Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea | KQED Truly CA 

i dont know exactly why but im addicted to this doc. its so immersive....it almost makes me want to buy a lot. they should do a follow up 2023.

I’ve been to Salvation Mountain once. It was on the bucket list & I drove from Texas back in 2015. I only wish I could have met Leonard Knight. May he continue to rest in paradise & watch over his mountain.

John Waters documentary (the one you're watching now) on The Salton Sea appeared in select theaters on February 24, 2006. However, it was first shown at the Slamdance Film Festival on January 12, 2004. This documentary in 2021 is now 17 years old.

As a child, I remember visiting the Salton Sea, it was so beautiful. I remember eating at Gaston's restaurant.And Harold Gaston, he was a remarkable individual. I know because he was my great uncle. He spent most of his life in Niland as a restaurant and bait shop owner. He was a sports fisherman, tour guide, and more. He passed in 2005 at age 95.

I grew up in the Imperial Valley. I was born in Mexicali, Baja California in 1971, but raised in Calexico CA. I recall going on family road trips to the Salton Sea and playing on the sand banks of the Salton Sea beach. We would end our day at the Date Shack enjoying delicious thick n creamy shakes made with local dates. I recall the tropical rain storms of the mid 70's that flooded the Imperial Valley and was the doom of the Salton Sea... I enjoyed this well made documentary "Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea"...as a kid who grew up in the desert of an agriculture county, this film brought nostalgia to my childhood days...

This is a story for the ages. I hope someone will find this on a crusty old hard drive in a thousand years, and watch it. I'm thinking, if this were a future anthropologist's only window into the fall of our current civilization, it would pretty well cover it. Well done!

I can't believe the people of California aren't demanding this be fixed. They are always talking about saving the planet and they won't fix this.

I went to Bombay Beach and Salvation Mountain last month (September 2023). The locals were so friendly and I really want to return - there is something about that place that really attracts me. I also met Hunky Daddy (yes, he is still alive and well). I had an amazing time there, cant wait to return!

John Waters’ voice is perfect for this.

I drove around the Salton Sea last week. It's so sad to see that 20 years ago, some of the residents still had hope it could turn around, but clearly, it has only gotten worse. I wonder how many of those people they interviewed are still alive, let alone living there, as I know health problems continue to be a huge problem for those who live in this area.

Thank you not posting ads on here. They are annoying as hell.

Well Leonard sort of got his wish, thanks to RU-vid people come from all over the world to see his mountain! What an amazing pice of art!! Cheers

"They real shitty out here, but other than that they cool." Pretty good doc. Wish they would have included a bit more footage of the more eccentric personalities, though.

I think this video is amazing and heartbreaking, all in one. So many years ago my family and I used to come out and picnic and camp for the week-end, sleep in sleeping bags and look at the stars and think what a great place it was, totally unique in itself, before all the mess and destruction.

I parked and walked to the shore and it was floating with dead fish wall to wall. Second thing I noticed were giant black flies everywhere all over me. Got the hell out as fast as I could.

my grandpa used to take me fishing and camping out there as a kid. he would tell me how popular it used to be. you'd never guess from looking at it

"He likes all woman..... Black, White, Red Heads, Asian, (Nine year old's.....)" Right?!??! ....just playing I actually loved this video. I'm going to suggest this to everyone I know. It really is very well put together. Honestly. Amazing job guys. All the stories all the images, fantastic!

This is the best documentary I have seen on the Salton Sea. Particularly the segment regarding the real residents was the best....they show and share their joy of life in a more simple lifestyle. The Leonard Knight/Salvation Mountain segment was inspirational. Very good work KQED Arts!

i love this documentary! I have watched it more times than i can count! John Waters is awesome choice to narrate, This documentary is perfection, Thank you for uploading, But on the somber, bleak side, i am sad for The Salton Sea and its inhabitants, they seem like nice people.

I live here, been photographing the Salton Sea for decades and have seen it's many changes. The best Corvina and Tilapia came from here. I met Lenard Knight and have several videos of him being interviewed on his birthday before his death.

