Desert Sun: Witness To A Vanishing Sea

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2021 home W I T NES S TO A VANI S H I NG SEA
sales: 7 of CHAPTER ONE
the most Capturing the beauty and

expensive
These properties topped
tragedy of the Salton Sea
booming valley market
James B. Cutchin
Palm Springs Desert Sun
USA TODAY NETWORK
Want to live in a lavish, multi

milliondollar desert estate?
We can’t help you with that. We can,
however, give you a peek inside some
of the priciest and most overthetop
luxury Coachella Valley properties
that sold in 2021.
From an antique mountainside
compound to a modernist mansion
and a private resort masquerading as a
house, here are seven of the most ex
pensive Coachella Valley homes sold
in 2021 (plus a few bonus entries).
Three-story private resort
Sale price: $13,845,000 Newly exposed land dries out as the Salton Sea recedes on its south end in February. This land was underwater just a few
Location: Bighorn Golf Club, Palm years ago. Photojournalist Jay Calderon, below, has been photographing the Salton Sea for more than 20 years.
Desert PHOTOS BY JAY CALDERON/THE DESERT SUN
This 17,000squarefoot property in
the Bighorn Golf Club looks less like a
residence and more like a fivestar re Part 1 of a Jay Calderon with Janet Wilson Palm Springs Desert Sun | USA TODAY NETWORK
sort. 5-day series
I
The mansion has 10 bedroom
To read the
’ve been photographing California’s largest water body, the Salton
suites, 11 full bathrooms, two garages,
multiple entertainment spaces across
series in its Sea, for more than two decades, but it’s still a shock to the senses
entirety, visit
three stories and a large pool area with
desertsun.com
every time. Set in the dry, hot, southeast corner of the state 140
a massive popup TV that looks out
across the Coachella Valley. miles southeast of Los Angeles, its cool blue expanse stretches
Originally developed by late Big farther than the eye can see through the desert. h Over the years, frame
horn Chairman R.D. Hubbard, the
property was completely remodeled by frame, I’ve witnessed the oasis become a mirage.
“inside and out” before it sold to two
young families for nearly $14 million in Once brimming over a full 350 square miles, the
January 2021, according to Lorna Ball Salton Sea is now a rapidly shrinking ecological di
of Bighorn Properties. Ball acted as saster. The sea has lost 30 square miles worth of
listing agent for the property alongside water in recent years. More than 25,000 acres of
Trevor Printz of Bighorn Properties. dried lakebed loaded with pesticides and other tox
“Everything was new and it had so ins has emerged since 2003.
many wonderful entertainment Why? For years, runoff from nearby farms sup
areas,” Ball said. “There was kind of a plied by the Colorado River refilled it. But now, that
stage set up for a band, a bar full of an water is being diverted to thirsty urban areas, and
tique pinball machines; the pool area climate change is unleashing ever hotter, drier
had a waterslide and cabanas.” weather.
Although the property was sold
fully furnished, Ball said the pinball See SALTON SEA, Page 6A
See PRICEY HOMES, Page 34A
MORE INSIDE PAGE 3A

