Bibliography of the Salton Sea

Salton Sea
The Salton Sea, with the Santa Rosa Mountains in the background
LocationSalton Sink, Colorado Desert
Imperial and Riverside counties, California, U.S.
Coordinates33°19′59″N 115°50′03″W / 33.33306°N 115.83417°W / 33.33306; -115.83417
TypeEndorheic rift lake
Alamo River
New River
Whitewater River
None
8,360 sq mi (21,700 km2)[1]
Max. length35 mi (56 km)[1]
Max. width15 mi (24 km)[1]
Surface area
305 sq mi (790 km2) (March 2025)[2]
Max. depth33 ft (10 m) (2024)[3]
Water volume
6,000,000 acre⋅ft (7.4 km3)
Salinity65–70 ppt (2024)[3]
Surface elevation
−241.8 ft (−73.7 m) (NAVD 88, August 2026)[4]
SettlementsBombay Beach, Desert Beach, Desert Shores, North Shore, Salton City, Salton Sea Beach
ReferencesU.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Bibliography of the Salton Sea

This is a bibliography of the Salton Sea. It lists scholarly and journalistic works on the sea's geology, ecology, water policy, history, and surrounding communities.

The Salton Sea is a shallow, landlocked, highly saline endorheic lake in Riverside and Imperial counties in Southern California. It lies on the San Andreas Fault within the Salton Trough, which stretches to the Gulf of California in Mexico. The lake is about 15 by 35 miles (24 by 56 km) at its widest and longest. The sea has a surface area at 318 square miles (820 km2). The Salton Sea became a resort destination in the 20th century, but saw die-offs of fish and birds in the 1980s due to contamination from farm runoff, and clouds of toxic dust in the 21st century as evaporation exposed parts of the lake bed.

Inclusion criteria

Works included are referenced in the notes or bibliographies of scholarly secondary sources or journals, as well as newspaper and magazine articles considered to be reliable sources. Included works should either be published by an academic or widely distributed publisher, be authored by a notable subject matter expert as shown by scholarly reviews or have significant scholarly journal reviews about the work. Only items that clearly meet the criteria should be included. Blogs, personal websites, magazines and newspapers not widely distributed and professionally edited, and non-academic journals are specifically excluded.

Citation style

This bibliography uses APA style citations. Entries do not use templates. References to reviews and notes for entries do use citation templates. Where books which are only partially related to the Salton Sea and the area are listed, the titles for chapters or sections should be indicated if possible, meaningful, and not excessive.

If a work has been translated into English, the translator should be included and a footnote with appropriate bibliographic information for the original language version should be included if possible.

When listing works with titles or names published with alternative English spellings, the form used in the latest published version should be used and the version and relevant bibliographic information noted if it previously was published or reviewed under a different title.

Science and ecology

Geology and earth science

Water and aquatic ecology

Wildlife ecology

Air quality and public health

Energy and natural resources

History and culture

Archaeology and ancient Lake Cahuilla

Early surveys and the making of the sea, 1905–1920

Books below are from the early history of the Salton Sea, written before 1920 and are provided as historical information, not scientific.

  • Crane, W. B. (1914). The history of the Salton Sea. Annual Publication of the Historical Society of Southern California, 9(3), 215–224. JSTOR 41168708
  • Evermann, B. W. (1916). Fishes of the Salton Sea. Copeia, (34), 61. JSTOR 1436917
  • Grinnell, J. (1908). Birds of a voyage on Salton Sea. The Condor, 10(5), 185–191. JSTOR 1361437
  • MacDougal, D. T. (1914). The Salton Sea: A study of the geography, the geology, the floristics, and the ecology of a desert basin. Carnegie Institution of Washington.[5]
  • MacDougal, D. T. (1915). The Salton Sea. American Journal of Science, s4-39(231), 231–250.
  • MacDougal, D. T. (1917). A decade of the Salton Sea. Geographical Review, 3(6), 457–473. JSTOR 207690
  • Van Rossem, A. (1911). Winter birds of the Salton Sea region. The Condor, 13(4), 129–137. JSTOR 1361802

