Letters: The stench of a dying Salton Sea
Re “Area’s odor is linked to Salton Sea,” Sept. 12
The Salton Sea, the largest lake in California, smells because the Metropolitan Water District is shipping staggering amounts of water from Imperial Valley farms to San Diego and making lots of money. The lake’s water level has sunk seven feet (it was only 50 feet deep in most places in the first place). As a result, the deeper pollutants are more easily brought to the surface, and the public notices the smell.
The courts have dragged their feet litigating and the state has not taken responsibility for the ecosystem as it said it would in the Quantification Settlement Agreement in 2003. Meanwhile, one of the most important stops for migratory birds on the Pacific Flyway withers and dies.
This slow-motion disaster’s stink reaches much farther than Santa Clarita. It reaches into our future if we do nothing to save the sea.
Chris Cockroft
South Pasadena
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