Stuff You Should Know: Eco-Disasters 101 – The Salton Sea

Podcast: Stuff You Should Know
Hosts: Josh Clark, Chuck Bryant
Date: November 11, 2025
Podcast Network: iHeartPodcasts
Episode Focus: Exploring the creation, history, environmental collapse, and uncertain future of California’s Salton Sea, one of America's most striking man-made ecological disasters.

Episode Overview

Josh and Chuck take a deep dive into the bizarre, tragic story of the Salton Sea in California. Once a shimmering oasis and major resort destination, the Salton Sea is now an ecological disaster zone—a manmade lake that accidentally sprang into existence due to mismanaged irrigation and has since lurched through cycles of boom, bust, and environmental catastrophe. This episode covers the geological history, human mishap, failed interventions, environmental collapse, and possible future (or futures) of the Sea.

Key Discussion Points

What is the Salton Sea? (01:59–03:30)

• Chuck opens by clarifying: The Salton Sea is an inland lake in Southern California's Imperial and Coachella Valleys.
• Laughter about its name: Despite being called a "sea," it’s an inland, salty lake—a persistent confusion.
  • Chuck: “I think that’s the difference between a sea and a lake. I think a lake has no outlet to the ocean and a sea does.” (03:00)

Ancient Origins and Cyclical Lakes (05:07–08:51)

• The Salton Basin has supported large bodies of water for thousands of years, with the Colorado River occasionally overflowing and filling it.
• Josh details: Past cycles saw lakes form and vanish, including Lake Cahuila (~1300 years ago), once 26x the size of the current Salton Sea.
  • Josh: “For our European listeners, that’s larger than Belgium. ... In Australia, that’s two times the Greater Sydney metro area.” (07:48)
• The basin was made fertile by repeated silt deposits—“that soil is good stuff ... if it ever rained.” (10:10)

The Accidental Creation (Early 1900s) (09:59–13:35)

• Irrigation schemes (Imperial Canal) tried to bring Colorado River water to farms—but silt blocked the canal, and a temporary bypass was dug without proper safeguards.
• During a period of major floods and snowmelt, the Colorado River broke through:
  • Josh: “90,000 cubic feet of water per second was flowing into the Salton Sea. ... That is the size of an Olympic-sized pool ... every second.” (11:30)
• Massive engineering efforts (with Union Pacific Railroad help) finally stopped the inflow in 1907, but by then there was a giant, permanent inland lake.
• Josh: “Now we got a 400-square-mile inland sea or lake, depending on who's podcasting many years from now, right?” (12:30)

The Heyday: California Riviera (18:53–22:22)

• Agricultural runoff stabilized the Sea, making it salty ("1/3 or 50% more salty than the Pacific Ocean" – 18:11).
• The Salton Sea became an accidental paradise—teeming with fish, attracting birds along the Pacific Flyway, and turning into a hotspot for resorts, speedboat races, and celebrities.
  • Chuck: “It was just a big recreation area out there in the middle of a desert in Southern California... they had, you know, I wasn't kidding about the water skiing ... Elvis performed there, Frank Sinatra performed there.” (21:00)

The Environmental Collapse Begins (22:49–29:13)

• Salinity kept rising. Agricultural runoff poured toxins and pesticides into the lake, creating dead zones.
• Algae and bacteria blooms triggered mass die-offs:
  • 150,000 eared grebes died in a 5-month span (1991–92).
  • 10,000 pelicans died in a single outbreak (1996).
  • Infamously, 8 million tilapia died in one day in 1999.
    • Josh: “8 million tilapia died in one single day in August of 1999.” (26:01)
• Recreation and tourism plummeted. Homes were stranded as the shoreline receded, the famous North Shore Yacht Club closed, and communities became “ghost towns.”

Public Health and Social Fallout (35:29–43:53)

• As the Sea shrinks and evaporates, toxic dust from the exposed lakebed now blows through area towns, with particles laced with DDT, heavy metals, and more.
• Asthma and health effects are rising in children; a USC study is tracking the impact.
  • Josh: “Yes, this is causing asthma at the very least in little kids.” (41:51)
• Despite shrinking further—“it’s projected to lose 40% of its surface area by 2030” (29:13)—nearly 650,000 people still live in the region, many drawn by cheap housing.
• The economic toll could reach $70 billion over 30 years (43:02).

