BajaNomad

Laguna Salada

chickensoup - 4-3-2006 at 03:28 PM

When I was a kid (about 20 years ago), my family went to San Felipe for Spring break. For some reason, I always remember driving down the highway and there being water on both sides. Is this possible?

Now when I go down, I see what looks to be a dried up lake.

Am I crazy? What has changed? Any photos?

Laguna Salada

tehag - 4-3-2006 at 03:34 PM

When enough rain falls, Laguna Salada is indeed a briny lake. In the late 60s after a hurricane dumped what was left of itself there, the lake was so full it supported a shrimp fishery for several years, complete with 45 foot shrimp boats. When the water went back down, some of the shrimpers were left standing in the middle of the desert looking quite out of place.

thebajarunner - 4-3-2006 at 03:37 PM

Yeah, and 30 years ago there was a "brilliant scheme" afoot to make some levees and divert water into the dry lake.
Then they could build lakefront resorts, marinas, etc.
(Does that sound like Grandad of "Escalara Nautica?"

Also, in the early 80's there were several really wet years-------

Barry A. - 4-3-2006 at 03:37 PM

----------in the SW USA and the Colorado river went on a mini-rampage, dumping lots of water out it's mouth, and also back into the Laguna Salada, making the highway to San Felipe a "causeway" with water on both sides----------that lasted for several years, and turned the entire Delta area into a wildlife paradise.

Winter of 1980

MrBillM - 4-3-2006 at 04:35 PM

The Winter of 1980 was a very wet one. Because the Authority that manages the Colorado Water Resource for customers down the line had been criticized in past years for allowing too much runoff creating a shortage for those customers at a critical time, they avoided until the last moment releasing extra water downstream from Hoover Dam. That error in judgement became critical when it continued to rain and the structural integrity of the dam would be in danger without a massive release, which they did. The result was the flooding of Laguna Salada and the elimination of the existing highway which was built only a few feet above the Lake bed.

Although I had been aware of the situation from L.A. News coverage, I hadn't really given the result in Baja any thought. In November of 1980 I took my (about to be) wife to Baja for her first visit ever. When we reached Laguna Salada, we found a MASSIVE effort going on with a new road bed at a much higher level under construction. At that point, it existed of a lot of large rock and coarse gravel. Because the highway is so vital, at the same time they were allowing traffic through. That short stretch in my Toyota FJ55 Landcruiser Wagon took around an hour . When we got to the south end of the lake, I told her the bad news was we'd have to do it again.

We came through again in February of 1981 and the road was better, but still a work in progress. Very rough, but only about 20-30 minutes across.

The subject was covered extensively in the Los Angeles Times so a search of their data base might prove interesting.

thebajarunner - 4-3-2006 at 04:58 PM

Just curious.
If the road was so grim why didn't you return via Valle de Trinidad and Ensenada?
That is a good track, surely more interesting than the Mexicali-San Felipe run.

David K - 4-3-2006 at 09:47 PM

In the late 70's the plan to make Laguna Salada into Mexico's own Salton Sea recreational mecca failed when the Colorado flowed so heavily and the levees that made up the new canal into the upper Laguna Salada failed... All that deverted river water flooded the lower Laguna Salada (where Hwy. 5 crosses it)instead of flowing on down to the below sea level upper laguna and deteriorated the roadbed making it a bumpy nightmare.

They built an all new levee for Hwy. 5 twice as wide as before with culverts through it, and that is what we drive on now... People used to park along that straight run and fish!!!

The Mexican 'Salton Sea' dried up within a couple years and the Colorado hasn't been flooding enough since, to refill it...



[Edited on 4-4-2006 by David K]

thebajarunner - 4-3-2006 at 10:10 PM

Thanks for the addition to my tale David,
I was afraid that I was just "remembering"
It was a typical Baja developmental fiasco at the time,
grandiose idea,
disastrous implementation.

David K - 4-3-2006 at 10:15 PM

Yup... I was just posting my memories, as I went to San Felipe a LOT in those years with my little Subaru... 25 mpg was big improvement over my 401 V-8 Jeep Cherokee Chief that got about 10 mpg!

I made my maps of the area south of San Felipe using that Subaru...

Neal Johns - 4-4-2006 at 07:43 AM

Back in the late 70's, when I was not smart enough to only drive only in the daytime, I was screaming down Hwy. 5 in my FJ-40 and saw some dim lights ahead. Standing on the brakes, I looked ahead a few feet and saw two dim, flickering oil lamps in front of the bridge abutments for a future bridge with a drop-off into muddy water. I cleaned out my shorts and proceeded left around the detour. I still shudder when I cross over the small bridge that lets water flow in and out of the Laguna.

David K

MrBillM - 4-4-2006 at 09:14 AM

The primary reason for the flooding in 1980 was as I stated. If necessary, I am sure research into News archives on that subject and time frame will verify my version.

