Case Study 2: The Salton Sea

Compiled and modified for instructional use by: Lisa Phillips, Illinois State University, llphill@ilstu.edu

On September 10, 2012, several million southern California residents reacted with alarm to an unfamiliar noxious scent. The Air Quality Management District officials in the Los Angeles region were initially at a loss to determine the odor's source. Investigators from Ventura to Palm Springs looked for toxic spills, sewage plant leaks, and gas line breaks—all for naught.

The smell's origin was the Salton Sea more than 150 miles away and not usually upwind. The smell of an algal bloom and subsequent massive fish kill released odor molecules redolent with the stench of environmental decay.

Lying below sea level at -227 feet, the shrinking 375-square-mile Salton Sea is a shallow saline lake that has experienced periodic flooding and states of complete evaporation since the late Holocene. Geographically it is located between the Mohave and the Sonoran deserts, the San Andreas and the San Jacinto fault zones, and US and Mexican interests. Because 90 percent of the wetlands in California are gone, it has become a major stop for birds in the Pacific Flyway. The migratory birds feed upon introduced species—Atlantic pileworms and tropical tilapia.

In 1905, two things happened to form the current body of water. First, engineers created a channel to divert water from the Colorado River to irrigate the floundering Imperial Valley, and, second, the Colorado River experienced a record flood due to excessive snowmelt upstream (Stringfellow, np). The primary reason the Colorado River stopped filling the enormous puddle was that a railroad tycoon decided to help California officials by transporting enough rock (and the labor to move it) to dam and re-channel the river. The plan worked, and, because of the desert environment, the Salton Sea was not expected to last for more than twenty to thirty years. However, agricultural run-off from the adjacent Imperial Valley has allowed the water body to persist although there have been some dramatic fluctuations in size.

The Salton Sea is the largest inland body of water in California. The question for those who occupy the currently shrinking perimeter of the Salton Sea, those who live farther away, and for the many who are unwillingly subjected to its odor is one that we all must consider: do we seek remedies to the environmental plagues we visit upon ourselves?

The Salton Sea as an evaporating body of water emits flickering stress signifiers. The odor "waves" do more to draw attention to ecological damage than a persistent odor does. A normal human olfaction system (the biological sense of smell) becomes accustomed to a persistent scent relatively quickly—something named "extinction"/conditioned stimulus in olfactory research circles. However, infrequent or fluctuating bad smells are more likely to trigger a response. If the Salton Sea keeps up its stench "events," which seems likely given its history, and the weather patterns continue to be erratic, also likely given the trajectory of global climate change, then one might be led to believe that the Salton Sea might be able to invoke some sort of remedial response. That the Salton Sea sends up scent signals of environmental distress directs our sensory attention, which, in turn, provokes political response and ethical responsibility. Unsurprisingly, given its desert location, the Salton Sea is evaporating, but this has taken much longer than expected due to the agricultural run-off from the Imperial Valley. However, that water is now being diverted to cities like Palm Springs and Los Angeles, and the Salton Sea level has shown a rapid decline in recent years.

To help explain the ways in which water rights and environmental damage might be addressed or mitigated with greater parity for marginalized people and non-human life in increasingly arid regions, Peter Harries-Jones in A Recursive Vision notes, "all information is material in that news is carried by a sense-perceivable event" (75). In the Salton Sea instance, the scent event is a harbinger of alarm that draws attention to catastrophic effects of climate change and human malfeasance in a zone of indetermination represented by the sea itself. The unpleasant scents and sights associated with the degradation of the Salton Sea are highlighted throughout the provided materials.

Discussion Questions:

What is the problem? What might have caused the problem? What data would you want to assess and address the problem? What sorts of narrative frameworks ought we consider to address the complexity of the situation and the ethical consequences of the choices people made? How is the reek of the Salton Sea working to provoke human outcry over environmental degradation? How are non-human agents impacted, implicated, or ignored in our ecological perceptions?

Data Sources for Group Analysis and Presentation Activity:

The following sources each provide information about the environmental, cultural, and historical issues surrounding the Salton Sea.