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luxury hotel and other amenities at Talus, formerly social and personal commentary in such classics as MutualReverse.com/Clay-Behm
SilverRock Golf Resort in La Quinta, where concrete “The White Album” and “The Year of Magical Think
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6A | SUNDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2021 | THE DESERT SUN
W I T NES S TO A VANI S H I NG SEA
CHAPTER ONE
Salton Sea
Continued from Page 1A
The water, always salty, has become a deadly brine:
Salinity levels are nearly double those of an ocean,
wiping out fish populations. Many migratory birds no
longer stop here to eat. Dangerous dust from exposed
shorelines chokes nearby residents. Millions of dollars
have been spent on task forces, management plans
and feasibility reports, with little to show for it. Mean
while, major auto companies and battery makers are
hungry to mine lithium on the sea’s widening southern
shore.
The sea, a lively tourist destination in the 1950s,
was in bad shape even when I started photographing
there 23 years ago. But the changes are happening so
quickly now, it’s a shock. The shoreline that I’d gotten
to know so well is receding so fast, it’s causing the
transformation of entire landscapes. Where I’d once
taken a beautiful morning photograph of birds at a
rocky outcropping of the shore is now a lifeless area
surrounded by dusty barren fields left high and dry by
water that’s vanishing into the distance.
I’ve captured the unfurling catastrophe upclose,
starting in the film camera era and working my way up
to drones, with some wild rides on float tubes, air
planes and helicopters in between. The accelerating sea. But as my photos show, the sea isn’t dead. Yes, it’s Birds enjoy a beautiful morning near a rocky
decline of the sea coincided with my increasing inter a challenged and stressed ecosystem, and much needs outcropping on the southern end of the Salton Sea
est in environmental journalism. to be done, but it’s not going anywhere. Water will con in 2005. This area is now lifeless, surrounded by
It seems that some people want to give up on the tinue to naturally flow there – and so will life. dusty, barren fields. JAY CALDERON/THE DESERT SUN
White pelicans dot the shoreline on the sea's west side in 2007. Their numbers are down from that time as the sea’s water no longer sustains the
number of fish it once had. PHOTOS BY JAY CALDERON/THE DESERT SUN
Wildlife
disappears
Jay Calderon with Janet Wilson
Palm Springs Desert Sun | USA TODAY NETWORK
M
y early days of photography at the
Salton Sea marked the end of an
era of large masses of birds here,
although I didn’t realize it at the
time. h The hardest part about shooting the Sal
ton Sea is that a lot of it is inaccessible. The first
time I tried to go to the sea was in 1999. I didn’t
realize how big it was. This was before Internet
Above:
maps had really caught on, so I made my way
An egret in down to the north side, using Thomas Guide
flight over
the Salton
maps to get there along agricultural roads, past
Sea in 2004. the farmland.
Even at that point, before the water deals were signed,
the sea was starting to dry up. I had to walk through mud,
trying to get to the water.
I made it to the waterline, but it was hard to get a big,
The crusty expansive view. There were a lot of dead trees, with big
former snags on them that birds nest in, and all the mess that
shoreline of birds make. There were a lot of birds. Thousands of them.
the Salton I was shooting with a film camera, and I still have those
Sea is shot negatives.
on black and I started returning to the Salton Sea three or four times
white film
in 1999. Continued on next page
DESERTSUN.COM | SUNDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2021 | 7A
CHAPTER ONE
Large masses of birds flock to the Salton Sea’s northern shoreline in 2002. Finding this many birds together nowadays at the Salton Sea is increasingly rare.
PHOTOS BY JAY CALDERON/THE DESERT SUN
Continued from previous page
a year, mostly on assignments with Desert Sun reporters,
then on my own. And I would just try to find wildlife.
Many times, I couldn’t quite photograph the animals,
because they’d be half a mile away. Sometimes I’d get
lucky, though. It was particularly gratifying to photo
graph large masses of birds – seeing hundreds or even
thousands of birds at a time was incredible.
Birds are skittish. If you find them, one will usually see
you and the rest will fly away. So in my early days, a lot of
what I was trying to figure out was how to sneak up on
them.
I bought some hip waders and tried those out. Naively,
I thought if I could get out into deeper water, it would be
easier to walk. But the mud persists well beyond the
shoreline, making walking nearly impossible. The wad
ers just meant I could slog into deeper mud. It didn’t work
out very well.
I transitioned to a float tube, like a fly fisherman uses.
It’s kind of like an inner tube. I would lower myself in the
Whitewater River, which runs down into the sea, and I
would float down that, trying to get close enough to see
what was going on. The Whitewater River is lined with
reeds on each side, so you’re kind of hidden, and then you
come out onto the lake. You’re not making noise pushing
through the muck, you’re just floating. I was able to take
some shots that way.
Entire shorelines were filled with birds. Sometimes I
was successful photographing that, and sometimes not.
Fast forward a couple decades, and you just don’t see
that many birds anymore.
Continued on next page
I feel for the birds who for generations have instinctively
used the Salton Sea as a stop on the Pacific Coast Flyway,
only to come now and find a hostile ecosystem.
From top: An avocet flies over one of the ponds that make up the Salton Sea
Ecosystem Monitoring Project near Niland in 2010. Hundreds of white pelicans fly in
Burrowing owls take refuge in the trunk of a dead palm circling patterns for long periods of time above the sea in 2007. An osprey spreads
tree at a seaside agricultural field in 2000. its wings at Varnor Harbor at the Salton Sea State Recreation Area in 2012.
8A | SUNDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2021 | T H E D E S E R T S U N
CHAPTER ONE
By the early 2000s, I kind of knew the sea was in trouble, but I didn’t immediately realize that it was
impacting wildlife so dramatically. I would occasionally get sent to the sea to report on fish kills – mostly
massive dieoffs of tilapia. These episodes were crazy. It made me wonder what the hell was going on.
Hundreds of pelicans take refuge at Obsidian Butte at the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge in August 2016. It is one of the only parts of the lake
where such masses of birds are still regularly seen. PHOTOS BY JAY CALDERON/THE DESERT SUN
Massive fish dieoff events occurred in the 2000s,

caused by growing salinity and toxic algae blooms. With
the fish gone, fewer migratory birds use the sea as a stop
along the Pacific Coast Flyway. Some birds have starved
to death.
Seabirds have abandoned nesting sites.
I feel for the birds who for generations have instinc
tively used the Salton Sea as a stop on the Pacific Coast
Flyway, only to come now and find a hostile ecosystem.
By the early 2000s, I kind of knew the sea was in trou
ble, but I didn’t immediately realize that it was impacting
wildlife so dramatically. I would occasionally get sent to
the sea to report on fish kills – mostly massive dieoffs of
tilapia. These episodes were crazy. It made me wonder
what the hell was going on.
I photographed what would turn out to be one of the
last largescale fish dieoffs. Hundreds of thousands of
dead tilapia floated to the surface, starved of oxygen by
massive algae blooms.
Two great blue herons watch their chicks in a nest in a tree surrounded by the
Salton Sea’s water in 2007.
Hundreds of thousands of dead tilapia float on the
surface of the sea around the small town of Desert Biologist Matthew Salkiewicz jumped out of an airboat to retrieve an earedgrebe
Shores in 2007. Algae blooms fueled by nutrientrich that had starved to death, he was briefly stuck in the thick mud left behind by the
agricultural runoff combined with hypersalinity killed receding Salton Sea in 2017. The top area in this photo is land that was once
most of the fish in the Salton Sea. underwater.
DESERTSUN.COM | SUNDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2021 | 9A
CHAPTER ONE
A dead bird decomposes on a beach of barnacles at the
sea in 2017.
It was 2007, and I was sent to the small town of Desert
Shores on the west side of the sea. It stunk of dead fish
and was hot with lots of flying insects feeding on the fish.
Desert Shores, the land around it, and the water were all
completely full of dead fish. There were so many that they
covered the entire surface of the water everywhere. There
had to be hundreds of thousands.
The scene made me feel pretty terrible. I walked
around, and I noticed one fish among thousands still
gasping for air. I got down on my stomach, just to get a low
angle to photograph the fish among all its fellow fish. As
the fish was gasping for air, I was holding my breath at the
same time, struggling to breathe, because the conditions
were so gross.
Going face to face with that fish really impacted me. I
felt a kinship with this dying fish, the only one that I could
find alive, and photographed it.
There was nothing I could do for that fish.
These days, it’s really hard to find a big mass of birds. A tilapia, bottom center, struggles with its final breaths amongst hundreds of
Some do still congregate in the Sonny Bono Salton Sea thousands of others that died and washed ashore in Desert Shores in 2007.
National Wildlife Refuge area on the southern end of the PHOTOS BY JAY CALDERON/THE DESERT SUN
sea, and the nearby Salton Sea State Recreation area, be
cause there’s a lot of marshland down there, and places
for them to hide from predators. The shadow
I’m thankful I was able to go to the sea more than 20 of a bird
years ago and photograph thousands of birds at a time, passes over
before the changes to the sea had manifested. I feel bad dead fish and
for those who come after me who may never have the op a beach of
portunity to see such a magnitude of wildlife at the sea. accumulated
barnacle near
North Shore
in 2007.
Part 1 of a 5-day series
Today: Wildlife disappears
Monday: Then and now
Tuesday: Abandoned and landlocked
Wednesday: Transforming the land
Thursday: What lies beneath
To read the series in its entirety, visit desertsun.com
Birds fly over the brightlycolored shoreline at the Salton Sea in 2020.
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take it
home today.
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Drop in W I T N E S S TO A VANI S H I N G S EA
enrollment CHAPTER TWO
could sap Salton Sea: Then and now

