The formation of the Salton Sea was an accident. It was created when spring floods from the Colorado River flowed to the dry Salton Basin. Over the years additional fresh water was prevented from entering. As the lake shrunk (yet agricultural chemical runoff continued), its salinity rose so high that fish and wildlife were killed, and its resorts and houses were abandoned. This is a view from a plane of the Salton Sea, as it was called, as well as some of the agriculture surrounding it with the horizon in the distance.