Regional and environmental history

Bombay Beach and other Salton Sea communities

Environmental decline, water, and public health

Economic development

Reference works and collections

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Salton Sea". Colorado River Basin Regional Water Quality Control Board. Retrieved August 14, 2026.
  2. ↑ "Salton Sea". Colorado River Science. Retrieved August 14, 2026.
  3. 1 2 Hung, Caroline; Diamond, Charles; Sinclair, Ryan; Lee, Meng-Chen; Stenstrom, Michael; Freilich, Mara A.; Montgomery, Quinn; Marquez, Consuelo; Lyons, Timothy W. (December 28, 2024). "Nutrient loading as a key cause of short- and long-term anthropogenic ecological degradation of the Salton Sea". Scientific Reports. 14 (1) 31247. Bibcode:2024NatSR..1431247H. doi:10.1038/s41598-024-82633-y. PMC 11682391. PMID 39732884.
  4. ↑ "Current Information on the Salton Sea". Pacific Institute. Retrieved August 14, 2026.
  5. 1 2 "The Salton Sea. A Study of the Geography, the Geology, the Floristics, and the Ecology of a Desert Basin. D. T. MacDougal". Botanical Gazette. 59 (5): 410–411. 1915. doi:10.1086/331573.
  6. ↑ Shuford, W. David (2004). "Birds of the Salton Sea: Status, Biogeography, and Ecology". The Condor. 106 (2): 444–445. doi:10.1093/condor/106.2.444.
  7. ↑ Jehl, Joseph R., Jr. (2004). "Birds of the Salton Sea: Status, Biogeography, and Ecology". The Quarterly Review of Biology. 79 (3): 318. doi:10.1086/425803.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ↑ Sackman, Douglas C. (2015). "Review: Power and Control in the Imperial Valley: Nature, Agribusiness, and Workers on the California Borderland, 1900–1940 by Benny J. Andrés". Southern California Quarterly. 97 (4): 424–427. doi:10.1525/ucpsocal.2015.97.4.424.
  9. ↑ Barajas, Frank P. (2015). "Power and Control in the Imperial Valley: Nature, Agribusiness, and Workers on the California Borderland, 1900–1940". Western Historical Quarterly. 46 (4): 526–527. doi:10.1093/whq/46.4.526.
  10. ↑ Ivey, Linda L. (2017). "Review: Power and Control in the Imperial Valley: Nature, Agribusiness, and Workers on the California Borderland, 1900–1940 by Benny J. Andrés, Jr". Pacific Historical Review. 86 (1): 172–173. doi:10.1525/phr.2017.86.1.172.
  11. ↑ Farmer, Jared (2000). "Salt Dreams: Land & Water in Low-Down California". The Western Historical Quarterly. 31 (3): 369. doi:10.2307/969978. JSTOR 969978.
  12. ↑ Sherow, James E. (2001). "Salt Dreams: Land & Water in Low-Down California". Environmental History. 6 (1): 122–124. doi:10.2307/3985236. JSTOR 3985236.
  13. ↑ Swayamprakash, Ramya (2022). "The Settler Sea: California's Salton Sea and the Consequences of Colonialism". Environmental History. 27 (4): 834–836. doi:10.1086/721328.
  14. ↑ Fonseca, Stanley (2022). "Review: The Settler Sea: California's Salton Sea and the Consequences of Colonialism". Pacific Historical Review. 91 (4): 561–562. doi:10.1525/phr.2022.91.4.561.
  15. ↑ Garone, Philip (2023). "Review: The Settler Sea: California's Salton Sea and the Consequences of Colonialism, by Traci Brynne Voyles". California History. 100 (3): 107–109. doi:10.1525/ch.2023.100.3.107.
  16. ↑ Tyner, Judith A. (2004). "The Salton Sea Atlas". Cartographic Perspectives (48): 61–62. doi:10.14714/cp48.460.