funding
3 school districts lose
1,000 students in a year
Jonathan Horwitz
USA TODAY NETWORK
Enrollment at Coachella Valley K12
public schools has declined by approx
imately 1,000 students since this time
last year and much more than that
since before the pandemic began.
Declining enrollment since 201920
could result in Desert Sands Unified
losing approximately $13.8 million,
Coachella Valley Unified losing $9 mil
lion and Palm Springs Unified losing
$7.7 in state funding next school year,
according to yearend reports from
each of the valley’s three school dis
tricts.
K12 funding is currently deter
mined by average daily attendance
levels set in 201920, but funding for
the 202223 school year will be based
on this school year’s lower enrollment
numbers unless policymakers change
school funding formulas before then.
Average daily attendance is a func LEFT: Herons, loons and pelicans share space on a snag that was surrounded by the Salton Sea’s water in 2007.
tion of enrollment and attendance RIGHT: In 2021, the sea’s waters have receded into the distance and the birds no longer create nests there.
rates, which are expected to decline PHOTOS BY JAY CALDERON/THE DESERT SUN
this year as the average student misses
more days of instruction due to CO
VID19 protocols and concerns. Jay Calderon with Janet Wilson Palm Springs Desert Sun | USA TODAY NETWORK
Declining K12 enrollment is a state
W
wide phenomenon that has acceler hen I started this Salton Sea project, I had intended to have many “before and
ated since the COVID19 pandemic be
gan. The Legislative Analyst’s Office after” photographs. I wanted to recreate photos from the same vantage point
— but years apart — to show the sea’s water level declines. h But I found the
See SCHOOLS, Page 2A
landscape around the sea has changed so dramatically, I was unable to find
some of the spots that I had photographed years ago. Certain places and shorelines were
unrecognizable or overgrown as the sea had receded. h I thought any changes would be sub
tle. Yet seeing the old and new together, I’m surprised by just how dramatic the changes are.
In some spots, the shoreline has receded thousands of feet from where it was 10 years ago.
Part 2 of a The sea’s shallowness means huge amounts of new playa, or lakebed, have
5-day series been exposed. It is particularly noticeable on the south end where the inflows of
the New and Alamo Rivers deposit sediment as their deltas grow.
A Desert Sun
Probably around 2007, I got a chance to go up in a Cessna for a ride around the
photographer’s
Shadow Hills High School students Salton Sea. It really opened up my eyes to how the sea is so diverse on the shore
two decades at
cheer during the Mayor’s Cup game in
the Salton Sea.
Indio on Aug. 20. See SALTON SEA, Page 5A
TAYA GRAY/THE DESERT SUN
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ter main break just after Christmas, with several on Saturday in Palm Springs.
residents reporting that water from the flood ANDY ABEYTA/THE DESERT SUN
reached about 18 inches inside their homes. 8A
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4A | MONDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2021 | THE DESERT SUN
WI TNESS TO A VANI SHI NG SEA
CHAPTER TWO
Probably around 2007, I got a chance to go up in a Cessna for a ride around the Salton Sea. It really opened
up my eyes to how the sea is so diverse on the shoreline. You’ve got these areas of marshes with lots of
wildlife, and at the south end there’s a lot of volcanic formations and geothermal activity.
Above: In 2005 an Fshaped inlet in the small community of Salton Sea Beach was still connected to the sea. Below: In 2020 the inlet is dry and the water has receded
substantially away from the community, exposing large amounts of playa around Salton Sea Beach. PHOTOS BY JAY CALDERON/THE DESERT SUN
Left: The harbor behind the North Shore Yacht Club was still connected to the main sea in 2015. Right: Just five years later, the marina is now cut off from the sea,
and the old moorings are further exposed, showing how the water levels have receded.
DESERTSUN.COM | MONDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2021 | 5A
CHAPTER TWO
Left: Pelicans perch on an old boat dock near the shoreline at Bombay Beach in 2012. Right: Pelicans no longer perch on this old pier after the protection of the water
has receded away in 2020. PHOTOS BY JAY CALDERON/THE DESERT SUN
Salton Sea
line. You’ve got these areas of marshes with lots of wildlife, and at the south end
there’s a lot of volcanic formations and geothermal activity. I saw the mud pots in
the middle of the sea, boiling up.
Being up in that Cessna, I saw patterns on the Earth that were so visually strik
ing. I was able to get a better perspective. That was amazing. It was a great way to
take pictures, because I wasn’t trudging through mud.
Over the years, I probably rode in a Cessna four or five times photographing the
sea for different situations. Back in the day, I would ask my editor, “Hey can I take a
Cessna up?” and they’d say yes. It was like $120. We’d fly out of a little airport in
Bermuda Dunes.
Above: In 2007 the Bombay Beach shoreline was near the small community. Below: In December 2020, the shoreline has receded several hundred
feet away from the town.
Left: In 2007 tens of thousands of dead tilapia float atop the water in an inlet in Desert Shores during a massive fish dieoff event. Right: Thirteen years later the
inlet has dried up substantially and the fish dieoffs no longer happen because most of the fish are gone.
6A | MONDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2021 | THE DESERT SUN
CHAPTER TWO
Left: Elected officials and representatives from different agencies including Salton Sea Authority Chairman John J. Benoit, center, cut the ribbon to celebrate the
reopening of the boat launch at Varner Harbor in March 2016. Right: Five years later, the harbor seems a lost cause, with overgrown vegetation. The water level has
dropped and the boat launch no longer connects to the sea. PHOTOS BY JAY CALDERON/THE DESERT SUN
Salton Sea
Normally, the pilot would let us open the window. They open from the bottom,
about 4 or 5 inches. Just enough to stick my lens out and snap away in the high
winds. My eyes would be watering, and I was trying to keep them open and take
pictures at the same time. It was kind of difficult, but I learned a lot about aerial
technology on those rides.
We’d go around the entire shoreline, and I found a lot of good locations, and I
tried to remember them so I could get back to them someday and photograph them
again. I wished I could fly, so I could do some circles and take the pictures I really
wanted to. I also recall thinking, “Man, I wish I had a camera that could fly.”
I tried to figure out workarounds, thinking, “what if I bought a big telescoping
pole, and put a camera on it, and I could get it up like 30 yards in the air?”
So it was nice for the drone technology to finally come along.
Above: The sea abuts a CalEnergy geothermal power plant on the sea’s southeastern end in 2007. Below: By 2020, the water levels had dropped,
exposing the land around the plant.
DESERTSUN.COM | MONDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2021 | 7A
CHAPTER TWO
Above: In 2018, the New River deposits sediment along its delta as it empties into the sea. Below: In 2021, the New River delta has expanded
substantially, exposing huge swaths of new playa on the sea’s south end. PHOTOS BY JAY CALDERON AND RICHARD LUI/THE DESERT SUN
Part 2 of a 5-day series