As far as Bajarunner's Q: That route to arrive in Yucca Valley is one Heck of a lot farther. I have driven them all.

David K - 4-4-2006 at 06:03 PM

I do agree with you Bill that excess water from the Colorado did flood the lower/ southern Laguna Salada...

It was brought to the Highway 5 corridor by the canal built a couple years ealier designed to fill the upper/ northern Laguna Salada.

Without that man made canal, deverting the Colorado, the flood waters could have gone straight into the gulf... that is the natural downhill course, afterall.

I read somewhere that the canal levee was improperly constructed...

It seems to me that the original Hwy. 5 road was melting/ bumpy from a flooded Salada, before 1980... like '78...? The new, wider levee for the widened Hwy. 5 across the Laguna was completed in or just before 1984 from my memory.

Roberto - 4-4-2006 at 07:07 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by David K
Without that man made canal, deverting the Colorado ...


Oye, Baja SpellChecker :lol::lol::lol:

FYI - The verb you are looking for is divert.

David K - 4-4-2006 at 07:11 PM

'divert' is not a Baja word :lol::lol::lol:

Puertecitos, Alfonsina's, Guerrero Negro are...

David-----

Barry A. - 4-4-2006 at 07:55 PM

------everything you say here is essentially correct, but there is a little wrinkle you may not be aware of.

I lived in El Centro at the time, and I and my crazy friends made several boat trips into the delta region over the years of flooding, once running the river in canoes from just below the dam below Yuma to the mouth of the Colorado, and then several motor boat trips down the river from Yuri Muri, (just north of the causeway) down stream to the vacinity of Montague Island. The main reason that the water backed up into the Laguna Salada was that the river sediment had built up over the years of practically no flow on the lower river that it formed an enormous dam that stretched for miles across the delta from east to west in a huge cresent. Until the flood waters were able to breach that natural dam (which took several months), and wash channels thru it, the water just backed up and overflowed into the Laguna Salada. The incredible dynamics of the delta could really only be appreciated from an airplane, and we made several flights over the delta to determine what actually was happening. It was amazing. Those were some great exploring trips. The wildlife on the flooded delta was amazing, especially the bird life that just "appeared" when the lake formed------it was wonderful for a little while until everything went back to normal and dried up.

Barry

bajabound2005 - 4-4-2006 at 08:10 PM

is your were in Sacramento (CA:) it would be water on both sides for sure this year!

bajabound2005 - 4-4-2006 at 08:21 PM

oops

[Edited on 4-5-2006 by bajabound2005]

David K - 4-4-2006 at 11:19 PM

Thanks Barry, I appreciate the additional details!

HotSchott - 4-5-2006 at 11:10 AM

That whole area is due for another attitude adjustment - mother nature style. I remember the years when Laguna Salada was full as some of the most amazing times for desert trips. The drive through the desert with 90 percent humidity going to San Felipe and Guadalupe Canyon was surreal - so hot with so much water! Fresh Fish Tacos at shops on the northern end of Laguna Salada at a place below sea-level. The view of the Laguna coming down La Rumorosa Grade. There were hundreds of people fishing on the causeway to San Felipe and catching loads of fish. There is one place in the middle of the laguna where all the fish died. It must have been the last spot to dry out - less than ten years ago and there are thousands of fish everywhere in a setting that looks like the surface of the moon. The salt is up to several inches thick, shaped like potatoe chips the size of toilet seats over bottomless mud that is still wet - and covered with fish carcasses. It is as unreal as anything I have ever seen under a full moon. By the way don't drive there - we got lost when we found it and almost left a truck there. Thankyou Mr. WARN...

Whenever I am driving on the Laguna the natural energy there is intense. Coming out of the mountains the wind is usually crazy and the view sublime. Being the northern gateway to Baja I guess it is appropriate that the amazing natural forces at work put on a dynamic show. All of the energy of the Sea of Cortez funneled up to a point in the desert. The geothermal energy underground in the area provides all that hot water in the canyons and the Colorado river would provide regular floods if man were out of the picture. I see pine nuts, fish bones and cool pottery in the canyons and wind caves all the time - evidence that people were passing through and probably living around the Laguna Salada shores. The metates found along dry creeks suggest that the area got alot more rain in the past as well.

One thing I do is collect sand and rocks from each trip. I bring a five-gallon Homer bucket full of sand back for my cactus and palms quite often. I have wildflowers germinate all the time from seed that was in the sand. I have collected sand from the sides of flash flood washes that has probably been a few feet underground for millenia and had seeds germinate that are different from the regular plants growing now. I remember last year on the news there was a report of wildflowers blooming in Borrego that had not been seen for years - some thought to be extinct. It all kind of follows some sort of pattern. Mother nature distributing and cacooning flowers with big bursts of wind and water.

