How Did The Salton Sea Affect California Economy

The Salton Sea is California’s largest man-made lake in California but it is also the largest source of man-made pollution in the United States (Iovenko). It is located in southern Riverside and the northern Imperial counties (CDFW). The Salton Sea has an interesting history; it started out as a resort that helped the California economy and now it has it has turned into an abandoned wasteland that will take millions of dollars away from California’s budget to fix. The decline of the Salton Sea has negatively affected people, animals, the environment, and California’s economy. The Salton Sea was formed, “in the spring of 1905, following extreme rains, the Colorado River flooded and blew out a weakly constructed irrigation canal” (Iovenko).

Farming is a $1 billion industry and nearby farmers need to dispose of agricultural drainage so that their crops would continue to thrive (McClurg). Farms have needed a place to drain water from their fields and they have been draining it into the Salton Sea since the 1920’s (McClurg). Unfortunately, the pollution caused by the drainage has caused further damage to the economy because of the loss of tourism. In the 1980’s the Salton Sea used to generate $300 million for the local economy (McClurg). Today tourism and the money the lake used to generate has been declining rapidly because of the pollution (McClung). Fixing the Salton Sea so that it can be used for agriculture, wildlife, and tourism will be extremely expensive to California in the future (James). “California has a new $383 million plan for the shrinking Salton Sea” in the short term but the long-term plan could cost “between $1.5 and $2 billion” (James). Fish, birds, and humans have been affected by the decaying Salton Sea. “In the 1990s and 2000s, repeated die-offs left millions of fish floating on the surface and washing