Yesterday: Wildlife disappears Today: Then and now Tuesday: Abandoned and landlocked
Wednesday: Transforming the land Thursday: What lies beneath
To read the series in its entirety, visit desertsun.com
Above: The North Shore Yacht Club designed by noted architect Albert Frey was in a state of disrepair in
2002. Below: By 2020, the community had reclaimed the yacht club building and preserved the past. It’s
been refurbished, transforming from a run-down nightclub to a community center.
revivalsstores.com
take it
home today.
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2021 | DESERTSUN.COM PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK
Can GOP’s W I T N E S S TO A VANI S H I N G S EA
Calvert CHAPTER THREE
win in the
valley? Abandoned
Congressman to run in
Palm Springs district
Tom Coulter
and landlocked
USA TODAY NETWORK
Palm Springs and other Coachella

Valley cities will have a new repre
sentative in Congress in 2023 — and
one hopeful already in the race is one
of the country’s longesttenured Re
publican congressmen.
U.S. Rep. Ken Calvert, a Republican
from Corona who has represented
pockets of the Inland Empire since
1993, will be running for reelection
next year in a newly drawn district that
groups several Coachella Valley cities
— including Palm Springs, La Quinta,
Rancho Mirage and Palm Desert —
with Menifee, Norco and Corona in
western Riverside County.
Calvert likely won’t face off against
any other incumbents in the race. The
Coachella Valley’s current congress
man, Democratic U.S. Rep. Raul Ruiz,
said last week he will be seeking re
election in the valley’s other district,
which was drawn to include Cathedral
City, Desert Hot Springs, Coachella,
Indio and Imperial County. The marina at the North Shore Yacht Club sits landlocked as the Salton Sea’s water level has dropped in recent years.
However, the new congressional Just a couple of years ago, the marina connected to the sea. JAY CALDERON/THE DESERT SUN
map, which was finalized by the Cali
fornia Citizens Redistricting Commis
sion on Dec. 20, is likely to result in a Part 3 of a Jay Calderon with Janet Wilson Palm Springs Desert Sun | USA TODAY NETWORK
more competitive race for Calvert, who
5-day series
T
was first elected to the U.S. House in he sea’s edge is full of captivating, bizarre sights. Its
1992 and has comfortably won his last Sunday:
five elections. slow decline over the past 60plus years has created an
Vanishing wildlife
Dave Wasserman, a national redis alluring landscape to photograph. The exodus of peo
tricting expert, listed Calvert as one of Monday:
the five biggest losers based on Cali Then and now ple and the receding waters have left behind aban
fornia’s newly approved map, with his Today: Abandoned doned yacht clubs, marinas and old piers from other eras. I reg
district morphing from one that for and landlocked
mer President Donald Trump carried ularly stumble upon bizarre, sometimes otherworldly scenes. h It
by 7 points in 2020 to one that Trump Wednesday: makes me wonder what towns like Desert Shores, Salton City and
won by just 1 point. Transforming the land
But whether the district’s shift — Salton Sea Beach were like back in the day when this was a boom
Thursday:
which comes as polls show the Demo What lies beneath ing recreation area, attracting fishermen and waterskiers. What
cratic Party in trouble ahead of the
2022 midterms — will result in Cal To read the series did people 50 and 60 years ago see and experience?
vert’s defeat remains to be seen. in its entirety, visit
Calvert, who will be seeking elec desertsun.com Continued on page 4A
tion to his 16th term in Washington
next year, makes no secret of his con
servative voting record — or his vocal
support of Trump, who he backed dur
See CALVERT, Page 14A

