The Power of Water: The promise and perils of California’s Salton Sea
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- Опубликовано: 6 окт 2024
- ABC News’ Mireya Villarreal visits California's largest inland lake, where nearby communities face hazards from exposed toxins, but also increased attention from a rush to mine a critical resource.
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I could never visit the Salton Sea. The thought of running into Trevor terrifies me.
Lol the thought of running into Pooh Bear from The Salton Sea movie scares me more
The nearby Lost MC and O'Neil brothers scare me even more.
Who is Trevor?
Randy Rubicon claimed to walk around it. Creative editing.
Bahahahaha😂❤
You should’ve interviewed some old timer that has been there a long time… Not someone who just moved there nine years ago… It was nasty nine years ago
She seems to be uninformed about what she bought. I live in Nevada and knew it was a dead lake in school! It's like moving to Chernobyl. Well the land is cheap and there is always light form the radioactive waste pile near by.
Yeah, very uninformed. I moved here because it was cheap and near a lake. I didn't do any research whatsoever WHY it was cheap...
I have no idea how this lady couldn’t see or smell the many glaring red flags in that area. There are a lot of old boarded up buildings all along the coast. Parts of the city look and feel like a ghost town. Then there’s the strong smell from the lake and/or the agriculture in the area, exacerbated by the 110 degree summers!
There needs to be a clear policy on the Salton Sea. And then made clear to the public. If the policy is to let the lake evaporate and go away, then make that policy well known and don’t get wish washy about it. If the plan is to re water the lake, then make the choice and make it happen.
California is littered with dry lake beds. Some man made, most naturally made. Tulare lake was purposely dried up but since it’s a natural basin, in high water runoff years, it reforms for a while. The reason it went away was it’s water sources were diverted for other uses. Like the virtual disappearance of the Aral Sea in Central Asia, which prior to 1960, was the worlds 4th largest lake. Now, most of it is gone. What little of it that’s left is being recovered, but most of it has been allowed to die and for all intents and purposes, it’s not going to be reestablished.
No politician, no member of the IID, no agency head wants to be the one to stand in front of the residents and say what has been planned, and allowed to happen since the mid-80s. They issued the QSA, it was tested in the courts and was approved. It went to appeal, all the way to the last possible appeal, and was affirmed. Because of the drought, the retraction is happening at an accelerated pace. Not many people care., but those that do are starting to make a wee bit of noise. Nothing will change, Mother Nature wins, she ALWAYS wins.
americanrambler4972....Your response is missing, did you delete it? The answer is clear to technically trained people or those in a position of responsibility
@@Juneisthebestmonth yes I did. I found my answer after digging around a bit. I did not know what the IID was and now I do. Looks like their going to save only a small portion of the lake and execute some dust remediation activities along with some wildlife habitat enhancements.
One thing I remember vividly with my occasional drive by trips between 2005 and 2016 was the stench, dust and dirt along the shoreline areas and the receding shorelines due to dropping water levels. And the generally very bad condition of the buildings and infrastructure in area. That is definitely not an area on my visitation and touring list. More of an let’s stay away if I can.
thats easy to say, but the reason why its gotten to this point is due to many powerful influences fighting over what to do with the overflow and water. Farms don't want to divert water to the salton sea, but the state/nearby residents do
@@ciello___8307 Sounds like the good old fashioned water rights fights that have been going on since there were two people around to fight over it.
Sonny Bono would have changed the future of this lake if he hadn't passed away.
One major administrative problem there is that the area has no government. It's like the wild west. There are issues with criminals and other bad guys hiding there, not having to worry about the cops hunting them down. Has been an issue for years but has gotten worse. The area has been written off, almost like a bad debt by local governments. Many homes there are held by squatters and are not registered and paying taxes. However, rumors have it that businesses around the lithium industry may be locating there. If so, they will demand the area be policed and properly administered. Good luck with that project.
Drove by the Salton sea a couple of times last year. The smell is putrid.
Its been that way for DECADES. Anyone moving there would know this right away.
