Salton Sea, The French Riviera of California

WATCH IN HIGH QUALITY. CLICK BY VIEW COUNT. In one of the lowest, driest places in North America sits the Salton Sea, which is really a man-made lake, in a desert basin. It is Californias largest body of water, approximately 35 miles north of the Mexican border and 130 miles east of San Diego, in what was once the northern extension of the Gulf of California (see diagram). The Salton Seas surface is approximately 227 feet below sea level. It covers 381 square miles and averages 31 feet deep (maximum depth is 51 feet). On three sides it is bordered by mountains. There is no outlet for its Water except for evaporation, which occurs at a high rate because of the hot and dry climate. Although freshwater feeds it, the sea is now 25 percent saltier than the ocean.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• salton
• sea
• desert
• exploring
• city

[dave997]

looks like some mad max shit

[superwhiz88]

why the fk the local government let the fking company dump shit into this beautiful lake... fking close them all down..and arrest all the manager

[jamesrwjim]

I spent 4th of July at Salton sea way back in 1975 I was 10 years old and had a great time but 1 of the things I do remember about that place is that it did stink at times . Anyone interested in why Salton Sea is the way it is do a wiki .

[bkreynoso]

LOL...."Telemarketers need to die. That's why we have the death penalty."

[rudedog062]

The Salton Sea is below sea level so I think they should open it up to the sea.

Digg a channel to the Sea of Cortez and let the water flow!

[lukebccb]

The Salton Sea is not a "man-made" lake. A "man-made" lake is one that is created by impoundment by a dam. Lake Mead behind Hoover Dam IS a "man-made" lake but the Salton Sea is "not natural" in that it wouldn't exist but the fact that humans are dumping their agriculural wastes that end up in the Salton Sea. If the climate/weather in the Colorado desert was wetter (and thus not the Colorado DESERT) then there'd be enough precipitation to "naturally" fill the Salton Basin.

[woody5551]

The water is not toxic. You don't know much.

[kevinatucla]

I was there the other day. I lived in socal for 18 and every time i looked at California map I couldn't help by wonder how salton sea looks like. It's pretty big on the map. It was everything I thought it would be . Kind of dead, a heavy smell of rotten fish that I didn't expect. And tons and tons of flies. It took me 20 minutes of high speed driving with my windows open to get them out of my truck....damn flies

[Fonzi79]

HAAAAHAHAHHAAHHAH!!! I wonder if your carrier is Verizon lol..

[gingerdi]

I visited there in the early 60's and people were swimming, boating, waterskiing and laying on the beach. It is eerie to go there now and see this huge body of water with no boats.