Why pumping ocean water into the Salton Sea wouldn’t work

Posted by on

From yesterday’s New York Times:

The problem with using ocean water to replenish the lake is that current agricultural runoff adds three million to four million tons of salt per year, Mr. Shintaku said. The same amount of ocean water would add about 10 times as much salt. As the water evaporates, the salt would be retained and the lake would become even saltier.

6 Comments

  1. If you’re going to bother pumping water over there, why not pump treated effluent from the municipalities? it’s generally clean enough and isn’t saline water.

  2. The only water you would have to pump, is the water, OUT of the Salton Sea. A Gravity fed canal could FILL the sea. To prevent evaporative saltification, an equal amount of water would have to be pumped back into the sea of Cortez.. This can all be accomplished by wisely spent federal dollars. Instead of Giving money away.. our government should make Federal Works Programs (like in the 1930’s) and employ the American people to improve the country. Works Progress Administration (WPA, CCC) These Federal programs Employed, Trained, Educated (and kept out of jail, and off drugs) an entire generation of Americans. So WTF is wrong with Washington? That’s the problem. Also, I think that’s what they are doing in China.

  3. This whole problem is very simple actually. First you put the sea water in the Salton sea so all of the beneficial micro life forms are given a chance to start repopulating the sea with marine creatures from the sea of Cortez. this also because the Salton Sea is shrinking will slow that progress. Then The polluted water from the new river and the Alamo river will be desalinated into fresh water and put back in the Sea. This will also remove the heavy metals, Pesticides, herbicides and human pathogens out of this toxic brew. Now the next step is to draw water out of the Salton Sea in a different place then where the clean Sea water from the Sea of Cortez goes in and now this water will also be put back in the Salton Sea to reduce levels of salt to within the target zone. Done deal lets get started. David

  4. New solar desalination plant seen on Breakthrough on the NGC could desal the Sea of Cortez water which is a 100 miles away.This water would turn the sea back to a major resort

  5. A New GEOTHERMAL Desalination Plant could desal the Sea of Cortes water which is not only close- by,but downhill to The Salton Sea. Only a handful of counties in the whole country have a geothermal resource; Imperial County is one of them! It’s 80% cheaper than traditional Reverse Osmosis Desal Our grandchildren will mock us if we don’t save The Salton Sea.

  6. Could we treat the land, maybe spray with oily salt water, to hold the salty dust down? Or, what has an affinity for the particles of salty dust that is being blown up into the air.

Comments are closed.