The Salton Sea was created by an accident in the early 1900s. It's not supposed to be there.
Wrong!!!
“Wrong” is not a rebuttal. It’s what children say. Not an argument.
@@jdcaldwell5088it true
It was an intermittent lake (Cahuilla) before that. It filled and emptied several dozen times over the past 2000 years depending on meanders of Colorado river - dried up in late 1700s. Without human intervention on the colorado (particularly damming and irrigation) there's a decent chance it would have naturally started re-filling by now.
Ancient lake cahuilla
Simple solution pay out all those people that own there land so they can move somewhere else and drain that body of water that was never naturally made to be sustainable
Why pay anyone? People move due to weather or local phenomena all the time. Don't like what is happening there,,,,move
The Laguna Salada in Mexico not too far from there met the same faith, used to be an oasis that is now dried up into a lake of sand.
bien venidos a la desierta amigo. la agua se viene entonces la agua salir.
The entire Colorado delta in Baja is a dried out salt flat. The river no longer reaches the sea there.
@@donaldkasper8346 yeah the wind created these amazing dunes people usually take thier four wheeler bike for a ride
Salton city has lithium that enough to supply the whole USA for electric cars.
One overlooked solution is pump storage between the Salton Sea and Pacific Ocean in California. Pump water out of the Salton Sea at night using geothermal energy and produce hydroelectric power during the day by adding Pacific ocean water to the Salton Sea. The surface area of the Salton sea is 343 square miles. There is a 225 feet of elevation difference between the Salton Sea and Pacific Ocean. They have already bored a hole in the mountain between the imperial valley and San Diego to transport fresh water. They could drill another one for this battery storage idea. Another advantage is you effectively reduce the high salinity of the Salton Sea while improving air quality of the imperial valley by covering the entire dry lake bed.
That would not happen even if was able to be done for free. It's not overlooked.
When even the camera men sound/light crews producer and news people dont know the story till the writers tell them to show it you're watching a show the salton sea was formally the largest high density salt lake in the world
The Salten Sea was a man made mistake. God is showing us he is still the creator.
Move next to an Airport, then complain about Airplanes flying over.
Sandy shores in gta 5
I’m sorry but it is very widely known this lake is toxic and a dead lake. The woman at the beginning claims she had no idea so we are then supposed to feel bad? There are literally dead fish all over the shores. It’s a live at your own risk kind of place.
This is small warning what’s to come to the ocean in the future??? Dumping Toxic waste into waterways??? And GREEDY corporations claim no Responsibility ALL for profit!!!
Liz? More like a Karen.
“I think I know everything so I assume people need to know these things as well.”
You don't have to know everything to know maybe you should ask some basic questions about why lakefront property in California is so cheap... I've been to the Salton Sea. Just driving anywhere near it is a wasteland and I have little sympathy for someone who moved there intentionally since it's been that way for decades.
I visited the Salton Sea two days ago. One whiff of the air and I knew the scope of the tragedy.
It's a shame the army Corp shot down the idea of pumping in sea water through a pipe.
It's not a shame. It is not possible. Do you understand about galvanic corrosion? Do you realize how that water would choke down as it warmed? Take a look at what the Alaskan Oil pipeline cost. That would be impossible below sea level for many reasons. You obviously do not have a technical degree or experience
@@Juneisthebestmonth Wow what an arrogant response.
@@Errr717 It is purely factual. Deal with the facts.
@@Juneisthebestmonth Clown first class. It is possible, stop spreading nonsense and go back to where you got your technical degree and demand your money back.
@@Juneisthebestmonth Canal is totally possible as the Salton Sea is below sea level in Baja. Small rise inbetween. Just a couple dozen miles.
Imagine moving to France and not learning how to speak French.
I speak spanish and can genereally understand the gist of portuguse, italian, and to a somewhat smaller degree french due to how similar romance languages are.
She has lived 9 plus years in this country, yet still cant speak English.
