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Fascinating. The Salton sea could actually provide a lot of productivity, due to its very low dept, it could be possible to create vast arrays of shaded crop co

Fascinating. The Salton sea could actually provide a lot of productivity, due to its very low dept, it could be possible to create vast arrays of shaded crop covers on top like they are doing across Indian rivers with Solar Panels. Water could be allowed to drain naturally from either the ocean or other rivers, no need of manual pumps. You could also build homes on top that due to the surrounding crops and sea underneath be really cool when it comes to temperature. Also you have have cool walk-able or (boatable !) paths like in Venice. A modern day paradise in the middle of the desert. So much potential

rtpg 10y ago
I think the biggest issue is that it _is_ in the middle of the desert. You're fighting the stable state by trying to make something nice and walkable. Maybe it would actually be better to "migrate" the Sea over to a cooler area of the state. We made a lake before, why not do it again? Seriously though stopping evaporation would be a big win to stop the sea from disappearing.
- rch 10y ago
  The only way you're going to stop the evaporation in that climate is by moving the lake underground. Another comment mentioned fixing the Colorado River - how about expanding that to include restoration of the entire natural river system throughout the Western US? In my mind, that's close to the economic scale of what would be required to keep this artificial sea in the desert from becoming a toxic brine pit. For context -- total domestic production of salt in 2015 was 48M tons; there's ~128M tons of salt in a cubic mile of seawater; and about 1.8 cubic miles of water in the Salton.
- the_watcher 10y ago
  I grew up in La Quinta, right outside of the Salton Sea. It's also the middle of the desert. It's also one of the nicest places on the planet during the 9 months that it isn't averaging 110+ highs.
the_watcher 10y ago
> A modern day paradise in the middle of the desert. The Coachella Valley in general has essentially become this.

rtpg 10y ago

I think the biggest issue is that it _is_ in the middle of the desert. You're fighting the stable state by trying to make something nice and walkable. Maybe it would actually be better to "migrate" the Sea over to a cooler area of the state. We made a lake before, why not do it again? Seriously though stopping evaporation would be a big win to stop the sea from disappearing.

rch 10y ago
The only way you're going to stop the evaporation in that climate is by moving the lake underground. Another comment mentioned fixing the Colorado River - how about expanding that to include restoration of the entire natural river system throughout the Western US? In my mind, that's close to the economic scale of what would be required to keep this artificial sea in the desert from becoming a toxic brine pit. For context -- total domestic production of salt in 2015 was 48M tons; there's ~128M tons of salt in a cubic mile of seawater; and about 1.8 cubic miles of water in the Salton.
the_watcher 10y ago
I grew up in La Quinta, right outside of the Salton Sea. It's also the middle of the desert. It's also one of the nicest places on the planet during the 9 months that it isn't averaging 110+ highs.

the_watcher 10y ago

> A modern day paradise in the middle of the desert. The Coachella Valley in general has essentially become this.