Failed Fixes and Glimmers of Hope (44:27–46:59)

• Multiple restoration plans, mostly underfunded or delayed, have failed to make a dent (e.g., the Salton Sea Restoration Fund with no funding; federal studies instead of real projects).
• Full restoration (“California Riviera 2.0”) is off the table—just creating wetlands for birds will cost $383 million, but for the first time, enough funds ($200M California, $240M federal) are on hand to do more than planned.
  • Josh: “Now ... they can actually do more than they wanted to do in their 10-year plan ... things are starting to pick up and they're starting to restore wetlands.” (45:56)

The Future: Wetlands, Lithium, the "Weird Art Zone" (47:53–51:17)

• Efforts now focused on wetlands, wildlife habitats, and mitigating toxic dust.
• The area is being eyed for geothermal energy and lithium mining—the “21st-century gold” for high-tech batteries.
• The Salton Sea area is a magnet for urban legends, sunken military planes and dummy bombs, and offbeat art installations such as Slab City and Salvation Mountain.
  • Josh: “Such a bizarre place generated some really interesting urban legends ... there’s a whole idea that there’s a Viking ship potentially under there, too.” (49:00)
• Local oddities: The Ski Inn, “the lowest dive bar in the Western Hemisphere ... 237 ft below sea level” (50:29). Artists and “weird, decrepit” communities persist.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “The Salton Sea is a genuine ecological disaster. Yeah, human-made at every step of the way.”
  – Josh Clark (03:30)
• “Elvis performed there, Frank Sinatra performed there ... it was just a big recreation area ... Palm Springs by the Sea.”
  – Chuck Bryant (21:00)
• “8 million tilapia died in one single day in August of 1999.”
  – Josh Clark (26:01)
• “As the Salton Sea evaporates ... exposed lakebed ... is turning to dust that's getting blown off ... and causing all sorts of problems.”
  – Josh Clark (40:55)
• “Now ... they can actually do more than they wanted to do in their 10-year plan ... things are starting to pick up and they're starting to restore wetlands.”
  – Josh Clark (45:56)
• “My money is definitely on them lithium mining.”
  – Josh Clark (48:42)
• “Urban legends ... there’s a whole idea that there’s a Viking ship potentially under there, too.”
  – Josh Clark (49:00)

Important Timestamps

• 01:59 – What the Salton Sea is and why it’s called a “sea.”
• 05:07 – Ancient cycles and Lake Cahuila comparison.
• 09:59 – How a century-old irrigation mistake created the modern Salton Sea.
• 13:41 – “Now what do we do with this giant accidental lake?”
• 18:11 – How and why the Sea turned salty.
• 21:00 – The California Riviera era: recreation, celebrities, development.
• 22:49 – Algae blooms, pesticide runoff, collapse of ecosystem begins.
• 26:01 – Mass fish die-offs, particularly the 8 million tilapia in one day.
• 29:13 – The shrinking sea and property/tourism decline.
• 35:29 – Toxic dust and public health crisis.
• 43:02 – $70B estimated total impact over 30 years.
• 44:27 – Political inaction and failed solutions.
• 45:56 – Finally, substantial funding for wetlands and dust mitigation.
• 47:53 – Geothermal and lithium extraction as the new economic hope.
• 49:00 – Urban legends, lost ships, Navy bombs, and weird art installations.
• 50:29 – Dive bars and the offbeat communities around the dying sea.
• 51:17 – Closing thoughts and the ongoing saga.

Tone & Style

Conversational, inflected with deadpan and dry humor, sometimes a little silly but always rooted in research and deep curiosity. The hosts balance equal parts awe, skepticism, and dark amusement at the human folly underpinning the Salton Sea’s story.

In Summary

This episode chronicles how the Salton Sea accidentally became California's largest lake, its bizarre transformation into a mid-century resort haven, and subsequent implosion into one of the country’s nastiest environmental disasters. Josh and Chuck skillfully blend science, history, dark comedy, and social commentary—making this both an ecological cautionary tale and a uniquely American piece of weird history. Despite the dismal present, there are glimmers of hope: belated restoration efforts, scientific study, dreams of lithium wealth, and the enduring spirit of the community and art scene. It’s a must-listen for anyone interested in earth science, environmental policy, or just a good “how did this possibly happen?” story.