My best part of this vintage film is 34:34 With no machinery this wonderful man build this by hand dirt scoop by dirt scoop INCREDIBLE

I just went to the Salton Sea today alot of the water dried out from when this was filmed the water is 1 mile away from were it used to be it's pretty sad looking at it today

How perfect that John Waters narrates this film about California's own little Mortville.

You are a great narrator, melodic and calming voice. Thankyou for this very real video 🌹♥️

I think it is so wild how you can look at any one place in the world, even a small almost forgotten place like the Salton Sea, and have so much intersectionality of life. Here we have an ecological disaster, that used to be a thriving leisure destination 60-70 years ago, but within that you have so much more. People live there today; people from its prime waiting for a revival, as well as new residents trying to get by as best they can. You even have a Hungarian population that migrated due to a revolution in their home country! International push and pull mechanisms are at work in this remote place. Beyond that, there is the entire environmental and political debate surrounding, having celebrity politicians re-ignite the call for change in an area that seemed to have been forgotten for 3 decades. There is history, environmentalism, politics, pop culture, and life happening in this one specific area, and that is awesome.

"A beautiful, awful paradise." Great video! Thanks for this...🌷

Thank you. This was an incredible, unfiltered documentary.

Once the lithium extraction plants get up & running, this place will have another real estate boom.

it's basically an huge irrigation run off ditch filled with fertilizer and chemicals. You could have a regular lake if you just treat and clean the water coming off the farms. The Army Corps of Engineers needs to come in.

I traveled to the Salton sea just to take photos, in 2012, it was horrific. The smell was worse than corpses that I had dealt with as a nurse!

I had the pleasure of meeting Lenard. Great person ❤

I'm an Artist-Designer, from London, I found this place a few years back, what an Amazing place

Love the .30 cents per gallon gasoline at 11:51. It's interesting how they featured this place in GTA-5 calling it 'Sandy Shores' and they incorporated almost every detail seen here including the rooftop decks, golf carts and windmill house.

My other hypothesis is once enough of the residents die out, mainly a lot of the older people, someone with some money will come in and start buying up and tearing down all the property, and THEN something will be done to help the area as they will build some kind of NEW thingy or gentrify the area, ether that or some kind of corporate nonsense or factory. Ether way it might help the land but certainly not the people, hell it could even fuck it all up more.

Yesss, go off, Queen Olivia! She would NEVER pull God like that by doing drugs. You know why? Because she KNOWS her respects. And, God bless the little absolute legend - the only thing she cares about is soccer because she’s on that “ball is life” flow. Okay, but on a serious note, I hope these children were able to be granted some sort of opportunities in life because they seem sweet and like genuinely good kids. I know this documentary is old and these children are clearly grown now but I hope that they’re doing well. This is one of the only documentaries that I keep coming back to watch over and over again. There’s just something about it. Be it the oddness of the people that still live at the Salton Sea or the bizarreness of how the sea even came to be, I don’t know. But, I love this doc and it’s a good one. Please don’t ever take it down from RU-vid!

Kid's name is Flaubert. Nature always wins. "Some of the black kids are just delightful " lmao Very interesting stuff.

Why do I feel the need to go to this hell hole?

I love the salton sea area! My aunt Verleen lived in Brawley for decades. I flew around the sea in 08 in my delta wing trike and landed with my friends in front of salvation mountain.

I still come back to this Great place

i liked that freedom fighter dude, that loves AMERICA. GOD BLESS HIM, wherever he may be

Fascinating documentary. Great stuff! Also Les Marty, the bar owner, has a great voice. Sounds straight out of an old timey radio show or something. I would love to see a follow up on the Salton Sea after this lithium mining stuff happens.

I love this doc I've watched it probably 4 times and I have fallen in love with the salt on sea

Ayyyeee its Sandy Shores from GTA 5

I really want to visit this place

Really, really good documentary on the Salton Sea. Been there many times, this is the most extensive documentation I've seen so far!

This is what a documentary should look like.

