Center - Review Santa Fe 2021

Alex Welsh

Los Angeles, CA

"SALTON CITY, CALIFORNIA: Tilapia beds on the edge of the Salton Sea. Due to the lake’s high salinity level, very few species of fish can tolerate the water. As the lake continues to dry up, it further threatens the fate of the remaining fish and the migratory birds that feed on them."
Project: Dust Rising

"BOMBAY BEACH, CALIFORNIA: The carcasses of birds and fish litter the shore of the Salton Sea. In the 1950’s, at the peak of tourism to the lake, the Salton Sea was the most productive fishery in California. However, because the lake’s only inlet is a stream of agricultural runoff from the surrounding valley containing fertilizer, pesticides, and high quantities of salt, the salinity level eventually rose dramatically and depleted oxygen levels in the water. As a result, most of the fish in the lake died, their skeletons washing up on the beach."
Project: Dust Rising

"SALTON CITY, CALIFORNIA: A woman stands in her backyard as a dust storm blows through Salton City, a town on the shore of the lake. According to a report by the Pacific Institute, the public health costs in the Imperial Valley could reach $37 billion in the next three decades. Treating chronic respiratory conditions can be particularly expensive; the price tag of an average hospitalization in Imperial County is $16,000."
Project: Dust Rising

"CALIPATRIA, CALIFORNIA: As the shoreline of the Salton Sea continues to recede, it leaves behind vast, salt-encrusted flats scattered with dead trees."
Project: Dust Rising

"BOMBAY BEACH, CALIFORNIA: A sign welcoming visitors to Bombay Beach. After a series of floods and large fish die-offs due to increased salinity levels, the town was largely abandoned. According to 2010 census data, Bombay Beach's population is now only 295."
Project: Dust Rising

Artist's Statement

Alex Welsh

8in x 12in

Located on the north end of California’s Imperial Valley, the Salton Sea was once a booming tourist destination. Today, the state’s largest lake is the site of a looming environmental disaster. Due to evaporation and a decrease in agricultural runoff into the lake, the Salton Sea has been shrinking for decades. In 2018, the expiration of a water transfer agreement with San Diego sent the lake into a nosedive.

Residents of the communities surrounding the Salton Sea face the imminent threat of toxic dust. As the lake shrinks it is expected to reveal at least 75 square miles of exposed lakebed. As the soil dries and the winds stir, the dried-up shores will begin to emit dust laced with industrial runoff from the surrounding farms containing PCB’s, pesticides such as DDT, and heavy metals including arsenic and lead. If the shoreline is allowed to recede at the current rate, up to 100 tons of lung-damaging dust could blow off the lakebed daily by 2045, pushing the area’s air quality crisis from bad to dire. The Salton Sea is a dust bomb that has already begun to explode.

Those who live near the lake are already feeling the effects: asthma in Imperial County is rampant. More children are admitted to the emergency room here for asthma-related cases than anywhere else in the state; almost 1 in 5 children suffer from the condition. The most recent State of the Air report by the American Lung Association gave Imperial County an “F” due to the amount of particle pollution in the air.

Alex Welsh

Menu

Next Artist

Previous Artist

Index

Artist's Statement

Alex Welsh