For decades the Salton Sea has inspired stories of decay and abandonment. The lake, California’s largest, is drying up. As it shrinks, toxic dust from the lakebed stirs and blows into nearby communities where asthma rates have soared. Projects aimed at reducing health and environmental risks to nearby residents have been slow to come. But while many may think of it as a forgotten wasteland, the Salton Sea has another reality. For inewsource, Zoë spent a year documenting the communities of Salton City, an unincorporated, isolated – and rapidly growing – community on the northwest shore of the Salton Sea. It’s home to a growing community of full-time residents – from younger families looking to make a home for themselves, to the long-time snowbirds who winter and recreate there. The full project can be seen at inewsource.org.
Paramotors fly over Salton City during the annual Salton Sea Fly-In on Feb. 9, 2024. Haybales along the sea's receeding shoreline are part of a vegetation enhancement project along the sea's shores.
Jose Campos holds his daughter Luna at his family's restaurant, The Alamo, in Salton City, April 10, 2023. Campos grew up working with his parents and his siblings at the restaurant.
Melanni Robles, center, is recognized with the top ten graduating seniors at West Shores High School graduation in Salton City, June 2, 2023. Robles moved with her family to the area from Santa Cruz County in 2021.
West Shores High School boys basketball team practices in the school's gym, Feb. 7, 2024. The school has nearly five times as many students enrolled as it did twenty years ago.
Junior and senior students at West Shores High School play in a powder puff during the school's Spring Fling, March 22, 2024.
Jerry Sanchez and Vanessa Zavala play with their children Emma and Liam at their home in Salton City as they wait for the arrival of Tropical Storm Hilary, Aug. 19, 2023. The family moved to Salton City in 2022 from Coachella.
Kids play in a game of pick up football at Sea View Estates in Salton City, Dec. 5, 2023. The park was a senior community but now is home to a mix of full time families, adults and part time snow birds.
The remnants of boat docks are seen along the shores of the Salton Sea in Desert Shores, Nov. 16, 2023.
People depart from the daily happy hour at Sea View Estates in Salton City, March 16, 2023. Every year a group of mostly Canadians comes to spend the winter at the park and host nightly happy hours.
Women talk during happy hour at Sea View Estates in Salton City, March 16, 2023.
Dozens of residents play in Sunday Bingo at the West Shores Senior Center in Salton City, Calif., March 12, 2023.
Richard Schaefer is photographed at his home in Salton City, where he now lives full time, March 13, 2023. Schaefer bought a home in the area for $65,000 about twenty years ago and originally took weekend trips there from San Diego with his two parrots, cat and three dogs. “I am an odd duck,” he said. “I like funky stuff. That’s why I’m here.”
Cheryl McGee and Paul Thorpe spend a morning fishing at Sunbeam Lake in Seeley, Nov. 10, 2023. They moved to their current home in Salton City at the end of 2022. They’ve said it’s their last move and that at their age and with their financial situation “this is the best place for us.”
Claudia Sherman picks up trash with her dog Laika near her home on the shore of the Salton Sea in Salton City, May 9, 2023. She bought a trailer in Sea View Estates in 2021 after living in areas throughout Southern California, most recently in Joshua Tree. “I want to talk about how the Salton Sea is alive and there’s animals and there’s plants and there’s people and it matters. It’s not worth giving up on,” she said.
Dave Mawhinney works on his sand rail at Seaview Estates in Salton City, Calif., March 13, 2023. He and his wife Gayleene, who live in Florida, spend the winter in Salton City with friends and family from Canada.
Riders drink a beer during what they call the “dust off” after a sand rail ride from Sea View Estates in Salton City, March 16, 2023.
Al Marshal walks through an area of the desert during a rail ride outside of Salton City, March 16, 2023. He and his wife have been visiting the area for 23 years from their home in Manitoba, Canada.
Jack Palmer leads a sand rail ride from Sea View Estates in Salton City, March 16, 2023. Originally from San Diego, Palmer and his wife retired to his parents’ former home in Salton City.
A jeep rides through an obstacle at the Tierra del Sol Desert Safari outside of Salton Sea, March 2, 2024. The event has been put on by the Tierra del Sol Four Wheel Drive Club since the 1960’s and attracts thousands of visitors and locals every year for a weekend at the beginning of March.
Riders take a break in a wash outside of Salton City during the Tierra del Sol Desert Safari, March 2, 2024.
Jordan Schanze practices for flights during a windy day at the Salton Sea Fly-In for paramotors at Johnson’s Landing, Feb. 10. 2024. He traveled to the fly-in from his home in Utah.
A Welcome to Salton City sign is shown on March 16, 2024.
Dennis Rieger works at his office in Salton City Dec. 5, 2023.
Nicolas del Castillo shows Lourdes and Luis Torres a lot in Salton City, Apr. 7, 2024. The couple is considering moving to the area from Desert Hot Springs.
A map in the office of Dennis Rieger’s company, Salton Sea Estates III, shows properties that the company has for sale in Salton City, March 16, 2024.
A memorial overlooks the west shore of the Salton Sea, Feb. 7, 2024.