't reached today's levels yet, it was a popular excursion and swimming destination, with resorts bearing such glamorous names as Bombay Beach. Day-trippers came from Los Angeles and Palm Springs, bathed in the lake, zipped around on motorboats, and even fished. Nowadays, that's a somewhat absurd notion.

Today, the area around Salton Sea is generally inhabited by bohemians and people who need affordable, cheap housing. These enthusiastic residents fight to ensure that the area is not forgotten. There is an annual art festival in Bombay Beach with many art objects on the beach that then are simply kept there. Parts of the area resemble old ghost towns with many abandoned and collapsed buildings. It's a paradise for every photographer. Despite the harsh and toxic environmental conditions, many birds, such as snow geese, settle by the lake. And there's also a nice bar with the funny name 'Ski Inn' with a beautiful garden, where we stopped by and enjoyed delicious hearty burgers. At places like Salton Sea, I always find myself philosophizing about life in general and in particular.

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• More topics you might be interested in:

  	Hassle With the Health Insurance
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