Breaking Point

One of the worst ecological disaster in U.S. history is rapidly approaching, a casualty of the drought and "water wars" in the Southwest. California's largest lake - the Salton Sea in the Sonoran desert - is disappearing. As Breaking Point reveals, large swaths of lake bed are already exposed and salt levels drastically increased due to mandated water transfers to metropolitan areas along the California coast and other factors that limit water inflow. If no action is taken in the next few years, rising salinity will cause the deaths of 100 million fish, eliminating the main food source for hundreds of species of migratory birds -- the second-greatest diversity of bird species in the United States. The National Audubon Society considers the Salton Sea a bird site of global significance. There would also be substantial human impact. After years of agricultural runoff into the Sea, the lakebed is toxic, with high levels of arsenic, selenium and traces of the pesticide DDT. As the lake recedes, massive toxic dust storms will threaten the health of millions of people living in surrounding communities, including as far away as Los Angeles. Breaking Point mixes dramatic aerial images of the lake and close-ups of its shores with commentary from scientists, government officials and local residents to present the history of the Salton Sea, the missed opportunities that have plagued the Sea for decades, and the current options for saving it, which will likely cost billions of dollars. The Salton Sea has reached its breaking point, and time is running out.