The Salton Sea Beginnings: History of origins documentary

Come along as we delve into the bizarre history behind California's Salton Sea in this intriguing documentary! We'll learn the origins of this massive, 35 mile long by 15 mile wide lake anomaly located in the arid Southern California desert spanning Imperial and Riverside Counties.
This video tells the story of how this sparsely populated desert region with barely three inches of average annual rainfall somehow became home to a huge lake in the summer of 1891. Could mysterious underground springs or aquifers be responsible for this geological wonder? Or was it runoff from the faraway Great Salt Lake in Utah? The theories gripped the public imagination.
Intrepid reporter Harry Patton embarked on a dangerous journey along the unleashed Colorado River to expose the truth, navigating violent whitewater rapids carved through the bone-dry desert landscape. His dispatches revealed that eroded sections of the riverbank allowed torrents of water to flood north into the Salton Sink depression, filling it to become the Salton Sea seemingly overnight.
We'll meet Captain Thomas Fraser who sailed the sea's waters to test whether powerful ocean tides could be responsible for this flooding anomaly amidst the parched Imperial Valley. His explorations revealed key insights about the region's fragile hydrology along the Colorado River Delta.
From the Colorado's tumultuous history of flooding this desolate valley, to early attempts at reclaiming the Imperial County desert for agriculture, this documentary covers the origins of this toxic saline lake, past ruins of resort towns like Bombay Beach, and efforts to control the flooding with engineering marvels like the Hoover Dam.

[@karlschuneman7960]

In 1900, under Governor James Budd, the California Development Company began construction of irrigation canals to divert water from the Colorado River into the Salton Sink, a dry lake bed. After construction of these irrigation canals, the Salton Sink became fertile for a time, allowing farmers to plant crops

[@soulcalsaga]

Thanks for feedback

[@stevelange819]

Thank you for the story and history lesson. Very nice to learn of these 1880's and 1890's revelations of what was happening at the Sink before what I had learned previously being the cause of the current body of water and how Boulder/Hoover Dam finally regulated the river's tendency to flood areas downstream.
Long ago a friend and I got this hair brained idea to paddle a 2 person kayak upstream on the Colorado from Lake Mead. We parked the car on the shore near Temple Bar and headed out onto the lake with all our camping gear. Nice bright sunny hot day and we knew the direction where we we going but after awhile wondered if we'd ever find the river as everything from our vantage point looked the same. Then it hit us. The kayak's bottom turned cold and got colder as we kept going further. We'd found the river and were in it as it mingled with Lake Mead's body of water. And soon we were definitely paddling upstream on the Colorado. Hours and a few miles later the current became too much for us to paddle against so we pulled ashore to discuss the situation. That was hell. Air temperature was so hot ( Note: we lived in Santa Barbara, Calif so yeah, desert dwellers we weren't) and the Colorado water was so cold I could only dunk my feet for a short time. We decided to let the current carry us downstream to find a campsite. A national park ranger came boating upstream and was surprised to find us on the river. He'd never seen kayak nor canoe make it this far upstream before. He asked if we left our car parked on the shore near Temple Bar and we said "yes". He cautioned that Glen Canyon Dam was about to release a large amount of water and in a day or two our car may end up sitting in wet mud and have to be extracted. Camping that afternoon was grand and we got to wave to the river runners on those massive rafts as they passed by nearing the end of their journey through Grand Canyon.

[@soulcalsaga]

Nice story. Thanks for sharing

[@user-rb2ex4mg8k]

Obsessed with the Salton sea, beautiful pictures and great historical facts. Thanks.

[@soulcalsaga]

Thank you

[@bettygilleland8489]

I like this segment! 😊

[@soulcalsaga]

I appreciate that

[@willamsandell1082]

I just got back from the Salton Sea …out there a lot

[@soulcalsaga]

Nice. Thanks for feedback

[@fastheartmartvideos]

Interesting! I'd never heard this alternative(?) explanation of the origins of the Salton Sea.

[@soulcalsaga]

Thanks for feedback

[@fastheartmartvideos]

@@soulcalsaga I suspect this channel may be a Russian bot because most native English speakers would say "Thanks for THE feedback" but this channel always states "Thanks for feedback" like a Russian. Nothing against Russians, one of my best friends is Russian...just something I've noticed here 🤷‍♂

[@soulcalsaga]

Lol. I am not Russian. I put down the story of salton sea as I got from research. I did think it was onteresting there was a different history

[@soulcalsaga]

Interesting what you Said though. Russian bot. That is funny

[@soulcalsaga]

Maybe I should put more in my input. I just try to be short and respectfull

[@nandoacuario]

hello from el centro ca :33

[@soulcalsaga]

Hello to you. Thanks for watching

[@AliShah-cg7vb]

Those AI generated pictures dont look nice.

[@soulcalsaga]

I will work on that. Thank you

[@ebdo7863]

They are what they are. Some are fine.........but AI art can still look soulless! Still in its infancy!

[@soulcalsaga]

True

[@riseabove5739]

Salton sea is a volcano

[@soulcalsaga]

Thanks for feedback