Cal-if-fornia
Lets be clear: Had there not been an accidental breakage in the Colorado River this artificial lake would have never formed. Before it was just Salt Flats. Let nature take its course and let it go back to salt flats, let the lithium help create needed jobs, let the money help California form clean water pipelines between it's lakes and USA's largest lake Mead to help conserve needed water in years to come.
Wrong!!!
@@jdcaldwell5088 Hi JD, if you disagree it would be helpful to understand why you do. If you have helpful and useful information then I would be happy to review it. And even more so, if your comments make sense I will even reconsider my comment and remove it.
how did you get salt flats??? from an ancient lake drying up , so your argument is BS.
@@gregmoore3420 It's a question of values, bud. These are fellow peeps, living in the same tiny slot of their time as are you and me. You wanna let Atlas shrug, I guess you can name the kind of critter you are.
There is no connection between the extraction of lithium salts from geothermal brine and the Mistake Lake. The lake is going away, it is not supposed to be there.
Here illegally but it is discriminatory to do anything about it…wtf is going on?
plz shut it, to talk about water crisis in a year where we have %500 rain and snow is a joke
All the old metal from military machinery and old rusted metal pipes, the toxins from the old irrigation run off, the dead carcasses of birds and coroded fish bones makes it a nasty sesspool.
How do you not know about the salt sea? Especially before moving there?
Is it now considered racist to dub over someone who is not speaking our national language?
Was there a nuke in the bottom of the Salton Sea?
In 1944-45 a series of classified B-29 practice flights were made from Wendover, Utah to the Salton Sea. At the sea, the crew dropped dummy atomic bombs onto a floating white raft and other targets.
Salton Sea Test Base Abandoned Naval Station | Desert USA
Desert USA
The city without laws not too far from there has an abandoned military base.
They practiced with concrete filled bomb shells. It was practice and testing for the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs
The Navy had a seaplane training station there in WWII. Later they moored a test target that simulated the radar target of a sub's periscopes. It was used to train the ASW squadrons at NAS North Island.
can people stop with the "American dream turn into a nightmare" narrative.
should anyone who has the option to go back to their country be complaining about their life in the US?
or is it the journalists, reporters, ... complaining for them?
What a slow-moving car-crash. Apparently there will be no action without a profit motive hence why the lithium deposit projects MIGHT help in getting the Salton Sea rehabilitated.. Its a complete shame since the area really is spectacular and all those communities in the area deserve better...
I'll bet Mexico is starting to look better and better. Never too late to move back.
A lot of naïve people think it will be different this time. The truth is that the Saltón Lake will continue to dry out and rights for Geothermal plants and mineral resources will continue to go to corporations. Locals will get jobs at best.
How many chemical engineers are local and are ready to work there? LOL.
@@Juneisthebestmonth Chemical engineers are definitely not going to live by the side of that lake. Im a civil/environmental engineer and I wouldn’t live there. ☠️
@@charlesbartlett2569 I did for a year as I developed the process for extracting the lithium salts from the geothermal brines. It was fun knowing it was very temporary
Thats what you get when you have a landlocked sea with no outlet- this is inevitability
What is wrong to restore Salton sea to previous state, no water ?
WHAT CONCHITA SAID IS VERY VERY TRUE !
Legal immigrants should benefit.
Amazing never heard about it before but I am from Australia.
The Salton Sea is a man made mistake. It should be allowed to evaporate. Buy out the residents and continue with the geothermal energy and lithium extraction.
Lithium profits go to the investors. If you tax it to give away, then they won't build the plants
Well done story. People need to know about such things.
Everyone knows about this. Its been a problem for DECADES. Anyone moving their is willfully ignorant or just plain stupid.
Yeah, every 5 years the Salton Sea is drying up, big mess, blah, blah. Been news for 60 years.
At least new resources can be found here = lithium. We don't need to rely on importing it
@@___beyondhorizon4664 Then CA said whoa, we need a big percent of that and passed a tax law for it. So then all the projects proposed were stopped.
