The Salton Sea The Salton Sea is a saline lake, occupying the
lowest elevations of the Salton Sink, part of the larger
Colorado Desert in Southern California, USA, north of the
Imperial Valley. The salinity of the lake is about 44,000 mg/L,
greater than ocean water but less than the Great Salt Lake; the
salinity is increasing by about 1% annually. The lake covers a
surface area of approximately 376 square miles (974 km²), the
largest in California. While it varies in dimensions and area
with changes in agricultural runoff and rain, it averages 15 by
35 miles (24 by 56 km), with a maximum depth of 51 feet (15.5
m), giving a total volume of about 7.5 million acre-feet (9.3
km³). Sea inflow averages 1.36 million acre-feet per year (53.2
m³/s). The Salton Sea falls within both Riverside County and
Imperial County. Like Death Valley, it is located below sea
level, with the current surface of the Salton Sea at about 220
ft (65 m) below sea level. The deepest area of the sea is 5 feet
(1.5m) higher than the lowest p