Salton, << SAWL tuhn, >> Sea is a shallow, saline lake in southeastern California. It is about 30 miles (48 kilometers) long and from 8 to 10 miles (13 to 16 kilometers) wide. Its surface is about 232 feet (71 meters) below sea level. The lake lies chiefly in Imperial County in a valley that was cut off from the Gulf of Lower California by sediment deposited by the Colorado River. Until 1905, the valley area was a salt-covered depression. Between 1905 and 1907, the Colorado broke through irrigation head gates and flowed into the Salton Basin to form the Salton Sea. The lake covered about 450 square miles (1,165 square kilometers). In the 1990’s and early 2000’s, pollution from agricultural chemicals helped cause high bacteria levels and large algae blooms in the lake. Such conditions, along with increased salinity (saltiness), killed many of the Salton Sea’s fish and birds.
