Salton Sea

The Salton Sink has been home to the largest body of water in California for more than a thousand years. Three hundred years ago, it was Lake Cahuilla, a freshwater lake. Changing geology and extensive industrial agriculture have resulted in a very salty and polluted sea. Once a booming tourist mecca, drought, agriculture, and failed development have produced a nearly dead body of water.
— In the Americas with David Yetman