Note: Students should examine a variety of sources and include scientific research, news reports, and other sources of information in their review of materials. It is not necessary (or practical) to review every source provided below. If a source is no longer available, other sources provided below should be used. Instructors and/or students may find and use additional sources by searching the internet for "Salton Sea" (If students search for additional sources, the instructor should have students include the source and a brief explanation of why they are using the source.)

Salton Sea Authority Website and Salton Sea Management Website

The Salton Sea Authority is a "joint powers" organization that works with the State of California to maintain the Salton Sea. The Salton Sea Management website is an overview of monitoring, planning, and progress on Salton Sea projects maintained by the State of California.

• "Research on the Sea" from the Salton Sea Authority. This site contains resource links to different scientific research about the Salton Sea.

Note: The May et al publication on "Total selenium in irrigation . . ." is a four-year study of agricultural runoff into the Salton Sea. Students can look at data analysis in this document. The Case et al, publication is a complete ecosystem monitoring and assessment plan. Students will be overwhelmed by the whole document. Focusing on the executive summary will be useful.

• "History & Culture", from the Salton Sea Authority. This resource offers a timeline of events relevant to the Salton Sea and surrounding area.
• "Salton Sea Funding and Feasibility Review Work Plan" offers an agenda to help maintain the water and wildlife estuary. (web archive version "Salton Sea Funding and Feasibility Review Work Plan")
• "Salton Sea Management Program – Phase I: 10-Year Plan (2017)" is a comprehensive overview of state plans to "mitigate air quality impacts and convert exposed lakebed to either pond habitat suitable for fish and wildlife or to wetland habitats"

Congressional Research Service

• Salton Sea Restoration, is an overview of the history, current work, and future plans for the Salton Sea

U.S. EPA

• How's My Waterway has water quality data for waterways throughout the U.S. Enter "Salton Sea" in the search box under "Let's Get Started".  There are several years of data for Salton Sea water quality. Students may select two years worth of data to see if there are discernible patterns. 

U.S. Geological Survey

• Salton Sea Publications has many publications on a variety of topics regarding the Salton Sea.  If this source is used, students or the instructor should use the filter function and enter appropriate terms such as "air" or "water" in the search box.

Artists, Filmmakers, and Museums
The sites linked below contain stories from artists, and filmmakers' interviews with local inhabitants re: air and water contamination (including description of the smell and environmental issues and emphasis on peoples' sensory description of air pollution and smells).

• "Green Museum" Installation artist and photographer, Kim Stringfellow is featured at this link: 
  Greetings from the Salton Sea
• "Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea" Documentary filmmakers Chris Metzler and Jeff Springer used ethnographic methods to record the cultural-historical and environmental changes happening in the Salton Sea ecosystem Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea trailer movie clips are available on the YouTube saltonseadoc page. {If teachers or students have library access to this documentary, students loved it as a narrative alternative (qualitative method) to thinking about quantitative data.}
• "Salton Sea Museum" offers a useful online resource of historical photos and narrative about the sea's systemic changes. (web archive version: "Salton Sea Museum" )

Magazines and Newspapers

• Salton Sea a National Geographic article by Joel Bourne Jr. (Feb 2005, p. 88-107), offers a story on the sea
• Lake Is Blamed for Stench Blown Across Southern California, a story on a "stench event" from the New York Times {You may not have temporary (or no) access to the article unless you have a subscription.}
• Rotten egg smell: Is Salton Sea source of California's big stink?, a Christian Science Monitor article on odor.
• Will California finally fulfill its promise to fix the Salton Sea?, a Grist article originally published by High Country News and the Desert Sun reproduced as part of their Climate Desk collaboration

Post-Group Analysis/Presentation Reflection:

Revisit the "Future Plans for Restoration" tab above to consider planning processes and describe how and what data are used to suggest system-wide restoration and whether it is feasible. What areas of the sea are targeted as most important and why?

1. What data are actually used to make decisions about restoration action?
2. What data are excluded? Why do you think California officials chose to use the data they did?
3. What do archival history, legislative documents, newspaper articles, water rights disputes contribute to decision to restore an "accidental" sea?
4. How does agricultural activity impact the sea?
5. Do air current patterns or changing climate conditions impact human perceptions of environmental smells?