All the stuff that makes that gateway a special place and many people never notice. It is the entire package of subtleties of germinating seeds against the catasrophic background of howling winds and flash floods that make this area one of my favorite places on the planet. Laguna and then desert in a constantly dynamic place at the front door to Baja. I can't wait until that place floods again!

$$

Hotshott--------what a great contribution to------

Barry A. - 4-5-2006 at 11:29 AM

-------the conversation and subject, and you are so right-on. I love that place. If you think that the Laguna Salada is fasinating during the flood, you have got to get into the delta country, especially the portion below Yuri-Muri.

bancoduo - 4-5-2006 at 01:04 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Barry A.
-------the conversation and subject, and you are so right-on. I love that place. If you think that the Laguna Salada is fasinating during the flood, you have got to get into the delta country, especially the portion below Yuri-Muri.
Does any water get into the gulf anymore?:?::?::?:

bancoduo-----

Barry A. - 4-5-2006 at 01:16 PM

I have been away from that country for some time, but my educated guess is, NO. Normally, what little water even gets into Mexico (by treaty commitment) is quickly sopped up by the huge ag. complex in the Mexicali Valley (Upper delta region). This is what happens 95% of the time.

However, during wet years, like in the very late 70's and very early 80's, there is no way that the reservoirs and water allotments can absorb all the Colorado system runoff, and then it does reach the Gulf, big-time. When this happens the delta "flowers", and the Gulf is recharged with nutrients, but this seldom happens anymore, unfortunately.

Perhaps others on this board can give a more up-to-date report.

Laguna

tehag - 4-5-2006 at 03:23 PM

Not too far off subject, I hope. There is an excelent book on the natural and political dynamics of a large part of the Colorado River Delta: Red Delta, Author: Charles Bergman, Publisher: Fulcrum Publishing. Published in 2002. A good addition to anyone's Baja book shelf.

The Colorado Delta

MrBillM - 4-5-2006 at 05:06 PM

For a Historical look, An excellent book is "The Colorado Delta" by Godfrey Sykes, 1937. Though out of print, the book is available "used" online with prices ranging in the $30-40, which makes the copy I "liberated" from the Palm Springs Library for $25.00 a good deal. The book includes numerous Black/White photos of the Colorado river during the flooding that created the Salton Sea. Also, an early photo of San Felipe at which time it was captioned as the Southern Terminus of the Colorado Delta. Of course, after the daming of the Colorado, the Delta has moved far Northward.

David K - 4-5-2006 at 07:14 PM

Bill, how about sharing some of those photos here?

Photos

MrBillM - 4-6-2006 at 09:51 AM

I'll see how well they scan. They are old B/W photos. Right now I'm in El Norte for a week or so and the book is in Baja.

My return date is unsure at this moment because 5 miles North of the El Chinero checkpoint at 60 mph on Tuesday, I lost the Tread Cap on my Driver Front tire taking out the Fender Well Liner, part of the front bumper, my drivers side step, etc.

Stuff happens.

MrBillM------and the make of the failed tire was????

Barry A. - 4-6-2006 at 12:18 PM

Failed Tire

MrBillM - 4-6-2006 at 05:12 PM

The tires are Liberator (produced by BFG) LT245R75/16AT.

A minute before the failure, if I had been asked to evaluate those tires, I would have said they were excellent. I bought a set of (5) and rotated all five every 10K miles. They just recently reached 40K miles and still had good tread and Zero cracking in the sidewalls. I pay particular attention to cracking because the original New OEM Goodyear tires developed severe cracks in the sidewall adjacent to the rim at 23K miles. Each time, before I head to or from Baja, I check the air pressure and inspect the tire condition. It isn't even likely that there would have been a defect on the inside of the tread that I missed since the tire still has almost all of its tread on the inside. The tread obviously peeled from the outside edge. Very Strange. This is the first time in 45 years of driving that I've lost a tread and in those early years I bought a lot of retreads and ran the tread bare.

The irony is that I had planned to buy new tires on this trip North. That's guaranteed now along with quite a few other parts.

Tires can be really strange-------

Barry A. - 4-6-2006 at 09:50 PM

-----I had a practically new Michelin all terrain tire blow up under my F-250 while it was sitting in the driveway. Of course it was under warrantee, but still, that was really strange.

Manufacturing defect. You just never know, for sure.

Neal Johns - 4-7-2006 at 05:23 AM

A good book on the Delta region of the Colorado River is A RIVER NO MORE by Fradkin, Philip L.
A naturalist, in the late '70's he took a canoe down as far as he could but was blocked by the mud flats - the river was no more, and did not reach the Gulf.

synch - 4-24-2006 at 01:44 PM

What time of year does it bloom there?

Synch------

Barry A. - 4-24-2006 at 01:49 PM

------does what "bloom" there???