It's been nearly two decades since a controversial deal transferred huge amounts of Colorado River water out of the Imperial Valley and away from the Salton Sea, but still no long-term solution has been found to cover thousands of acres of toxic dust exposed at California's largest lake.
A new documentary — "Miracle in the Desert: The Rise and Fall of the Salton Sea" — takes a crack at the growing public health issue, drawing on archival footage to tell the tale of a lake that was largely forgotten by the government even before its shorelines began receding. Focusing on interviews with residents of the Coachella and Imperial valleys, the film suggests that a hotly debated sea-to-sea importation plan — where water would be pumped in, likely from the Sea of Cortez — is the answer.
The documentary highlights historical quirks of the desert lake — the government once dumped animals from the Sea of Cortez into the Salton Sea, sharks included — and contrasts the lake's time as a vacation hotspot with the currently dire situation. Sweeping drone shots of dry, dusty playa are employed liberally over haunting music.
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The Desert Sun recently spoke with writer and director Greg Bassenian to learn how his California upbringing influenced his telling of the story, why he decided to shoot this film and what makes the lake such a difficult puzzle to solve.
The film is available on certain online platforms beginning this week and will be showing at the Palm Springs Cultural Center for a drive-in viewing on Sept. 26. The trailer can be viewed on Vimeo, and tickets can be purchased online.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
The Desert Sun: The Salton Sea is obviously a huge issue. What got you into it, and what was the inspiration for making this film?
Greg Bassenian: I grew up in Southern California. I had never heard of the Salton Sea up until maybe my mid- to late-twenties. I had seen something online — maybe on YouTube — and like a lot of people, it caught my attention. It's become a known "strange place," a place that's been abandoned and that people don't know much about. ... I had this urge to find out why nobody was there anymore. I think that was the initial inspiration. ... I thought, "Here's this huge body of water, and there's not a single person on the shoreline, there's not a single boat on the water, there's nobody here. That's not usual."
At the time (around 2014), I was not a director. I was working in the entertainment industry as a writer, but I just felt compelled to do something. ... I drove out a few weeks later with a camera and decided to shoot a 60-second proof of concept video. ... In the middle of the day, my camera broke and I pulled into a parking lot near downtown Palm Springs. I took my camera out, and I was fixing it in the parking lot. Somebody walked up and asked what I was doing. ... He said, "Oh don't worry, I'm a reporter with The Desert Sun. This is our parking lot. What are you making a documentary about?" I said, "the Salton Sea," and he immediately said, "Let me put you in touch with Ian James, our environment reporter." ... That jump-started the whole project.
TDS: While there's agreement on what the issue at the Salton Sea is, we've seen decades of inaction. From your time making this film, do you have any takeaways about why solutions have remained out of reach?
Bassenian: (sigh) It's hard to put a finger on it, honestly. ... In 2009 there was a plan, the preferred alternative, but then the financial crisis hit, and that went right out the window. Then, two years ago, there was the 10-year plan, which they're very behind on already, and here we are and we have a pandemic and an impending financial crisis. ... Momentum gets built slowly over time, and then something seems to happen that kills it off.
If you try to bring it up with the powers that be in Sacramento, they turn around and go, "Yeah, we understand it's a problem, but we also have 3 million acres burning, and we have to deal with that." It falls to the bottom of the list.
TDS: Was there anything you found in the process of making this film that gave you hope that there is a solution to be had?
Bassenian: (laugh) Give me a second. (pause) I think there are solutions, and I think people are hopeful, generally speaking, but as far as large-scale solutions, it is a challenge because the sea is so large. ... Because things haven't happened incrementally in terms of mitigation, the problem is getting worse, so the scale of the solution needs to get larger and larger.
There has been some movement on the project we featured in the film — the Desert Shores project — but they still haven't done it. There's still no timeline on it.
TDS: There's a debate over whether it's reasonable to import water from the Sea of Cortez to raise water levels and cover exposed playa. My viewing of the film was that it took a decidedly pro sea-to-sea stance. What led you to that decision, and do you think such a large project can actually happen?
Bassenian: Of all the people that I spoke to, that was the one thing they pointed to. We felt that, if we're going to showcase a potential solution — of which there have been dozens floated — we wanted to showcase what the citizens around the area feel is the appropriate and adequate solution.
A lot of people that I did not interview and read about don't agree, and they think it's not realistic, and you'd have to negotiate with the Mexican government, and it's so complicated and so expensive. By the same token, the relatively small solutions that those people are proposing aren't even happening, so what's to say what is the correct one?
That's what the people want, and we wanted to give them a voice. That is what they all consistently pointed to. Do I believe it's possible? I like to believe anything is possible. Is it complex to get something like that done? Absolutely. Is our relationship with Mexico a little bit strained right now? Yes it is. But can it get done? Sure.
TDS: So, what's next for this film?
Bassenian: We are having a screening on Sept. 26. We had a screening on Sept. 5 at Camelot Theatres at the drive-in they put up. That sold out, so that was great. They asked me to do an encore showing. ... Due to COVID, all of the film festivals, period, have canceled all their theatrical portions. ... It will be available virtually through the AmDocs (Film Festival)portal. ... We are at the Newport Beach Film Festival virtually, as well. We are at Arpa International Film Festival virtually, as well. And we did win the best documentary prize at the Borrego Springs Film Festival in January.
The film was acquired by Gravitas Ventures, so it's being distributed on iTunes and Google Play. It's going to be on DVD on Amazon and then various cable outlets Sept. 22.
TDS: Any new projects that you've got in the works?
Bassenian: (The documentary) was so much of my life, it's kind of odd starting a new one. I'm starting to slowly prep a second one. ... The idea that I've come up with so far but haven't shot is basically an inside-out look at the environment. ... We see the films where the ice sheets are collapsing, the fires. We see all of these things in the physical environment, but I would like to see it from the political side first and how the leaders and policymakers are forming the policies that are causing those things to happen.
Mark Olalde covers the environment for The Desert Sun. Get in touch at molalde@gannett.com, and follow him on Twitter at @MarkOlalde.
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New Salton Sea documentary wades into the slow-moving environmental disaster - Desert Sun
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