THE SALTON SEA. 
By F. H. NEWELL, 
Director U. S. Reclamation Service. 
GENERAL STATEMENT. 
The Salton Sea and its apparently miraculous growth ‘has given 
rise to almost innumerable popular articles and discussions, many 
of which are founded upon misapprehension of the facts. The 
fallacies of statement and of conclusion, both as to the origin 
of the Salton Sea and as to its beneficial effect upon the gen- 
eral climate of southwestern United States, are both interesting and 
amusing. The phenomena connected with its rapid increase in size 
have attracted wide attention and most astonishing tales have been 
told of the sea and of its benefits to:surrounding areas. At the same 
time a full knowledge of the changes which have been and are taking 
place is highly instructive. 
As a matter of fact the sea is not a sea at all, as shown in 
Pl. I, but an accumulation of waste water in the bottom of a depres- 
sion below sea level. Relatively to a real sea it is a mere puddle or 
“duck pond” in a vast extent of arid desert, which at one time was 
the floor for a large body of fresh water. It is not a new thing but a 
revival in historic times of what has probably occurred frequently 
in geologic history. The widely advertised effect upon the climate 
of the expanded Salton Sea is practically negligible. The wonderful 
results attributed to the sea in increasing the rainfall in the South- 
western States and Territories is a case of “ placing the cart before 
the horse,” that is to say, the apparent increase in rainfall throughout 
the West is more likely to have been an indirect cause of the increase 
in area of the Salton Sea than the reverse. 
LOCATION. 
The so-called Salton Sea or Cahuilla Lake of Dr. W. P. Blake 
is a body of highly saline water in what has been until recently 
San Diego County, now Imperial County, California. This county 
is adjacent to the Mexican border lying immediately west of the 
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