The Salton Sea, A Desert Saga 

We travel and shoot our movies during the summer and winter in the Desert Hot Springs area, about 40 miles from the Salton Sea. You might want to view the full 50 minute documentary. This was just the trailer. Thanks for caring about the amazing Salton Sea! Bret

I lived near the Salton Sean in the early 70's and it was very well populated, the lake not only did it have catfish and tilapia but also sea bass. The Lake Cohauilla is still active and during my school years we used to go there as a field trip. There is a lot of agriculture, citrus trees, palm trees, vineyards, mango trees, peach trees, strawberries fields, corn, radish, egg plant, bell peppers, watermelon, cantaloupe, hot peppers, onion, asparagus, turnips, ect.

I am so glad you enjoyed it. We have spent hundreds of hours photographing and taping the area and its issues. We are hoping to find some sponsorship to continue what we think is critical work. It's not too late to save the area but the point of no return is advancing quickly. Thanks for your comments and your concern.

It is through good people, like you, that care enough to be concerned, that the sea and its animals have hope. Thank you so much for taking time out to visit the sea and to view our video. Our full length production will be out soon. Thanks again.

sorry it took so long for me to approve your postings. Thanks so much for your commentary, for loving the sea and for taking the time to view our movie and share your memories. It is sincerely appreciated. Bret

I remember fishing there like 25 years ago with my parents, throw your line in and you'll catch a fish within 2 sec. every time, insane fishing action back then... Sad to see the condition it is in now...

Glad you liked it. As we have traveled, photographed and filmed the area, we have found that the dirt-bikers and ATV guys stick to the rules and the trails and we are very impressed. Like most problems, a very few give a bad name to all. It's just not fair. We are trying to to point out the real threats with our work. Thanks for taking time to watch and to care..... Bret

I loved this place as a kid, and plan to walk the entire 120-mile shoreline in June 2015.. wish me luck!

All good questions. During "phase 3" the wetlands were along the Colorado River and its flood plains and marshes to the south. The birds just followed the flow of the Colorado River. Glad you liked the vid. It took us over a year to finish the 50 minute version.

I am so glad you are familiar with and appreciate this amazing place. All I can ask is to please spread the word how badly the sea needs help and support. Sharing this video helps spread the word. Thanks for your kind commentary. Bret.

The Salton Sea is very much a mystery. It is partially nature made and partially man-made, but it's as if that little sea has a mind of its own. The stories of its coming and going go back centuries. Whatever humans and animals need it to, well, it's going to do just the opposite. I hope the Salton can be saved somehow. It's quite an interesting place.

@moose1976o The once heavily polluted New River from Mexico has been significantly cleaned up due to better waste management in Mexico. If you are referring to the outbreak of avian botulism years ago, it was never determined where it really came from. Thanks for caring and watching our movie trailer.

The Aral sea is a look into the future of the Salton Sea. The UN needs to focus on the Imperial county before its to late. With 28% unemployment it is one of the highest in the nation. TAKE ACTION! Save the sea!

We spend a lot of time photographing and filming the events in the area and it always leaves me with a surreal longing for those times when life when more basic. We have hours of video and thousands of photos and it never seems to be enough. The whole area is a real treasure....Bret

Very nice video. Explains clearly the history of the water in the Salton Sink in the past, the human element and how important it is today. Great job!

Thanks for your observations. Very interesting. When we made our 50 min. documentary we included a lot more information than we had room for on the small RU-vid trailer. Thanks for watching the trailer. It is much appreciated.

It is indeed a place of great mystery and beauty. I would like to sincerely thank you for taking the time to watch our video trailer.... mostly thanks for appreciating the sea Bret Huish

I am so glad you liked the video and understand the importance of the sea. It is an critical piece of the North American ecosystem. If you haven't had a chance to visit here, please do so. We are still on location filming here and we love more each day.

I think the Salton Sea should be saved. I remember back in the late 1950s as the area was starting to boom, there was a lot of recreational activities taking place such as boating, water skiing, and fishing. I recently visited the area finding that the Yacht Club building in North Shore was restored. I really looks amazing. If only California would invest in saving the sea, imagine what an oasis it would be.

