California’s Salton Sea is a fertile oasis in the hostile desert of southeastern California, adopted by millions of birds migrating along the Pacific Flyway. As California’s largest lake, it stretches across almost 35 miles in a remote, below sea-level valley in the southeastern corner of the state. Current Salton Sea information is posted below.
The Sea faces a host of challenges, including a declining water supply, rising salinity, very high levels of nutrients that generate excessive algal growth and very low oxygen levels, and, to date, a glaring disconnect between the rate of change and the rate of efforts to address that change.
Salton Sea elevation, 09-Aug-2025: -242.87 feet, NGVD 1929Provisional data, subject to revision.
Source: USGS 10254005 Salton Sea NR Westmorland, CA
Time Series: Current/Historical Observations
Equivalent to: -240.8, NAVD 1988
Area: acres ( sq miles)
Source: SALSA2 model
Volume: million acre-feet
Salton Sea elevation on 09-Aug, 2003 Baseline: feet, NGVD 1929
Change from 2003 elevation: feet
Reduction in Salton Sea area: acres
( sq miles)
Currently shrinking by about 2,400 acres (3.75 sq miles) each year.
Water Inflow to the Salton Sea by Year, in thousands of acre-feet:
| Year | Imperial Valley | Mexico | Coachella Valley | Local Watershed | Groundwater | Total Inflow to Sea |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 983 | 70 | 80 | 4.4 | 11.5 | 1,149 |
| 2017 | 942 | 69 | 78 | 4.3 | 10.9 | 1,104 |
| 2018 | 925 | 68 | 76 | 4.1 | 10.7 | 1,084 |
| 2019 | 910 | 67 | 75 | 4.0 | 10.5 | 1,066 |
| 2020 | 895 | 66 | 74 | 3.9 | 10.3 | 1,049 |
| 2021 | 880 | 65 | 73 | 3.8 | 10.1 | 1,032 |
| 2022 | 865 | 64 | 72 | 3.7 | 9.9 | 1,014 |
| 2023 | 839 | 53 | 78 | 4.7 | 12.3 | 987 |
| 2024 | 776 | 46 | 70 | 4.5 | 12.3 | 909 |
Source: Salton Sea Management Program 2025 Annual Report, p. 69
IID dust control projects: acres
Source: https://www.qsajpa.org/
SSMP dust control projects: acres Habitat projects: acres Open water atop playa: acres Revegetation atop playa: acres Net exposed playa: ~ acres ( sq miles)
Source: https://projects.saltonsea.ca.gov/Results/ProgressDashboard
Source: SSMP 2025 Annual Report & SCH East ponds
Source: Formation, End-of-Year 2024 Playa Exposure Estimate
Source: Formation, End-of-Year 2024 Playa Exposure Estimate
Changes in bird populations: fewer pelicans, fewer eared grebes, more ducks and shorebirds
Days since water mitigation ended: 2779
Salton Sea links:
- Salton Sea Library
- USGS – Water Availability of the Salton Sea Watershed
- Salton Sea Summit: Includes presentations and videos from the October 18-19, 2024, April 6-7, 2022 and October 17-18, 2019 conferences co-convened by the Pacific Institute.
- General Salton Sea Information from the Pacific Institute
- Salton Sea Air Quality Mitigation: IID
- California’s Salton Sea Management Program
- California’s Salton Sea Project Tracker
- California’s draft Phase I: 10-Year Planof the Salton Sea Management Program
- November 7, 2017: California’s State Water Board Adopts ORDER WR 2017-0134 on Long-Term Management of Salton Sea
- Salton Sea Archives at the Water Resources Institute
- Audubon’s webpage on the Salton Sea
- Audubon’s interactive Salton Sea map
- Salton Sea Partnership
- General Salton Sea Information from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
- Salton Sea Science Office of the U.S. Geological Survey
- Community Science: Salton Sea Environmental Time Series
- Salton Sea Validation – JPA
- Salton Sea Authority website
- General Salton Sea and Vicinity Land Ownership and Management Map
- Birds Observed at the Salton Seafrom the Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- Salton Sea Timeline from USA Today: “Salton Sea: A History of Broken Promises”
