"Birds still love the lake. They flock here year round and especially during migratory flights. The Salton Sea provides habitat for more than 400 species — the second-greatest diversity of bird species in the United States. The National Audubon Society considers it a bird site of global significance."
Then:
"Bird populations would plummet if the lake shrank further, if wetlands disappeared and fish populations withered. But it is the dust that scares people. After years of farm runoff, the lake bed is toxic, with high levels of arsenic, selenium and even traces of the banned pesticide DDT."
... DDT, which was supposed to erase bird populations worldwide, I thought.
I grew up in Southern California less than 70 miles from the Salton Sea and never saw the place.
If they want to put a natural freshwater lake back in California, then re-flood Owens Valley up in Inyo-Mono county and tell Los Angeles to call it quits.
Right on! +1000