Author(s):
Timothy J. St. Onge* - University of Mary Washington
Abstract:
The result of an extreme flooding event in 1905, the Salton Sea is an anomaly on the desert landscape of inland Southern California. Once a thriving tourist destination, the lake today faces a serious pollution crisis, as heavily polluted rivers bring bacterial waste, harmful algal blooms, and high salinity levels to the lake, which lacks an outflow for removing these pollutants. The rapidly deteriorating condition of the Salton Sea severely threatens the lake's dwindling fish population and hundreds of bird species that use the lake as a major resting point on the Pacific Flyway migration route. Using remote sensing and image interpretation tools, this study aimed to identify points of river pollution and agricultural chemical runoff, analyze other geographic features in the region that contribute to pollution, and examine historical imagery and literature to understand the geographic and environmental changes in the region over time. The methodology of the study largely involved visible and near infrared (VNIR) change detection analysis of Landsat imagery over four decades. An image interpretation of high resolution imagery of the heavily polluted New River, which flows into the lake, provides a large scale model of pollution impacting the Salton Sea. The research reinforces concerns of the lake's declining water quality, particularly due to the inflow of the New River. Significant infrastructural initiatives appear necessary to reduce pollution in the Salton Sea and protect the lake's threatened biodiversity.