I spent every summer here with my grandparents in the early 80’s when i was a kid. We even went for Easter they did massive easter egg hunts in the desert for the kids. We would go to The Tiki Restaurant for dinner - it was kinda a dive but so much character i loved it. Motorcycles and dune buggies is how we spent most of the time. Good times way before it became a crack den.

This is a very neat example of how Closed Captioning used to be transmitted over TV. At the top of the video, those white lines were cut off from all TV's during the day. This line was used to transmit the CC and decoded and flashed to the screen. If you pay attention, you will see that bar flash with little faded white lines between lines of dialogue, transmitting the next set of CC. Now you have more useless knowledge.

Best docu. I will see this weekend, very intresting.

Navy Base at Salton Sea was used in movie "The Monster That Challenged the World" in 1957... Parachute Training, Nuclear research ...

This is one of the best documentaries I've seen on the Salton Sea. Thanks for uploading.

So glad they mentioned Owens lake.

Congratulations on the twinning of our communities of Salton City, CA, USA with Jaywick, Essex, England UK

Thanks for posting this Video, have many memories flashbacks of my Grandfather watching this

We used to go there as kids in the 80s. All I really remember were the piles of fish bones that made up the shoreline. And it stank. My dad said you could walk around it in a day… I always begged to do it, but of course had no idea what I was asking as a seven year old. I want to go back and see what’s become of the area now, in 2022!

Gosh that music was awesome! Loved it!

This is a gem, thanks for sharing

40:10 when the pelican has a snap at the park ranger cracked me up.

PBS ran a cool doc on Salton Sea...I hope they reshow it soon. I need to buy land there...quick. Thanks lithium.

i hope that something can be done to save this place along with all the poor wildlife that are suffering because of man's carelessness

Watched this years ago, still awesome.

As that water evaporates it’s going to be a gold rush for Lithium extraction

This is a very well done documentary. The footage, filming, editing, narration, soundtrack, etc Informative and entertaining!

I wish we could be more like the great generation and irrigate this place and fix it.

great doc: music is appropriate (not too loud nor anachronistic), no real narration as most of the narrations are from its citizens, great camera angles, proper conveyance of the "feeling" of wistfulness and hopelessness, includes divers perspectives/opinions, and a fair consideration of its future as may seen by the State. wow I watched it twice, prob hit it up three X's.

I LOVE LEONARD KNIGHT!! HE WAS THE BEST IN "INTO THE WILD" RIGHT ON! LOVE-TOTALLY!! GOD IS LOVE, EVERYTHING IS LOVE RIGHT ON PAL!!

Most enjoyable from a Can Snowbird. Been past the Sea many times and found it fascinating and did some research previously. This is a good documentary and enjoyed the interviews with the locals, gotta love the history and hope for the future!!

Great show.. I enjoyed all the interviews.

Unfortunately the Salton sea is facing the same problem that dangerous intersections have, someone has to actually die before they put a light in. I don't understand why the federal government doesn't get a little more involved after all wasn't this a public works project started by the bureau of land reclamation's? When and why did the state assume all the responsibility of fixing it. That said it seems very very irresponble almost criminal to do nothing for 40+ years, except putting on a bandage on a gaping wound. Could the reason be that most of the folks directly effected by this are poor hard working Hispanics and its seems far away from the big cities? Its so very sad that the birds and wildlife suffer as well because of this lack of interest in this Hispanic region. Most Californians don't realize that 90% of our winter crops come from this area. That's money that's generated here and stays here for the most part. Why can't some of the big philanthropists (like Bill Gates , Mark Zuckerberg , Warren Buffet ) in California start a fund to restore the sea. Its in their own back yard for christ sake. They contribute billions to the poor, this would be no different. If every Californian put in a dollar it could be fixed, come on people we have the power to fix this!!!! Less talk, forget the studies and ACT!!!!!!!

I am from Georgia and come out to California from time to time and had some free time on 5/13/21 so out of curiosity I drove down from fontana on way to Yuma, AZ and thought id visit the Salton Sea and wow its huge and i didn't see one person even on the shore of this once inhabited place. The Salton is almost a deserted place a desolate place. It's a shame they can't save this lake

"You can't take nuthin' and make anything out of nuthin'." Words to live by.