@@___beyondhorizon4664 The Boron mine has tailings with several hundred ppm lithium in it. They have tried with DOE for years to find out how to get it out. Hundreds of millions of tons of tailings, but last I heard, the discharge pipes keep fouling.
They can build a canal from the Gulf of California to the Salton Sea to stabilize the water level. It's the cheapest and easiest solution to the problem, which is why California would never approve it.
Because it is physically impossible It will not happen even if free. You CANNOT transport brine over a fresh water aquifer through a zone below sea level with strong seismic issues. One moderate earthquake would cause a breach and a flood - all over again. With salt water it would be devastating. And you cannot destroy the fresh water aquifer that lays below the sand layers. Besides, the Salton Sea has no value to anyone. Once they stopped the routine flooding from the Colorado River by building the Hoover Dam, the lakes that formed there over the millennia will no longer occur. It's a done deal. Facts matter
💯 full stop! If they're concerned about the salinity, then have the water from the Gulf of California desalinized.
@@Gobble_de_Goop Theres an actual plan made by Aegis and it keeps the salinity equal to the Gulf's.
It's a triple man-made disaster ! First the lake was formed accidentally by the Colorado River from a breach then they decided to cut any more fresh water from flowing into lake San Diego's more important we're not going to let any water go in there then they decide to do agriculture and all the pesticides flow into the lake . They need to change it back and let some fresh water flow into that lake . And also do something about the pesticides from the farming make something so it doesn't flow into the lake .
No they need to connect it to Baja for sea water.
@@donaldkasper8346 that would be nice all too because it's already saltwater basically but all the pesticides going in there from farming they probably would never do that because then they would be going into the ocean
@@motivationperseverance3077 800 million cubic miles of ocean is a threat to what with selenium? It gets flushed out and then it is gone.
@@donaldkasper8346 That's a nope.
@@donaldkasper8346 Speak to the EPA about "flushing pollutants". And speak to Mexico about spoiling their watersheds
Good coverage of critical issue. Is Lake Tulare next?
are you joking? ABC botched the story, and had the nerve to lace it with racism. the problems at the Salton Sea are well known and well documented. Its not a secret, and its not a conspiracy against immigrants. ABC should be ashamed of their incompetence and race baiting.
Exactly.
No, those benefits should go to African American reparations.
If they don't like it, then give them a bud light.
Inclusion ? for improvised Southeastern California Community's, ' another example' take a look at the dying community"s of the Palo Verde Valley 80 miles northeast of the Salton Sea, those community's have never economically benefited from the Colorado River rights held by the local Irrigation District controlled by local 'federally funded" farmers, aid that bypasses the local community's. It is a degradation of the Colorado River ecosystem south of the Palo Verde Diversion Dam, the invasive nature that created the Salton Sea.
Why don't separate day time supplies for San Diego and fertile.And shift to night time for Salton sea.Than the sea will have a water. 😅
But is mining lithium near this water bed located on the San Andres Fault Line a good idea?
It is dissolved in the geothermal brine that is extracted from deep below the surface. The depleted brine is returned to the source area
That's lithium valley. Her house is going triple in value in just the next few years
Let it dry out and mine it for lithium. Salt resistent grasses will keep the dust down.
There is no lithium in the lakewater. It is in the geothermal brine a few thousand feet under the topsoil
They mine it now. Evaporation pools.@@Juneisthebestmonth
Tax away that business..!!. see ya, they'll get their lithium elsewhere then...... Build the 'canal' project from Sea of Cortez, bring water back into the sea, then let the community grow as it was doing in the 1950's on diverse business enterprise. A one horse business (lithium) taxed to death won't repair this area... imho.
BEEN THERE. GREAT PLACE.BUT THEY GOT WATER NOW!
Interesting.. I’ve been prospecting for graphite 😬
maybe they can grow mushrooms in the water to clean the pollution
What comes down must go up.
Good news is that they found a way to replenish the water in the sea! But the bad news is that there going to use lead pipes to do it 😅
What about planting mangroves?
