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<br />IMPERIAL IRRlG.\1l0~ DISTRICT <br /> <br />FAcr <br /> <br /> <br />Salton Sea <br /> <br />The 3S-mile-long Salton Sea is located. in the lowest portion of a desert valley in Imperial and Riverside <br />Counties. For the past several decades. the concerns about increasing elevations at the Salton Sea have been <br />Ilnkoo to inc1E~.1.sro agricultural runoff, above-average rainfall from 1976 through 1983, and increasing waste- <br />water flows (rom Mexico. The volume of water has damaged some agricultural, recreational and residential <br />properties alon~ the Sea's shores. The salinity of water is becoming a problem and has recently gained the <br />attention of 101.."0'1. state and federal officials, especially with an increasing emphasis on water COn'iervation. <br /> <br />Background <br /> <br />~\\~ <br />\\\~~~~~ ~ <br />,~---~\\ ,~ <br />~1' \ \ <br />\ <br /> <br /> <br />The history of Imperial Valley r~veals that <br />the Salton Sink. which is largely below sea level. <br />was once the bottom of a prehistoric sea. The Gulf <br />of California origin.1l1y extended north into what is <br />now the lmperidl and Co.lChella valleys. <br />Evidence of marine life and shells high lln <br />the- sides of th~ lOC,)I mountains indiciltes that tht!' <br />entire region experienced a tremendous upthrust <br />which was the birth of the mountain ranges. <br /> <br />\~~ Ii <br />~~\ ,"""n" <br />~'71"--~":"- - <br />1 _~....-~ <br />., ~~....,.. l.71 <br />\\],-,)1 <br />~~~ <br />\ <br /> <br />$ <br /> <br />-.-'- <br /> <br />Gradually, vast quantities of silt deposited <br />by the Colorado River fonned d delta that closed <br />off the northern arm of the basin from the Gulf. <br />Periodically, the Colorado overfloww its <br />natural levees, and filled the valley between the <br />mountain ranges to fonn a vast lake (about 30 feet <br />above sea level). Traces of the lake, named Lake <br />Cahuilla after an ancient tribe of Indlan.'i who <br />Continued on polgr " <br /> <br />rou-..lJO'!I". <br /> <br />\\~~~ <br />\~~ <br /> <br /> <br />..............-...u....c <br /> <br /> <br />-.-' <br /> <br />ElIternAI Affairs DepArtment . P. O. BOll 937 . 333 E. Barioni Blvd. . Imperial, CA 92251 <br />