MORE INSIDE PAGE 10A
Fauci says US should consider
vaccine mandate for flights
The country’s top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony
Fauci said Monday the U.S. should consider a vaccination
mandate for domestic flights, though the idea has reported
ly previously been denied by the Biden administration. Fau
ci said such a mandate might drive up the nation’s lagging
vaccination rate as well as confer stronger protection on
flights, for which federal regulations require all those ages 2
and older to wear a mask. 17A
Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., speaks as

the House of Representatives
debates the articles of impeachment
Wayne Thiebaud dies at 101
against President Donald Trump
at the U.S. Capitol in Washington
Wayne Thiebaud’s painting “Pies, Pies, Pies” is pictured.
Thiebaud, known for his luscious, colorful paintings of
Winter weather leads to flight
on Dec. 18, 2019.
HOUSE TELEVISION VIA AP
cakes and San Francisco cityscapes, has died at age 101.
TOLEDO MUSEUM OF ART
cancellations in Palm Springs
Palm Springs International Airport saw its second straight
day of flight cancellations in the doubledigits on Monday,
but it appeared that the axed flights may have had more to
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do with wintry weather currently hitting the Pacific North
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west than the COVIDrelated staff shortages that have dis
of our content every day. Cloudy. Forecast, 16A rupted flights nationwide. In addition to the cancellations,
PSP has seen some delays. 3A
4A | TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2021 | THE DESERT SUN
CHAPTER THREE
The inlets in Desert Shores have been cut off from the receding sea in 2020. The highly saline water contains salt-loving microbes that color the waters.
Above: Abandoned
buildings decay in February
2021, surrounded by pools
of water that may have
been used as hot springs at
one time. This area is on
the sea’s eastern side near
the former shoreline.
Left: Old pier infrastructure

and decayed roads are
some of the few remains at
the Naval Air Base at the
Salton Sea, which was in
operation in the 1940s on
the southwestern
shoreline.
Salt-loving microbes color the water at an inlet at the former Desert Shores A weathered sign near the former shoreline in Desert Shores warns swimmers
Marina 2015. Nearby, an old watercraft rots away. that there is no lifeguard. By 2020, the shoreline had receded hundreds of feet
away from this spot.
DESERTSUN.COM | TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2021 | 5A
CHAPTER THREE
A strange-looking structure rusts away in the sand near Obsidian Butte on the A wooden sculpture of a man and boy sits protected behind a chain-link fence in
north shore in 2018. Desert Shores in 2012. It has since been removed.
A dock structure is all that remains of the Salton Sea Yacht Club in 2020.
An abandoned boat graffitied with the phrase “Hate it or Love it” sits near the former shoreline of the sea in 2015.
These homes on Pelican Island Court in Salton City used to be on an inlet, but by 2020 they had become landlocked. PHOTOS BY JAY CALDERON/THE DESERT SUN

6A | TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2021 | THE DESERT SUN
CHAPTER THREE
In Salton Sea Beach, the remains of a business are gutted, graffitied and home to pigeons in 2020.
An abandoned dock in the backyard of a home on Oahu Lane in Salton City sits on a dry inlet in 2020. These dry docks are a common sight around what were formerly
waterfront homes. PHOTOS BY JAY CALDERON/THE DESERT SUN
A tire repair shop sits boarded up and graffitied in the small seaside community of North Shore in 2021.
DESERTSUN.COM | TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2021 | 7A
CHAPTER THREE
Old pier supports at the abandoned Naval Auxiliary Air Station Salton Sea are reflected in the calm water south of Salton City in July 2020.
The small community of Bombay Beach has had a mini-resurgence and by 2020 had become popular with artists
and eccentrics.
Bombay Beach has been embraced by artists and free thinkers. Many of its run-down buildings have been
transformed and decorated, becoming art installations themselves. The sign that says “Go home, your
adventure can wait!!” was put there during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
TO READ THE SERIES IN ITS ENTIRETY, VISIT DESERTSUN.COM

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take it
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Fatal crash: W I T N E S S TO A VANI S H I N G S EA
DUI is CHAPTER FOUR
suspected,
police say Transforming the land
Oregon driver jailed
after 36-year-old man
killed in Palm Springs
Maria Sestito, Andy Abeyta,
Paul Albani-Burgio and
Christopher Damien
USA TODAY NETWORK
A Chula Vista man died Monday

