'Places: California Water,' I look at areas like The Salton Sea and Owens Lake, where human activities have led to the depletion, mismanagement, or theft of water with dire consequences.

Salton Sea Information

The Salton Sea was formed by accident in 1905, when the Colorado River broke through a canal and flooded into the dry Salton Sink creating California’s largest body of water at 15 by 35 miles long.

The lake fed water to millions of acres of farmland, and also became a booming tourist spot in the 50s and 60’s.But the Lake did not have an outlet, and as water evaporated, the salinity of the lake and the heavy agriculture run off from the farms began to destroy the ecosystem.

Migratory birds were poisoned and the fish began to die.

It didn’t take long for The Salton Sea to become a ghost town, and you might think let nature takes its course. It wasn’t meant to be there anyway. It was a man made mistake.

But now, as it shrinks and it’s dry lakebed is being exposed to the desert winds, a toxic dust, LACED with dangerous levels of arsenic and selenium will soon begin to change the air quality of of California, Arizona and areas of Mexico. California still hasn't done much to fix it.

read more here: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-salton-sea-failure-20190329-story.html

E Tyler Burton

sculpture and mixed media

E Tyler Burton

sculpture and mixed media