From wikipedia
The Salton Sea is an inland saline lake, located in the Colorado Desert in Southern California, north of the Imperial Valley. The lake covers a surface area of around 376 square miles (974 km�), making it the largest lake in California.. he Salton Sea of today was created starting in 1905, when heavy rainfall and snowmelt caused the Colorado River to swell and then breach an Imperial Valley dike. Over 400 species of bird have been documented at the Salton Sea.