Dust and stench
Unresolved
Thursday 30 March 2017 11:12 AM
Location: CA-111, Niland, CA 92257, USA
Category: Other
Description:
The Salton Sea is a very important issue that we have here in the valley. As beautiful as it could be, it causes many problems. One has to do with it's smell. The reason why it smells so much is because hydrogen sulfide is being bubbled up from the lake. The smell can relate to the odor of rotten eggs Because of the lake's high level of fertilizer supporting dense algal blooms, and it's lack of oxygen because of those algae populations, bacteria breeds on the lake releasing the gas, causing not only the residents that live around there to smell it, but the whole Coachella Valley. The scent is only a small factor as to why the Salton Sea is a harm to people. One of the main reasons is its desert winds. The more the lake shrinks due to swift evaporation and the reduction in agricultural runoff which use to be the lake's most important water source, the more that the dust winds will pick up. That is a huge threat to people that have asthma. It's also a threat to people that don't have asthma because the dust that picks up contains pesticides which could be toxic.