Not worth the expenditure
At least one measly tree wouldn't hurt.
How would you not do your homework before buying a house over there.😂 " They dont have a legal status" Maybe you shouldnt be a resident let alone a home owner in a foreign country.
Did all the the work to buy a house in an unknow area withut a single youtube seach an is confused why it was a bad deal mmmm.
Climate change? This old gal doesn't have a clue of the history of this mess.
The climate has been changing for about 4 billion years.
Just connect the Salton Sea to the ocean thru a pipeline for instance this way water Will cover the toxic dust beside other benefits
Brilliant! Pollute the ocean to cover the polluted water, what a Californian solution...
How about dig it up and sell it, Californians' next best solution to pollution...
They already looked at doing that. It wasn’t feasible, economically or otherwise.
Elevation buddy, you would have to make a pipeline that goes through mountains, it would cost SO MUCH TO PUMP IT
@@r22gamer54 California isn't wort it! Period...
Mother Nature eventually will come back it has happen to Tulare lake
Woe... dangerous waves with dusty
Where did all that snow melt go?😮
into the reservoirs still connected to the Colorado lol.
How far is the california Gost lake - pump the water back to this site, save the farmlands under the Gost lake while saving the Salton sea and the area's around it. Is this possible?
no
Farming ? invasive to this desert region. The Alamo Canal, Rio Nuevo and Palo Verde Drain that feed into the Salton Sea are the creation of American ingenuity and the consequences are plain to see.
@@salvadorgarcia4327 They are, or will be shut down except for the highly polluted New River. The farms will be fallowing their fields for giant sums of cash and the farms in Mexico, Guatemala, Peru and Brazil are already expanding rapidly. The 4 farming families will be selling their water rights for pure profit without use of labor. Those canals are fresh water, not ocean water.
@ June191951. !! True.. In both the Imperial & Palo Verde Valleys year after year generation after generation, always the same names on the Irrigation Boards that control the fate of the Colorado, and now farmers in this Southeastern Ca. region have either sold or fallowed farmland in order to sell water rights to big city water districts ...'but if they don't use it shouldn't they lose it ? and shouldn't be allowed to sell it for profit...the Colorado River Compact / Law of the River is unethically antiquated as are the irrigation canal systems in both those valley's.
THIS IS the kind of thinking the salton sea needs .
1 in 4 means specifically Africa and India. Everyone else in the world actually has water and infrastructure.
The water wasn’t supposed to be there in the first place so
This is wonderful however, any twosome Gruesome will somehow screw it up and ruin it all, its what progs do.
So what move then
they should pump the desalinated salt water here. up the water levels and when it evaporates they can collect the sea salt. win win
The salt is loaded with pesticides and also naturally occurring metals. And also arsenic.
Salton Sea is below sea level. Canal can gravity feed to the lake. Small rise 20 or is it 40 feet inbetween, nothing important to stop the project. Can connect up to the main drainage into the lake on the West side.
Sound like she just up and move there....she acts ike someone bamboozled her 😆
L a needs to build desalination plants and then let the water coming down from the colorado river water that the city takes go to the salton sea.
The Salton sea has been drying up since the 70s even when it was popular it started drying up and that’s why the people moved away. It smells like fish.
Pump seawater back into it.
Over 10 years in America, ya screw America, why should I speak english I will just complain about not being able to READ the sultan sea has been known for well over 10 years
People who find this funny, mocking, etc are to be pitied now for the consequences we all will face in the near future if this goes on at this lake. The Southwestern Bread&Veggie Imperial Is the Nation's Largest Supplier followed by Central Cal, MidWest, South. When this Lake dries up halfway to zero. The Cancerous Toxicity Runoff Chemicals will contaminate Farming Produce, Cattle, even fruit production including Water Resources and high mountain ranges like the Sierras to the Rocky Mountains. The toxin dust will spread across the West to East as far as Texas down Mexico wherever the wind carries it. Disease like Cancer & Asthma will Skyrocket 10X Fold that only the wealthy would afford cleaned water by expensive tech that Reverse Osmosis alone isn't enough to safely drink. Hell Greenland is the last pure natural clean source of water if it hasn't been targeted by nuclear warheads.
