Bombay Beach on the Salton Sea in California is well worth a trip. It is great for the weird and interesting art as well as is an object lesson for how humanity will interact with their environment and how a community deals with ecological collapse.
The Salton Sea is an inland sea in California which was created by accident in 1905 but which also had previous incarnations of an inland sea at the site of the Salton Basin. People, both ancient and in recent history have been using its waters for entertainment and sustenance. When I saw it on the map as I was planning out my next day’s trip I thought that it looked interesting. And that there were Ruins in the town of Bombay Beach also intrigued me. My friends who are from that area told me not to go. It was full of rotting fish, fish stink, and the beach was just fish bones. My response was “Cool! Goth!” and away I went.
When I got to Bombay Beach in the evening I drove around the super small town which is laid out in an alphabet - numerical grid looking for a place to boondock. I found an empty lot and got an eyeful of the town. It looked apocalyptic.
The next morning I set out for a walk about to check things out. And the oddity of the town increased as I walked to the shore line. The town to me looked like a post-apocalyptic waste where humans have been able to rebuild and make nice a few places to live.
When I got to the beach and I found the ruins my confusion just increased. What happened here? Why the destruction? Why did this look like a post bombed out area?
That was when I found a man in his van camping out by an outside church. He gave me the lowdown on the town.
His rendition is: A long time ago the Native Americans / First People of the area used the Salton Sea for sustenance. They ate the birds and the fish. There was once a canal that connected the inland sea to a far away gulf. And life was good.
Then came the 1920’s and Hollywoodites came flocking to the Salton Sea and built Bombay Beach as a play resort town. And life was good.
Then the area around the Salton Sea became ever more used for agriculture land and water was needed for the crops. And that was when life became less than good for the sea and those who relied upon it and lived in it. The canals were diverted. The water was taken out. And the salt levels increased until the sea could no longer support life; either in or on the shores.
The sea is not entirely dead. But it’s close.
As for my friend's story about dead fish on the shores. That would be the tilapia which would die off enmasse every year. Van Guy said it was from when the temperatures increased beyond what the fish could tolerate in the sea. However, with the increased salinization of the sea and the decreased ability to support life - even the yearly event of the dead tilapia on the shores of the sea are dwindling. There were fewer and fewer tilapia to die off every year.
Today the town of Bombay Beach has some 200 human residents who have a bit of fun with their apocalyptic town. They are an artist community that hangs on the best they can. And the art they make is truly spectacular, whimsical, and just plain creepy.
There is the drive-in theater which is a bunch of empty junk yard cars set up facing the white painted side of a trailer. Very cook. There is a huge fish made out of an old airplane. And the ruins themselves are more art from junk.
Now, that was the random dude in a camper van’s story of the sea, its history, and the story of the town. But you don’t just take someone's word for things. You fact check. And in general, I was getting interested in the history of this lake.
I got on Google Scholar and looked up the Salton Sea in California. I found some interesting papers that only somewhat supported Van Guy’s story. One was published in 2000, 20 years ago now, and it talked about the decline of the sea and the efforts to try and save it. Then I looked for a more recent paper and found one that talked about the decline of an ecosystem and how that affects the people relying on that ecosystem. I suggest giving them a read.
Understanding inaction in confronting ecosystem collapse: community perspectives from California’s Salton Sea by: Holly J. Buck
The tilapia en masse die off occurs when large algae blooms suck out all of the oxygen in the sea according to Cohn. But Van Guy was right about the fish die off happening less often because of there being fewer fish to kill.
As for agriculture taking away the water, Van Guy was partially correct. What tributaries that were in place have been diverted to meet the needs of the growing agriculture needs of the area. And in an area of very little rainfall the sea doesn’t have any other way to replenish itself.
The Salton Sea doesn’t have a bright future. The water evaporates in the hot desert sun. There is no replacement. And the salt levels just become more and more concentrated. Oh, and it’s being polluted by the agriculture industry. As the waters dry-up there is a new public health risk. The pollution becomes airborne via dust. Already southern and central valley California has higher than average respiratory problems, which I personally experienced when living in Lemoore, CA; which is from the dust and the pollution. Like most people, I had a chronic cough that only went away once I moved out of the valley. With all of that silt, sediment, and pollution trapped in the sea about to be released into the air - well, it’s not going to be a nice place to try and breathe.
Best and Worst Places for Breathable Air in the US by: National Geographic (2017) - note Bombay Beach is south of Bakersfield which is mentioned in the article.
But aside from the environmental and public health issues of the Salton Sea - Bombay Beach is cool. The residents have made some weird and interesting art. So go check it out for yourself. Both to check out the natural wonder before it is gone - and before it is too hazardous to approach - as well as to take a wonder about the town looking at the art.
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