The problem is, that toxic dust can spread for miles and harm people living in Southern California. The most polluted river flowing from Mexicali to the Salton Sea worsens the toxic level already in the sea itself.

I was always under the impresion that this was a dry lake. I had no idea.

@brethuish thanx 4 making this vid. or uploading it I just moved 2 San Diego recently n I heard the locals said u can see Salton from Mt. Laguna so I went there n saw it from a 40 miles distance even thou. I haven't have a chance 2 go there yet

Just in passing, why do they not make some siphon tubes to bring ocean water in? Kind of like the siphons that bring the Colorado River water over the mountains. At so far below sea level, the siphons would be better efficient than the ones in use today. I'd plan a salt factory at the shore line of the new sea, and the less saline ocean water could fill some of the basin, bring some new business to the area, and keep the new ecology going. At 125F, the evaporation beds would be much more efficient than the ones by San Frisco.

@InSyncMarketing You have hit the nail right on the head. If more people had the insight and concern you show, we'd have a much better planet. Thank You so much. Bret Huish

A great insight, I wanted to know the basics of the Salton Sea and this outlines it quite informatively.

I visited the eastern side of the salton sea last weekend and I have to say it's one of the most interesting places i've ever been. I saw a huge number of birds on the shore like the ones you have in this video, which made it hard to think about all the pollutants and problems with salinity, but I have hope that CA will be able to get some kind of solution in place in the near future. Great video!

You are so right and it is inevitable that this must come to pass. There is only so much water. Thanks so much for watching and for caring..

Join it to the Gulf of California, and let the sea water flow in. It becomes an extension of the open sea, less salty and available for recreation and everything. The local people can all switch to entertainment and recreation business, live and let live. Colorado's water should not be wasted on a pleasure dome for the few

Thanks for watching our movie. We are here on location at the Salton Sea and it is a truly beautiful place. I encourage you and everyone to visit the Salton Sea while it is still in existence. It is well worth the trip.

Thanks for your comments. I am glad you appreciate the potential of the area and appreciate your taking time to view our film. I would mention though that saying you were here "today" is much like the blind men describing the elephant. The east and the west sides of the sea are vastly different. I suspect you came up highway 86 on the west side. To truly understand the area you have to spend a week at least. I would also suggest a visit in the winter. Sonoran summers are a bit toasty.

Yes there is. This version is just the trailer for the full documentary which is available on the greenwaterfilms website. Check the details for the web link.

We thought it was pretty interesting too. Our sincere thanks for taking time to view our video. We think it is an important environmental issue. Bret

Congratulations on your pilot trainee status. I was a pilot in the Air Force and went through training in Del Rio Texas. Flew a C-130. Saving the Salton Sea means basically one thing, WATER. Fresh water must come in and more saline water must exit. In a nutshell, that's it. The politics, the funding and the technology are not nearly as simple. Thanks for your interest, now go dance the skies on laughter silvered wings. Stay in touch.

We just went out there for the first time last weekend what a great place the people were very nice around there too.

Glad you liked it. The 50 minute version is now for sale directly from us for a short time at a discount until it is listed on Amazon. Please contact me if you are interested.

thanks for the vid! learned allot about the salton sea

@GeneralRap Keep in mind that only this incarnation of the sea was "man made". Man actually just helped it along. The lake is a recurring natural process of the Colorado River. Thanks for your comment...... Bret

Is there a longer version of this video? Lot of good information.

The Salton Sea is not a natural water lake. It was accidently made when water from early irrigation ditches taking water from the Colorado River west flooded and the water emptied into a dry salt pan or dry ancient lake bed. It filled it up with fresh water and so the state had it stocked with fresh water fish for anglers to catch, but with in a few years the salt pan beneath the lake started melting and the lake became too salty for the fish and most of them died. The lakes edges are covered by beaches of most billions of tiny fish vertibrae and dead fish skeletons. It may have become a haven for many fish, birds and other animals but like the inland sea that was there 1000's of years ago and dried up as the land rose or dry periods came of whatever it will eventually dry up again.