evening following a fivevehicle colli
sion at the intersection of North Palm
Canyon and Alejo Road in Palm
Springs that closed the road. A 41
yearold driver from Oregon has been
arrested and jailed.
Seven people were injured and four
were transported to local hospitals.
One of them, Leon Reynoso, 36, was
pronounced dead at Desert Regional
Medical Center, the Riverside County
Coroner’s Office said Tuesday. At least
one other person sustained major in
juries.
Andrew Watson Hibbard was taken
into custody following the crash. He is
facing charges of murder, gross vehic
ular manslaughter involving intoxica Using a drone, I captured an extensive project to plow furrowed trenches in exposed playa to slow down surface wind and
tion and DUI causing bodily injury, ac trap dust from the newly exposed land. Shallow water in a trench breaks up the bleak landscape on the sea’s south end in
cording to Riverside County jail rec February. JAY CALDERON/THE DESERT SUN
ords. His bail has been set at $2 mil
lion.
The wreck took place at about 5 Part 4 of a Jay Calderon with Janet Wilson Palm Springs Desert Sun | USA TODAY NETWORK
p.m. The department issued an alert at
A
5:42 p.m. notifying motorists that the 5-day series s the sea dries out, a massive amount of land
road was closed and to avoid the area. Sunday: known as playa emerges. Much of it contains dec
The road later reopened. Vanishing wildlife
The preliminary investigation has ades of chemicals and pesticides deposited by agri
determined that Hibbard was driving a Monday:
Then and now cultural runoff that has long flowed to the sea. On
conversion van traveling southbound
on North Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Tuesday: windy days, the playa dust can become airborne and potential
Springs Police said Tuesday morning. Abandoned and ly travel hundreds of miles. It is a health hazard. h Dramatic
Witnesses and evidence at the landlocked
scene indicated to police that Hibbard changes are underway along the sea’s shoreline to control the
was speeding before hitting the rear of Today:
Transforming the land dust. Large areas of new land are being plowed into perpendic
a Tesla that was stopped behind three
other vehicles at the red light at Palm Thursday: ular rows of dirt trenches designed to slow the wind and phys
Canyon Drive at Alejo Road. What lies beneath ically trap the dust. This is likely the easiest, cheapest way to
The impact from Hibbard’s vehicle
forced the Tesla into another vehicle, To read the series deal with such a large amount of toxic land, but these barren
causing a chain reaction of collisions. in its entirety, visit
desertsun.com rows of dirt are ugly and deadlooking landscapes. It is very
See CRASH, Page 19A strange, these miles of ploughed rows, devoid of life. These
geometric patterns do not feel very natural.
See SALTON SEA, Page 4A
MORE INSIDE PAGE 3A Weather

High 57° Low 48°
Three of five vehicles involved in a
Cool, rain. Forecast, 24A
fatal wreck at the intersection of
North Palm Canyon and Alejo Road
Mandate could
are seen Monday in Palm Springs. sideline workers
ANDY ABEYTA/THE DESERT SUN
A federal mandate for companies desertsun.com
with 100 or more employees to ensure Subscribe: Access to all
they’re vaccinated or tested weekly of our content every day.
could worsen severe worker short
ages – if it’s upheld in court. 22A
Editor’s note
Due to the weekend holiday,
Volume 95 | No. 72
Thursday’s edition will serve as a SERVING THE COACHELLA
combined edition for Thursday, Friday VALLEY SINCE 1927 $2.50
and Saturday. No newspaper will be
New businesses
delivered Friday or Saturday. You can Standoff in Palm Springs
find the latest news on our website
and mobile app and you will find Palm Springs Police and two SWAT team vehicles
for Coachella?
QEAJAB-08201z
Friday and Saturday’s comics, puzzles respond to the scene after a man barricaded An Aldi, a Starbucks and a Panda Ex
and games in the Friday and Saturday himself in an apartment in the 1800 block of North press may soon arrive in Coachella at
eeditions. Normal delivery will Cerritos Drive on Monday in Palm Springs. the Fountainhead Plaza shopping
resume on Sunday. ANDY ABEYTA/THE DESERT SUN center. 3A
4A | WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2021 | THE DESERT SUN
CHAPTER FOUR
Huge swaths of newly exposed playa are being plowed into trenches designed to trap blowing dust in February. PHOTOS BY JAY CALDERON/THE DESERT SUN
Salton Sea
Furrows were not always such a big part of the plans.
Many years ago, I attended an announcement for an am
bitious habitat restoration project at Red Hill Bay. The
idea was to create shallow marine wetlands for fish and
birds. All the big players from the state and federal gov
ernment were there. They signed a big agreement. Every
one seemed happy. The American flag was waving in the
wind.
It turned out to be a calamity. The project never was
completed. It didn’t work out the way they thought.
A lot of money and resources have been spent on stud
ies and such. But little has come to fruition.
Remediation projects are the future of the Salton Sea’s
landscape, and locals should have a say in the look and
feel of how the receding shoreline will be experienced.
Above: Heavy
machinery used to
create trenches
across large areas
of playa sit idle on
a windy day in
June.
Left: Dust blows
across the
landscape near the
New River in June
in an area of the
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Ryan Woody works Salton Sea that has
on the Red Hill Bay restoration project in September dried out in the
2018. The project has stalled and the site is now the past few years.
subject of a bitter fight between the Imperial Irrigation
District and Imperial County air pollution regulators.
A stretch of exposed playa on the Salton Sea’s west side shows decades of water level declines between the small communities of Desert Shores
and Salton Sea Beach in July.
DESERTSUN.COM | WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2021 | 5A
CHAPTER FOUR
As the sea shrinks, special attention needs to be paid to the people and towns that are there
and help them stay connected to the water. It might sound weird, but I’ve wondered, could engineers
create something like the silhouette of a spider, with the sea as the main body and watery “legs”
or channels, dredged to reach out to each of the towns?
A caterer dumps leftover water into a dried-up boat launch after an event where state and local officials signed a memorandum of
understanding to try to restore the sea. The 2013 event was at Red Hill Bay, which ended up being the site of a stalled and
controversial remediation project. PHOTOS BY JAY CALDERON/THE DESERT SUN
A trench dug to provide water to the Red Hill Bay restoration project, seen in November 2015, shows how far the shoreline of the
Salton Sea had receded in this area that was once covered in water.
Dust from newly dried-out land becomes airborne. This section of the sea is on the south end, where the sea is receding the fastest in 2021.
6A | WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2021 | THE DESERT SUN
CHAPTER FOUR
The managed wetlands at the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge look more natural than the trenching being done at other remediation projects. The
shallow water habitat also allows a place for wildlife to live. PHOTOS BY JAY CALDERON/THE DESERT SUN
Salton Sea
As the sea shrinks, special attention needs to be paid to the people and towns that are
there and help them stay connected to the water. It might sound weird, but I’ve won
dered, could engineers create something like the silhouette of a spider, with the sea as the
main body and watery “legs” or channels, dredged to reach out to each of the towns?
Shallow wetland habitats like those at the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife
Refuge would be better for wildlife as well as being more pleasant to the eye, it seems to
me. There’s not enough water to go around, but creating shallowwater habitat, especial
ly around little towns, would be good. Just little marshy areas that are just a couple inches
deep. People tend to experience the sea where they can drive up to it, get out of their cars
and look around.
It’s hard for me to get frustrated, because I think it’s such a complex thing. People are
trying to do the right thing. But in the end, there’s just not the money to do what needs to
be done. And now it just seems like it’s going dry out and we’re going to deal with what
happens.
At least they are creating the furrowed trenches and doing what they can, with the
lowcost solution. But when it comes down to where people live or where people come to
experience the sea, I wish a little more could be done, creating wetlands or habitats where
fish and birds can live.
TO READ THE SERIES IN ITS ENTIRETY, VISIT DESERTSUN.COM
A marsh at the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge contrasts with the parallel lines trenched into the exposed playa at an adjacent remediation project.
A few years ago, the sea covered the area that has been trenched in March.
DESERTSUN.COM | WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2021 | 7A
CHAPTER FOUR
A remediation project incorporates natural vegetation on the sea’s south end in February. PHOTOS BY JAY CALDERON/THE DESERT SUN
Miles of trenches had been plowed into the earth on the sea’s south end near the New River by June. This may be how much of the
land around the sea will look in the future.
The heavily polluted New River carries agricultural runoff and wastewater as it flows into the sea in February. It’s one of the fastest-growing areas of new land
creation as the sea shrinks and the river deposits sediment.
revivalsstores.com
take it
home today.
DEC. 30, 2021JAN. 1, 2022 | DESERTSUN.COM PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK

combats
70. Org. that sharing
by Bonnie L. Gentry
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TRADE OF TERMS curbside pickups
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Palm R N S U
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W I T N E S S TO A VANI S H I N G S EA
Springs
U O X
E U
S
N
X O C
R
CHAPTER FIVE
X O S R
U C
N R O
E
I U
R E
Film What lies beneath O C R E S

E U X C N
N S I U O
X O S I C
R E C X U
I N U S R
S X E R
U I N O X
C R O N E
I N U X
R S I O
X C E R
N E R U
O I N S
E X O C
I U O C N
C R S E
S U X I
Festival
canceled
Organizers cite recent
spike in COVID cases
Brian Blueskye and Ema Sasic
USA TODAY NETWORK
The Palm Springs International

Film Festival is canceled due to the
current rise of COVID19 cases.
The Palm Springs International
Film Society said in a statement it’s
the “most responsible decision” to en
sure the safety of its patrons, filmmak
ers and staff. Passholders will receive a
refund according to original method of
payment.
The festival was scheduled to run
Jan. 717. Passholders would have been
required to show proof of full vaccina
tion, photo ID and sign a waiver to
enter venues and events, which also
applied to the film awards ceremony.
Attendees would have also been re
quired to wear masks after California
recently reinstated its mask mandate
for indoor public spaces. The policy Mud pots form elaborate patterns on the earth as they release underground heat and the sea slowly recedes from this
extended to volunteers, staff, guests, area near Red Hill in 2021. JAY CALDERON/THE DESERT SUN
sponsors, media and vendors.
Palm Springs Mayor Lisa Middleton
said in a statement that the city is Part 5 of a Jay Calderon with Janet Wilson Palm Springs Desert Sun | USA TODAY NETWORK
“disappointed” the festival cannot go 5-day series
T
forward. he landscape around and beneath the Salton Sea is
“We know how much this event is Sunday:
anticipated, but we also recognize the Vanishing wildlife in constant flux. Subterranean geothermal heat
risks involved in holding the Film Fes Monday: bubbling up from deep in the earth in combination
tival at this time – and with that in Then and now
mind, we congratulate Chairman Har with a rapidly receding sea has created some in
old Matzner and his team for putting Tuesday: tense and interesting visuals. h A key thing to remember is
public safety first,” Middleton said. Abandoned and
Aftab Dada, chair of hotel associa landlocked the earth around and under the sea is unstable: The San An
tion PS Resorts and general manager Wednesday: dreas Fault runs along the eastern seashore and terminates
at the Hilton Palm Springs, said it was Transforming the land
the “right decision” to cancel to ensure near five volcanoes that make up the Salton Buttes. Deep un
people stay safe, but that it “hurts even Today: derground, a huge geothermal bed is already tapped for
more” to cancel another festival within What lies beneath
two years and the impact it will have scalding steam to power half a dozen renewable energy
To read the series
on local restaurants and retailers. in its entirety, visit plants. h The same formation holds lithium — a prized ele
“It’s a huge loss, specifically for the desertsun.com
City of Palm Springs considering it’s ment needed for batteries — that many people here hope can
the slowest two weeks of the year in be mined and fuel an economic boom. h These tectonic and
the desert. Lots of groups were booked
from San Diego, Orange County and geologic oddities have created an alienlooking landscape.
Los Angeles,” Dada said.
See FESTIVAL, Page 21A
MORE INSIDE PAGE 3A Why do we ring in new

Fear grows of ‘tsunami’ year with a countdown?
of coronavirus cases Why are we so drawn to counting backward to mark
the passing of one year and the beginning of another?
The head of the World Health Organization says Countdowns went from almost nonexistent to ubiq
he’s worried about the omicron and delta COVID19 uitous in the latter half of the 20th century. A look at
variants producing a “tsunami” of cases that will the history of both “genesis countdowns” and “apoc
put “immense pressure on exhausted health work alyptic countdowns” reveals how the tradition began
ers and health systems on the brink of collapse.” 11A to take shape. 3A
New life for The River

