Salton Sea Naval Auxiliary Air Station


Salton Sea Naval Auxiliary Air Station, was a United States Navy military facility located eight miles south of Salton City, California on the west shore of the Salton Sea.

History

It was an auxiliary field to NAS San Diego commissioned in 1942, had a barracks for over 600 men constructed there. It was disestablished in 1946. NAF El Centro then took over the facility using it for parachute tests of the manned space program and other military systems until 1979. There remains little if anything of the former field. The Salton Sea has taken over much of the runway.
In 2001 the United States Bureau of Reclamation used the site to remove salt from the Salton Sea, as high salinity is a major problem facing the inland lake. They used modified snowmaking equipment and mine waste removal vehicles and continued testing for a year; however high energy costs and air quality issues forced the termination of this project.

Also see