SALTON SEA STATE RECREATION AREA รข€" During the heyday of the Salton Sea, when the Hollywood crowd and others came to play in large numbers, this strip of beaches, campsites and fishing spots along the sea's northern shore was one of California's most popular parks.
But that was years ago.
The popularity of the recreation area has plummeted in recent decades, and now the area is on a list of parks to be closed because of the state's financial woes. Unlike other parks slated for closure, this one may never come back, park officials said.
There was a time when droves of families camped here and a bumper crop of fishermen angled for tilapia and corvina. Boaters and water-ski enthusiasts sped along the tranquil waters. The sea's high salinity provided a reassuring buoyancy for neophyte swimmers.
The Chocolate Mountains to the east and the Santa Rosa and Coyote mountains to the west made it visually idyllic. And, of course, everybody could enjoy the warm sunshine in wintertime.
Frances Fiamengo, 68, remembers those halcyon days, when the Beach Boys performed at a now-defunct country club, the Marx brothers visited, and it was said Frank Sinatra and his Rat Pack came to the sea to party.
"You'd be in the desert and suddenly see a Rolls-Royce," she said.
But the decades have not been kind to the Salton Sea, hurt by headlines about the dangers of eating the fish, the repulsive smell of the water and the toxic stew of the New River, which empties into the sea. The sea's smell is generally attributed to the blooming and decomposition of algae, plus the profusion of plankton.
The carcasses of failed tourist-oriented businesses line the sea, victims of a decline in visits that some calculate at 80% from its peak of 400,000 people in 1981-82.
The fate of the Salton Sea State Recreation Area differs from that of other state parks because the federal government owns the land.
If it closes by July 1, as planned, the federal landlords will probably insist that the picnic benches be removed and other structures torn down, including the visitor center and museum, for liability reasons and to prevent the area from becoming a squatters' camp. Federal rules call for an area to be returned to its "natural state" once a lease is ended.
Riverside County, in turn, will insist that the septic tanks be filled with sand for environmental reasons, to prevent leaching into the sea.
"It's sad," said Howard Simmons, 73, a retired grocery manager from Compton, as he baited his hook with a fat worm in hopes of enticing a tilapia. "The people deserve better."
The tilapia were introduced into the Salton Sea and remain plentiful despite the rising salinity that has all but destroyed the corvina population.
The "accidental sea," 35 miles long, 15 miles wide and 227 feet below sea level, was created in 1905 when the Colorado River jumped its banks during a rainy season and gushed northward for months, filling an ancient salt sink.
The imminent closure of the recreation area was the talk of the fishermen on a recent morning, conversation that was more mournful than angry.
William Jefferson, 75, a retired aerospace worker from Moreno Valley, took a philosophic approach as he and his dog, a dachsund-Chihuahua mix named KeeKee, sat beneath a large beach umbrella and waited for the fish to bite.
"I hate to see it happen," he said of the closure. "But if there's no money, I guess it has to happen."
Edsel Horowtiz, 39, a nurse from Duarte, has been coming to the Salton Sea since his father taught him to fish here. "It's like the good things in California are disappearing so fast," he said.
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