QEAJAB-08201z
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Property Manager Mihaela Vacarescu talks about Subscribe: Access to all High 57° Low 47° VALLEY SINCE 1927 $2.50
changes at The River in Rancho Mirage, including of our content every day. Cloudy, a shower.
outdoor concerts and yoga. TAYA GRAY/THE DESERT SUN Forecast, 26A
14A | DEC. 30, 2021-JAN. 1, 2022 | THE DESERT SUN
CHAPTER FIVE
Birds take refuge on a cold winter morning atop mud volcanoes that release heat from underground near Red Hill at the Salton Sea in 2021.
Large chunks of obsidian, a naturally forming volcanic glass, jut out

near the shoreline of the Salton Sea at Obsidian Butte in 2018.
Salton Sea
Large chunks of obsidian, a naturally forming volcanic glass, push
out of the shoreline. Acidic hot springs known as mud pots boil up,
spewing steam. The seashore is full of mesmerizing patterns created by
their inflows.
The first time I saw the mud pots was from a Cessna. They were in the
middle of the sea, boiling and bubbling up. It looked insane.
It’s an interesting place, especially in the southeastern end where it’s
drying out the fastest. The actions of the geological forces create some
crazy things to see. It’s an amazing place to see the geologic forces of the
earth in action.
Mud spews out of a mud pot in 2004. Some mud pots grow vertically
See more photos on Page 16A as the mud falls on itself as underground gases escape.
Deep ravines in the earth are studied by geologists and offer a glimpse into the San Andreas Fault, which terminates along the sea’s south side.
DESERTSUN.COM | DEC. 30, 2021-JAN. 1, 2022 | 15A
CHAPTER FIVE
Deep underground, a huge geothermal bed is already tapped for scalding steam to power half a dozen
renewable energy plants. The same formation holds lithium — a prized element needed for batteries
— that many people here hope can be mined and fuel an economic boom.
Jim Turner, chief operating officer of Controlled Thermal Resources, A site is being prepared for a lithium and geothermal well at the
talks about his company's lithium and geothermal wells being drilled Salton Sea near Niland in October.
near the former shoreline of the Salton Sea in October.
A large mud pot releases heat from deep underground as it is surrounded by the shallow waters of the Salton Sea in 2007. PHOTOS BY JAY CALDERON/THE DESERT SUN
Jacuzzi-sized bubbling mud pots dot the landscape at the southern end of the Salton Sea in 2020.
16A | DEC. 30, 2021-JAN. 1, 2022 | THE DESERT SUN
CHAPTER FIVE
Mud pots release heat from deep underground while surrounded by manicured wetlands on the Salton Sea’s southern end. Mullett Island, top left, has been
landlocked for years as the sea has receded in 2021. PHOTOS BY JAY CALDERON/THE DESERT SUN
Cows graze at the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge as the dormant volcano at Rock Hill rises above the horizon in the
background in 2008.
Geothermal plants harness heat from beneath the earth’s surface to create renewable energy on the Salton Sea’s southeastern end in 2021.
DESERTSUN.COM | DEC. 30, 2021-JAN. 1, 2022 | 17A
CODA
Desert Sun photographer Jay Calderon operates a drone on a dried-out stretch of playa at the Salton Sea in 2021. PHOTOS BY JAY CALDERON/THE DESERT SUN
A photographer reflects
Jay Calderon with Janet Wilson Palm Springs Desert Sun | USA TODAY NETWORK
T
he Salton Sea is nestled in a beautiful landscape. Nearby are Joshua Tree National Park and
Anza Borrego State Park. We’ve got the Coachella Valley in the Santa Rosa mountains, and the
Santa Rosa and San Jacinto National Monuments. People come to this area because they
really like the views, and they like nature and the wide open spaces.
We’ve done a pretty good job of preserving things in this general area. The sea is an extension of this
gorgeous place that we live in. I think we should nurture it, and treat it like it’s part of this broader
landscape that we conserve already.
If we let the Salton Sea completely dry out, it’s going to affect the quality of life for everybody around
here. There must be a million people within an hour’s drive. Back in 2012, we had the Big Stink, a hydro
gen sulfide release from the sea that spread a rottenegg stench 130 miles. That gave us an idea of what
could happen. The potential for it to be pretty bad is there.
What will the sea be like in 20 years? I know it’s going to dry up further. But I think we should do our
best to deal with the parts that are drying up in as many ways as we possibly can, like incorporating
droughttolerant vegetation or shallow wetlands where it makes sense. The receding of the shoreline
and transformation of the land should be gradual enough that we can shape it into something special.
I’m an outdoors person. I’d rather be outside than inside. At the Salton Sea, I’ve always felt a sense of
peace.
We can’t give up on the sea.
I hope we will find a way to protect and keep the sea as a place where life can flock and flourish.
Pelicans take flight at the Salton Sea State Recreation Area in 2012.

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Major

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Part 2 of a 5-day series

Calvert CHAPTER THREE

Palm Springs and other Coachella

See CALVERT, Page 14A

Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., speaks as

WI TNESS TO A VANI SHI NG SEA

Continued from Page 1A

Left: Old pier infrastructure

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A Chula Vista man died Monday

See SALTON SEA, Page 4A

MORE INSIDE PAGE 3A Weather

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Huge swaths of newly exposed playa are being plowed into trenches designed to trap blowing dust in February. PHOTOS BY JAY CALDERON/THE DESERT SUN

See SALTON SEA, Page 6A

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Extra puzzles! Editor’s Note: Due to the weekend holiday, this newspaper serves as a

63. Some NYPD forth with

65. Walk back

Film What lies beneath O C R E S

The Palm Springs International

Want to live in a lavish, multi

Massive ﬁsh dieoﬀ events occurred in the 2000s,

DEC. 30, 2021JAN. 1, 2022 | DESERTSUN.COM PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK