For Desolate, Shrinking Salton Sea, Another Dream
Signs of once grandiose dreams dot the shoreline of the Salton Sea, dried up like the dead fish that bob ashore from time to time. This lake, the largest in California, was once supposed to be the Riviera of the West, a playground for stars like Frank Sinatra, Jerry Lewis and Desi Arnaz.
But the Salton Sea, created by accident 40 miles south of Palm Springs, has been shrinking for decades now, while the saline content continues to rise — it is roughly 50 percent saltier than the Pacific Ocean. Waterfront homes built more than a generation ago sit abandoned and boarded up, on a labyrinth of streets where only a couple of houses on each block are occupied.
But California does not give up easily on its dreams, so yet another ambitious development is poised to rise beside this vanishing sea.
Government officials have approved plans for a town that would eventually grow to nearly 40,000 people, with enough businesses and jobs to support the residents. Supporters of the project say it is the most sustainable development being planned in the state, but the town, known as Travertine Point, would be more than 20 miles from any existing town.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/30/us/housing-project-planned-near-shrinking-salton-sea.html?hp
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Last edited Mon Jul 30, 2012, 05:08 PM - Edit history (1)
If and when the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) collapses, world wide sea level is expected to rise 15 to 20 feet or 7 to 9 meters. This would make give the Salton sea an almost direct access to the Gulf of Cortes (also called the Gulf of California) via Mexicali to the south.
http://geology.com/sea-level-rise/
Thus it is possible for the Salton Sea to become an extension of the Gulf of Cortes (Gulf of California), it is also possible for it to stay dry (Provided the increase in world wide sea level, does NOT make the area south the Mexicali a swamp).
The problem is the area south of Mexicali. Mexicali is BELOW any increase in world wide sea level of 7 meters, but the area south of Mexicali is slightly higher. Part of that land south of Mexicali can turn to swamp, permitting water to flow from the expanded Gulf of Cortes to Mexicali and then to the Salton sea, On the other hand the area may be high enough and steady enough to prevent water from flowing north, thus keeping Mexicali and north (Including the Salton sea) dry. At nine meters the area is clearly swamp, at 13 meters an extension of the Gulf of Cortes.
Thus the plan may be to count on Global Warming and the Collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet to convert the area from desert to ocean front properties.
Salton Sea Drainage area, most of the area is BELOW current world wide ocean sea level, more of it will be below the increase in 7 meters in height in ocean levels if and when the WAIS collapses:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salton_Sea