Really enjoyed watching this. Hope it gets better in/around Salton Sea area.

Is there a city there or near a city to get food etc. Where do the people fi d. Sanitation and drinking bathing water? Good video. Or is this part if Slab City? God Bless

When John Waters narrates a made for TV, nonfiction documentary about politics & ethics, you know you're living in a rather surreal time.

I had never heard about this place before I was asked to come stay for a work project. Driving in at night it smelled horrible, almost made me throw up. Went back and visited the boat launches on my day off, didn’t smell as bad as when I drove through but walking on the beach you are literally waking on dead fish bones. A very desolate and abandoned place. If you’re close, visit slab city, the people are very friendly and you get to see salvation mountain, strange but worth seeing in person. You’ll feel a thousand times safer than staying in Oakland, Stockton, or la. The people were great, talk to wizard in east Jesus if you get a chance.

This gave me such a strong feeling of déjà vu.

This place is sad but funny at the same time. Wouldn't mind visiting on a road trip someday.

This area has a ton of lithium which is in high demand because of electric vehicle production. Hopefully the investments to extract said lithium will benefit the community there.

Praise the Lord his prophecy is coming true, read revelations it will tell you what will happen and what is happening now! Praise you Lord the wind and the waters obey your command!

Interesting, when I visited the sea and learned about the oxygen problem my first thought was "hmmmm... I wonder if that's causing an anaerobic bacteria issue...." and lo and behold its botulism, an extremely deadly anaerobic bacteria.

I wont lie..salvation mountain is 1 of my fav places to visit in gta!!!

This music is great. The whole project is a masterpiece.

I hope I live long enough that if the Salton dries up and the stench is blown daily into Palm Springs I would laugh and laugh and laugh at those rich people living in their own smelly disaster~~ Enjoy your golf game!

this is a cautionary tale

I’ve always loved California’s history and this was an amazing documentary to watch. Definitely going to donate and tell everyone I know to donate as well because this is a piece of cinematic gold and we need more like this!

That was great! I loved the long arc - ended perfectly. KUDOS!

Fantastic documentary many thanks for posting 👏😊

The comments suggest that folks think this is just another youtuber video. Thought I’d clear things up. This particular documentary is a shorter, more environmentally focused version that was broadcast on KQED, which is a station, not the filmmaker. The original film (73 minutes long) did not have the legendary John Waters as narrator. A second was done adding Jon Waters and that one was premiered at a second festival, the Provincetown Film Festival, in Cape Cod, MA This film was made and released by Talapia Films by Emmy award nominated director Chris Metzler and Jeff Springer.The music is by the band Friends of Dean Martinez. It’s funny how people are commenting how it’s the best of all the RU-vid videos on Salton Sea. Jeez, I hope so! It’s made by professional filmmakers and this film is registered with the American Film Institute. RU-vid has actual professional works on it. This is the channel for KQED, which is why it’s the shorter version, not the original 73 minute film. It would be interesting if they did an update. Check out the site to see some great work they’ve done since this film came out! They’ve made some progress! saltonsea.ca.gov/

The fishing is so good there because the fish are dying to get out, literally. 😑

lovely documentary, what a great job! salvation mountain... hope i get to see that one day. and i'll be sure to stop by the salton sea and any businesses i see down there.

it is sad.. can't wait to go visit. thanks for posting.

Love the uncensored unbiased documentary, just like the one PBS did on the USS Nimitz. Good stuff.

Bought this on DVD was so original and being there as a kid in the 60's.

big up my man hunky daddy

Great video! I appreciate the information had never heard about this place.

The trick with default judgements is to not try to collect them until days have passed and the time limit for appeals to set aside the judgement are about to lapse within a day and they have no time to run to an attorney.

Wonderful documentary thank you.

"Everybody gets weed around here but when they ask me for some or flobear or anybody they say no, cuz we know our respectz, we know"! Yo, that little girl is a true G!!!!!

Thank you for the education on what had happened on salton sea ! Very apperiecate

Salvation Mountain, that guy was so stoked and loved the Lord.