SALTON SEA, Calif. — In a state boasting epic mountain ranges and stunning coastlines, the Salton Sea is not typically considered an outdoor-lover’s paradise.
California’s largest inland lake, which straddles Riverside and Imperial counties, is in fact beautiful. The 35-mile-long sea shimmers, a cascade of colors in the desert, when the sun sets over the Santa Rosa Mountains. But after its heyday as a popular resort destination in the 1950s, the sea has become one of the state’s most critical environmental challenges.
The Salton Sea is shrinking as less water flows in from the Colorado River, surrounding farms use more efficient irrigation and the planet warms. As water levels recede, the exposed lake bed is dry and dusty, and frequently emits a hold-your-nose rotten-egg stench, the result of natural processes, according to the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
Researchers have linked the dust that blows off the playa to the region’s abnormally high rates of childhood asthma.
The rural communities that surround the Salton Sea, their populations majority Latino, bear a disproportionate brunt of this crisis. Sara Renteria, who lives along the sea’s northeast shore, was diagnosed with asthma three years ago, and doctors said she probably developed the condition from the dusty environment and exposure to pesticides at work. One of her three daughters has developed nosebleeds, which locals say is a common condition among kids in the region.
Yet when Renteria visits the Salton Sea State Recreation Area and gazes out at the sparkling water, she sees possibility.
“When I come here, I stop and look out at the lake and think, ‘If this place wasn’t like it is now, if it were like when it was recently created, this place would be full of people from the community, and it would bring more tourism,’” she said. “Our community would benefit from that tourism, and the businesses around this area would benefit, too.”
In this sweltering desert region where residents have limited access to parks and green space, community advocates are calling for the state to transform the park, which covers 14 miles of the northeastern shore, into a vibrant destination where families could gather in nature. Renteria envisions people hiking and biking on wheel-chair accessible trails and spending evenings at family campsites. There would be bathrooms and shade structures and ready access to public transit.
“The children will no longer be stuck inside, because they will be able to leave to walk and ride their bikes,” Renteria said. “They will put aside their telephones and tablets for a little while, and they will have more connection with nature.”
Alianza Coachella Valley, the nonprofit group leading the call for recreational infrastructure at the Salton Sea, is pushing for a trail that would connect to a 40-mile bike and pedestrian corridor already under construction in the Coachella Valley, extending from the community of North Shore to the state park.
Audubon California, meanwhile, is advocating for improved infrastructure at various locations around the sea to be included in the state’s ongoing work, through the Salton Sea Management Program, to build natural habitats and suppress dust on areas of exposed lake bed.
The modern Salton Sea formed amid efforts in the early 20th century to irrigate Imperial Valley farmland using Colorado River water. Heavy floodwaters breached a canal system in 1905, and water rushed into the Salton Sink, according to the Salton Sea Authority.
By the 1950s, the sea southeast of Palm Springs had become a desert paradise in its own right. The Beach Boys performed there, and stars including Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz vacationed there, according to Linda Beal, a volunteer docent at the closed Salton Sea History Museum.
“The shores were just covered with people sunbathing,” recalled Beal, who grew up in the Coachella Valley. “We’d go out fishing for a while, and then it would get hot, and Dad would say, ‘Kids, let’s go waterskiing.’”
Tropical storms in the 1970s flooded the shoreline resorts. In recent decades, as the lake shrank and grew saltier than the ocean, nearly all the fish have died and the migratory birds that relied on them for sustenance have become scarce. Many of the homes and buildings around the sea have fallen into disrepair.
But for the farmworkers who toil in the Coachella and Imperial valleys and still live in the shoreline communities, the area is ripe for reinvigoration.
The federal and state governments have directed millions of dollars toward restoration work at Salton Sea. The once-abandoned North Shore Beach & Yacht Club is now a community center. Towns such as Salton City, population 6,202, are growing, as low-wage workers seek out affordable housing.
The discovery of lithium — an element critical to producing batteries for the electric vehicle market — in geothermal brine below the southern end of the sea has raised the possibility of more jobs and investment coming into the depressed region.
It’s with that context in mind that Silvia Paz, executive director of Alianza Coachella Valley, held an autumn news conference at the Salton Sea to launch a campaign “designed to seize this moment” and improve the quality of life and economic opportunities for residents.
Her organization released a survey of area residents, conducted with the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center, that found widespread support for a trail along the Salton Sea, as well as bike lanes, children’s play areas, shaded picnic areas and cooling stations at the state recreation area. Many respondents supported the idea of small businesses such as food vendors and farm stands hawking local products, and more than half wanted to see bike rental stations, fast-food options and a souvenir store.
Paz said she sees the effort as an opportunity to promote sustainability amid climate change. Groomed walking trails reduce dust; bike trails reduce car travel; shade canopies and water features provide respite from triple-digit heat.
California State Parks is in discussion with Riverside County about efforts to connect county facilities at the North Shore Beach & Yacht Club to the state park, and may consider adding trails through the park, according to department spokesperson Jorge Moreno.
A separate 2022 survey by Audubon California found community members wanted to see basic amenities at the sea, including bathrooms, drinking water, lighting, paved roads and shaded space.
“The Salton Sea is a thriving hot spot for birds and wildlife, so we do want communities that live there to be able to witness the nature in their backyard,” said Keilani Bonis-Ericksen, program manager for geospatial science at Audubon California.
Bonis-Ericksen found that improving public access along the western shore of the sea would bring economic and social benefits to local towns, and that existing public areas such as the Sonny Bono National Wildlife Refuge are easy targets for improvements. Audubon, she said, is encouraging state officials to incorporate community access into restoration projects moving forward, “so that the community can have access and reap the benefits of the new habitats that will be created.”
A crucial hurdle to the vision involves getting sign-off for the changes from area landowners. Outside of the state recreation area, California is not a significant landowner in the area. The seashore and the land beneath the water are a checkerboard of ownership. That means constructing trail systems and providing amenities such as bathrooms and drinking fountains in areas outside the state park may require multiple land agreements and time-consuming negotiations, according to a community needs report prepared for the state Natural Resources Agency.
Another looming question is whether it is indeed safe to promote recreation alongside a dying sea that has well-documented health effects on people living nearby. One extreme athlete this year ran the circumference of the sea wearing a full-face gas mask to raise awareness of its plight.
Paz acknowledged those concerns but emphasized that creating recreation areas would include hardening surfaces, planting trees and greenery, and being “really intentional about keeping dust down.”
Jill Johnston, an associate professor of environmental health at USC who has studied the health impacts of Salton Sea dust on children living nearby, agreed the sea could become an asset for local communities, as long as dust-suppression measures were integrated into the design of any recreational infrastructure.
She said there should be ways for visitors to monitor the air quality and be notified of dust events that could stir up contaminants, adding: “Those would be days that you would not want to be outside, not want to be running around or breathing in more of those particles.”
Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia, a Democrat from Coachella, supports the vision for more recreational opportunities. Trails “don’t require a tremendous amount of investment,” he said, and could be incorporated into the state’s ongoing efforts through the Salton Sea Management Program.
Israel Piza, a father of five who lives in the eastern Coachella Valley community of Thermal and works in the fields and in landscaping, would like to see trails at the Salton Sea state park dotted with gazebos, benches, water fountains and trees. His hope, he said, is to witness the Salton Sea returned to its splendor — or something like it.
“It might not be exactly the same as it was before,” he said. “But we’d like to nourish the lake, so it’s cleaner and healthier, so people can breathe.”
This article is part of The Times’ equity reporting initiative, funded by the James Irvine Foundation, exploring the challenges facing low-income workers and the efforts being made to address California’s economic divide.
