"Preserving an Accident, the Salton Sea in California, for the Good of Nature"

"MECCA, Calif. — The area around this town of date palms attracts two kinds of migrants — hundreds of humans who work the land, and millions of birds that stop to rest and gorge at the nearby Salton Sea. The sea is a 110-year-old, increasingly briny, shallow lake that covers 350 square miles but is dwindling fast.

It was actually an accident, created when Colorado River floods overwhelmed flimsy dikes, but it now fills crucial ecological niches in southeastern California. Its wetlands and fish attract as many as 400 species of migrating birds. As it disappears, officials are scrambling to fend off the consequences.

'It’s not a tragedy yet, but it could be a forthcoming tragedy if there is a failure of our government officials to take preventive measures,' said Roger Shintaku, director of the Salton Sea Authority, a quasi-governmental agency."

Felicity Barringer reports for the New York Times November 10, 2014.