Great video , thanks!

All very true. Thanks so much for your interest and comments. Bret Huish

@Monsoon38 So very glad you liked it. It is a wonderful and amazing place.

this is great I live around this area and i had no idea how it came to be

Great vid. Very interesting.

Just a really nice job!

wow i live here in North Shore, next to the Salton Sea, and i wanted to say that this is some excellent information. i did know some things about it, but i learned more. If you want, i can send you some of my wildlife pics of the sorrounding areas. ive been living here all my life, so i know many great places. Did you say that if it drys up, it will be harmful? Do you think it will be cleaned?

Glad you liked it.

It has the same title. This one is pretty much the trailer for it. Thanks for watching, we sincerely appreciate it. Bret

Simple build a pipeline from the sea to the lake. Slap a hydro power station on the end of the pipe just before the the water enters into the lake. The height difference between the sea and gulf of Mexico should be more than enough to create a lot of power to pay back the cost of the pipe.

@MaverickDeVille Thanks for taking the time to care about the Salton Sea. I am sure you will enjoy our documentary DVD. Please feel free to contact me at any time. There is email and contact information on our GreenWaterFilms web site.

You can send it to anyone you would like. The more people that know about it, and care, the better. The full movie will be out soon. Thanks for watching.

I was their today; 107F. While I wouldn't call the area beautiful (as a result of all the abandoned buildings and trash), it is beautiful in theory of what it is and could be. It really should AT LEAST be cleaned up. I was reading the wikipedia on it and loved the idea of digging a canal that would create vessel (and obviously water)access through the Gulf Of California. How amazing would it be for there to be water vessel access and the potential for development of the area!?!

what an eye opener! Do you mind of I send this to the president?

I grew up in the Riverside/Indio area and visited the Sea often. Back 35 years ago, it was a terrific place to boat, ski and fish. We caught large Corvina on mudsuckers, which was the bait of choice for that fish. I went back a few years ago and was saddened to see the decline of the entire area. Motels and other businesses closed, abandoned buildings. Still, the place has a certain attraction, especially in the fall and winter, when it is dry and warm. I hope a solution is found.

@redbeakman You don't have a full understanding. Prior to 1900 the Colorado River still flowed through Mexico and into the Gulf Of California. That was the alternative wetland. The colorado shifted north to fill up the Salton Basin, or south to the gulf and the basin dried up. The Colorado River is now all used up. It no longer reaches the Gulf. (Check Google Earth). Hence, no alternative wetland. Suggest you watch the full documentary. Thanks for your commentary

The path of the Colorado River shifted south and no longer filled up the sea so it dried up. When it shifted north again it created a new incarnation of the sea.Thanks for your interest in the sea!

I used to live in Indio a few years ago, if you go south to the mountains you see were the water level used to be at. Plus you feel you are at in some kind of hole deep under sea level.

Wait and See!

Hope you picked up a copy of our latest Salton Sea Video at the visitor center. Glad you liked the place. It is pretty special.

I love the area, yes i see it needs attention, i used to hike and dune buggy around the 111 hwy side up by the spas and chocolate mountains, bombay beach etc... it is magical once u get to know the natural places Around it like the bat caves and the oasis found here and there, hot mineral springs. I was digging a hole to plant a tree on our property and found ocean life as high as above the fresh water canals by the chocolate mountains, I been hearing fixes since i was a kid, would be nice : )

very interesting video man.

@MrBrucebracey So very glad you liked it. The Salton Sea is a wonderful place.

To care is a start and you obviously do.. Thanks! I would encourage you to pass this small video around to everyone you know. Our 50 minute video is now available on DVD as well and I would encourage everyone to purchase it and share it with friends.. All of the profits go to saving the sea. The most important thing is to get the word out, that is why we made the video.... letters to your congressman wouldn't hurt either. Again, thanks for caring.

Great video that explains the (most recent) creation of this sea! I hope something will be done very soon to save it. I visited it once in my youth, and found it very haunting but beautiful.

Actually the water is amazingly clean. Pollutants and chemicals have been sealed in the playa (lake bed). Many fish have died off it's true but there are over 90 million tilapia in the sea and they are thriving.

@Orionx30 If only we could leave nature alone to do it's job, but when we intervene should we also correct our intervention?

All good thoughts. We shall continue in quest. We think it is just so important. Stay in touch...

is their any update plan for 2012 ?

@7150285 There is water still entering the Salton Sea, just not enough to sustain it. Thanks for watching the video and for your interest in the amazing Salton Sea.

@reymatt76 Actually a pretty good question. Perhaps because it was once part of the Gulf of California, or Sea Of Cortez. Other large lakes are also referred to as seas, such as the Caspian Sea and the Dead Sea. Who ever named it in the beginning probably thought it was large enough and salty enough to qualify as a "Sea".. Thanks for watching our movie.

@telemetry9 Well thought out response. Thank You. Bret Huish, Green Water Films

@Shenuday According to the dept of Geology at UC Redlands where we did much of our research there is no drainage into the fault. The lake-bed is a great cork. Almost all water loss is from evaporation. One less thing to worry about. Also keep in mind the formation of the sea is natural and has been for thousands of years. Man just helped this incarnation along a bit. You might want to view the full documentary. Thanks so much for you interest in the Salton Sea. Bret

I live in La Quinta which is not that far away from the Salton Sea. A couple fun facts not mentioned in the video: When the winds blow east to west you can smell the sulfuric smell of the Sea, Not very pleasant. Strange enough when you are near the Sea, the smell goes away. Maybe you get used to it. Also there is a military base (MOA) north of the Sea Which you cannot fly over. I know they've done some bomb tests over in that area. I have seen the night skies lit up from them.

First: Chemically it's cleaner than Lake Tahoe. It is clean. Second: Because man has removed the Colorado Delta, there are no remaining wetlands to the south. Third: It is a critical ecosystem. Millions of animals will die if we don't save it. It does not need to be "cleaned up". It needs to be saved. And yes, it is salty but then so is the ocean. Thanks for watching the video.

Nobody appreciates the Salton Sea and its ancient history. They just look at it as an ecological disaster. However this is the most ambitious leap of nature with a spirit of its own. The spiritual experience is felt just going toward the old home of the ancient peoples who lived in the mountains nearby. Makes me want to revive the habitat and live to be a pagan.

@TheJohnnygallardo It's simple & complicated. The simple answer is we need more water going in and more water going out. The Sea has no outlet. Water is lost only by evaporation leaving the salts behind. Eventually that will kill it. How to accomplish that is the hard part. If you want to know what you can do, spread the word. Go viral with this little video on FB, Twitter etc. Maybe if more people know & care, like you, something will be done. Thanks for caring.

@shishio241Yes, it does. So does the Alamo River and the White Water River. None of the flows are sufficient to maintain the sea. I would suggest watching the full documentary if you would like to learn more about the Salton Sea. It is available both at Amazon and on our web site

@airtioteclint In the 50's and 60's it was a big deal. Great fishing, power-boat racing, beach-parties etc. Now, like so many wonderful things of the past it is forgotten and discarded. That's why we made the film. So people could see it and perhaps understand it. Thanks for you comment and interest in the Salton Sea.

I heard of an idea about connecting the Salton Sea to the Sea of Cortez. The other ideas costs millions, yet this idea may actually profit millions.

we like your style . . . agree

@nevsky1961 It is actually 25% saltier than the pacific. Your idea is still great, however it takes more than water going in. There must also be an outlet or the evaporation process would still leave the salts behind eventually killing the sea. Where would the outflow go? Remember, the sea is in a big hole 280 ft. below SL. Also, the only viable place for the water to come from would be through Mexico and they say no. Great thought though. Thanks for thinking & caring!

@allenra530 Luckily the sea has an amazing self-cleaning process that is not fully understood. The water stays strangely clean and the contaminants are trapped in the lake bed. The full documentary gives a little more detail. Thanks so much for your comments and for caring about the endangered ecosystem of the Salton Sea.

@brethuish all I know is of there isnt any new water sources then it should be dry up cuz the dry weather of southern california can evaporate waters very quickly

Fortunately the sewage dumping has stopped as far as we know and the water quality is now ok. Sewage dumping is prohibited. If you know of any dumping please contact me! The fish do not currently die because of pollution. Please watch the entire movie for more. Thanks for your comments and your concern about the Salton Sea.

@ussvoyager2001 In many ways you are right. The communities are mostly dead and there's not much going on there, however, there is a huge vibrant desert ecosystem that thrives because of the sea. To the layman it looks a lot like a dead chunk of desert but to the naturalist it is a cornucopia of life. Thanks for your comments.

In the past the sea didn't really "dry". It spilled over its southern boundary and cut a new channel for the Colorado River to the gulf. When the old sea was there the Colorado River emptied into the Salton Trough and the wetlands were there when it "spilleld over" the wetlands and the critters followed the new Colorado River channel. There are other wetlands but none right smack tab in the Pacific Flyway and none as large and significant as the Salton Sea. Thanks So Much for you interest

@crazyz28s Sorry.... guess that cat's out of the bag now :-) Thanks for you comments. Enjoy hearing from you..

@ussvoyager2001 I'm sorry you're having trouble with RU-vid. Hope you get it cleared up. Thanks so much for watching out little video...

Still confused (sometimes I'm a little slow). Hypothetical timeline: 1. River flows N for 500 years, SS is being filled, all is well. 2. River shifts S, sea H2O is cut off. 3. Sea dries up, 200 years go by before river shifts N again. During phase 3 there is no SS for 200 years. What di the migratory birds do for the 200 years in phase 3? Thanks for the great video BTW.

@ussvoyager2001 Wasn't surprised at all... this is how most people view the area. They don't bother to look at it from a naturalist's point of view. Thanks so much for you comments.

@ryanhoward89 It is a wonderful and interesting place that few people know about and even fewer care about. Thanks for watching this trailer to our full documentary.

I'm confused. An earlier post asked "what did the birds do when the lake dried up (twice)? You responded "The sea has come and gone many times. Each time the critical wetlands shifted south with the Colorado River. This time the Colorado is all used up and the wetlands will not shift, they'll be gone and so will the birds. The animation and your narrative show two scenarios: 1. The lake is there. 2. The lake is gone. Nothing shifted south. Can you please clarify?

let it dry, dig out the salt and then fill it back with decent water

Do you live in the area, Bret? I have heard they are restoring the yacht club and would love to see it when it's finished. I have never forgotten my visits to the Salton Sea and have often taught a short unit about it in my classes. I'm an English teacher, and the place almost defies description. I had never heard of it when we were driving through and thought I was seeing things. It still has great potential, I believe.

I've always seen this lake on the map and wondered why I haven't heard much about it. You'd think it would be more popular being as big as it is.

Couldn't have put it better myself. ....Bret

@Davis54pa We think so too. If you visit, the east side of the sea is the most pristine..

Sorry. Somebody just made a post and I meant to hit the reply button and removed it. If you see this and your post didn't appear please post again and my apologies.... Bret

"Solution", it's called the Salton Sea for a reason. So use it for that reason. Engineer a Salt Factory (s) to extract all of the soldium from that sea. Stage it and Transport it out for comm. via Tractor trailor/Rail Road Train etc. to the Big Cities for winter de-icing purposes.. Face it, you will never stop it's flow the way those surrounding canals and rivers are filling it. Salinization levels will fall off, species will survive (saltwater fish). Tourism will return..Check Please.. D.W

@jpanim8r The Colorado River swung north and south throughout eons. When it went north if filled up the Salton Sea area, when it swung south if dumped into the Gulf Of California. The wetlands and the birds followed. The Colorado River is now all used up and cannot provide the wetlands in Mexico if the sea dries up there will be no wetlands. You might want to watch the full documentary. It explains it in animations etc. Thanks for you interest in the Salton Sea.