The salinity of the sea's water these days has risen to about 44,000 parts per million, about 25 percent saltier than the ocean. Only the most saline-adapted fish, like corvina and tilapia, survive here now. Studies over the next year and a half are expected to determine whether, as some scientists fear, the rising salinity has begun to interfere with their reproduction. That is about as much salt, he said, as would be delivered if a one-mile salt train dumped its cargo in the Salton Sea every day for a year. Many ideas have been proposed to stop the sea's ever-increasing salinity, and perhaps even reduce it.
None are cheap.
Perhaps the most frequently discussed idea calls for damming off a portion of the sea with gates that would allow water to enter the diked area, but not exit. This could involve dumping tens of thousands of tons of rocks and soil to form wide earthen levees that would have rise at least 50 feet to clear the water surface. Within the dams, salt would theoretically concentrate while inflows of relatively fresh water from surrounding sources would make the water outside of the diked area less salty. The plan would reduce the size of the usuable sea, but make it more environmentally stable. Critics note, however, that salt accumulating in the dammed portion would eventually crystallize, requiring it to be removed and disposed of elsewhere.