Blog: Surprise bird-rich wetlands emerge on dry lakebed of shrinking Salton Sea
In February 2020, Andrea Jones scrambled up Obsidian Butte, a lava dome on the southeastern corner of Salton Sea. Amid the expanse of dry, exposed lakebed, the result of decades of water diversions and ongoing drought, she also saw a glimmer of green—unexpected reeds and cattails taking hold around the edge of the sea, signs of budding wetlands. … Agricultural drains—dozens of ditches and pipes directing water off nearby farmland—once flowed directly into the sea. But as the sea shrinks, their outflow now trickles and meanders across exposed playa, allowing wetlands to form. They are a happy surprise amid an otherwise desperate scene at the Salton Sea, a 343-square-mile inland saltwater lake and the largest remaining body of water in California.