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Article: BLESSED BLUNDER '30S IRRIGATION MISTAKE CREATED SALTON SEA, WHOSE WATERS SUSTAIN MANY ENDANGERED BIRDS.(News/National/International)
- Article from:
- Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO)
- Article date:
- May 27, 1997
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 Rocky Mountain News. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Dialog LLC by Gale Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Larry Gerber Associated Press
NILAND, Calif. -- Someone forgot to warn the wildlife that we were turning the Colorado into the river tame.
By the time Rocky Mountain water gets to the Salton Sea in this desert corner of California, it has been dammed up, fought over, apportioned out and flushed so low - 227 feet below sea level - that even the ocean spits it back.
On hot days, it stinks. The water in California's largest lake is saltier than the Pacific Ocean, tainted with natural selenium, fertilizer and human waste.
But millions of birds still think it's the best resort in the West, a major stopover on the Pacific Flyway ...