Throughout the 20th century, the area became continuously more irrigated and transformed into an agricultural hotspot. Now, there are over 460,000 and 70,000 acres of irrigated agricultural land in the Imperial and Coachella Valleys respectively. As the area became more agricultural, pesticide use began to dominate the region. While they have declined over time, usage rates are still disproportionately high, with the region falling into the 90th percentile (and above) for pesticide use in the state of California. The line graph below depicts this pesticide use data for the region over time.

Over time, California droughts have taken a toll on the Salton Sea, and the water levels have continuously declined. Since 2003, the Salton Sea’s surface elevation has dropped by more than 11 feet, and continues to decline to this day, as evidenced in the graphic. The decline in water levels resulted in massive fish die offs. This, in conjunction with the increasing concentrations of pesticides in the sea, contributed to a steep decline in the region’s tourism during the latter half of the 20th century. The line graph below shows water levels in the Salton Sea over time.

However, while the smell of rotting fish drove tourists away, many people continued to live and work in the agricultural fields surrounding the sea. The region is now predominantly Hispanic and largely falls into the 90th percentile and above for poverty in California, with many of the residents working in agriculture. Minority, low income communities tend to live closer to environmental burdens, significantly impacting their quality of life. The map below uses income data to depict poverty percentiles in the region.

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## Projected CRS: WGS 84 / Pseudo-Mercator

Currently, the region is still experiencing heavy pesticide use. Not surprisingly, the pesticide percentage correlates with farmland regions. While the type of farmland does necessarily affect the levels of pesticide use, pesticide use does tend to increase when two or more types of farmland are stacked on top of each other. The map below depicts farmland area and pesticide use in the region, overlayed. The pesticide % data is derived from pounds of toxic pesticides used per square mile, converted into percentiles. As previously mentioned, much of the Salton Sea area falls into over the 90th percentile for Pesticide use in California.

## Reading layer `AgLand' from data source 
##   `/Users/EvelynMineo/Final Project Turn In/Agland.geojson' using driver `GeoJSON'
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## Geodetic CRS:  WGS 84
## Reading layer `CA_Counties_TIGER2016' from data source 
##   `/Users/EvelynMineo/Final Project Turn In/CA_Counties' using driver `ESRI Shapefile'
## Simple feature collection with 58 features and 17 fields
## Geometry type: MULTIPOLYGON
## Dimension:     XY
## Bounding box:  xmin: -13857270 ymin: 3832931 xmax: -12705030 ymax: 5162404
## Projected CRS: WGS 84 / Pseudo-Mercator

Unfortunately for the residents of the valley, these events have compounding effects. With declining water levels, pesticide runoff sinks into the drying sea bed. As it continues to dry out and the seabed becomes exposed, these pesticides are released into the air via dust storms. These contaminated particles travel to nearby towns and communities and cause pollution issues.

The air pollution issues in turn increase asthma levels in the region, and thus efforts to divert dust from the Salton Sea floodplain are underway. One initiative from the local government is the installation of hay bales, which are placed near the shrinking water line to collect dust that is released. However, residents note little difference and believe the bales are inefficient, demonstrating a need for larger-scale solutions, such as decreased pesticide use or cleanup initiatives.

Hay Bales Dust
Hay Bales Dust

Works Cited:

“All That’s Interesting.” 30 Striking Photos Of The Dead Sea’s Post-Apocalyptic Landscape, All That’s Interesting, allthatsinteresting.com/salton-sea-photos. Accessed 8 Dec. 2023.

California Environmental Protection Agency. “CalEnviroScreen 4.0.” Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, 2022, oehha.ca.gov/calenviroscreen/report/calenviroscreen-40. Accessed 8 Dec. 2023.

“Civil Eats.” As the Salton Sea Shrinks, Agriculture’s Legacy Turns to Dust, Civil Eats, 17 July 2023, civileats.com/2023/07/17/as-the-salton-sea-shrinks-agricultures-legacy-turns-to-dust/. Accessed 8 Dec. 2023.