why don't they just slowly drain it in phases, restricting the flow the river in stages, and pave over the shrinking circumference of the lake thats being exposed by the draining process covering the toxic dust with a thick concrete layer, and then maybe put a landfill on top of the concrete after its all done..... or something similair to Chernobyl and Fukushima disaster
I don't think I have seen so many incorrect disjointed comments strewn together in years!
Poop water I was there 2 days ago and it’s nasty
move back.
beware the beast man for he is the devil's pawn.
Instead of letting run off water run to the ocean, redirect it to the dry lake beds
Can't in this instance. Even if free (and it is not free). The Mistake Lake is not even supposed to be there
I don't understand her shirt? I don't understand her shoulder pads. WHY?
Doesn’t take much research!
There is no question the people there will have to move. The question is when.
Ah, why did you not speak to the lady in English since she was capable? If she is there to help be an advocate for the community she better be able to speak both languages.
Snow melt should be diverted to this lake. Would be a good thing.
No snow melt in the area and no way to transport it there
Do you really think they’re gonna give you anything they’ll dig silver the lithium is gone and then say kiss my buns
Hopefully all that water will cause the big One..
Don’t expect anything good from Newsom, he’s out for himself. If Alaska can steer oil money to its people, then this lithium should go to the California communities where it’s found. Not if Newsom can help it though.
And what about previous governors?
Watch next year it will be full
zero chance
@Juneisthebestmonth - California still having record rainfall, so never say never!
More crying lefty propaganda 😅😅😅😂😂😂😊😊😊😊
propaganda is when factual reporting
If this is propaganda, go swim in the lake. That is, if you can make it from your car to the water with our puking from how terrible the smell is.
@@jayfabe oh the poor illegals and poor people. If you can't afford Beverly hills you move out of Beverly hills. If you stay then that's your own fault. They decided to stay in Beverly hills.
They could not do that in their country of origin? Cowards.
dig a canal from the sea of cortez .there is only up side.
That is an impossible task. You cannot send ocean water below sea level over a fresh water aquifer in an active earthquake zone. HARD STOP.
@@Juneisthebestmonth The Gulf of California is the answer.
@@Gobble_de_GoopA resounding no, never, even if free. For the last 20+ years it has been drying up to the state that Mother Nature intended when the Hoover dam was built to prevent downstream flooding and preserve water for controlled use by farms downstream and people upstream. We cannot and will never add salty water with ocean bacteria and algae into a trapped lake to dilute and expand pollution. We do not ever deliberately expand errors. We do the opposite.
A cultural change towards long term ism and environmentalism must occur or we will never act in time to save ourselves
Good report, but imho that green shirt is atrocious.
Dries up 70% faster.
This sounds good... spread the lithium profits, and restore the sea!!?
And there was a problem with the volume when the chap was speaking of this ABC?
If you threaten to "take lithium profits" the plants will NOT BE BUILT! We do not live in socialism or communism.
The Salton sea dried up and the fish started dying early in the 70s
Speak English! This is America not Mexico.
Coronado was a led head too.
No
It's okay, more asthma mean more inhalers, more money for big pharma
The area is surrounded by a giant desert. The retraction of the Mistake Lake is insignificant
@@Juneisthebestmonth sure, but how many cities across the country have different situations causing similar health outcomes? Probably not so insignificant.
@@metaltrucker97none are a result of moving next to a soon to be dry lake bed. The area is surrounded by a vast desert with blowing particulates. The newly exposed playa has an undefined very small contribution compared to the vast desert.
Big pharma is uninvolved. Your idiot liberal governor is
illegal real estate development?
felt like gat v
Is Trevor Phillips in on the lithium scheme ?
no
The salton sea needs to be destroyed permanently
It's well on its way