California's Salton Sea is a nexus of the forces of nature and the momentum of human civilization. The present Sea formed in 1905 when the Colorado River flooded the Sonoran Desert's Salton Basin - the Basin's most recent inundation from the great meandering river. Over the past century, this great inland Sea has evolved into a rich and complex, yet fragile ecosystem. The Sea is California's crown jewel of avian biodiversity and serves as a major resource for millions of migratory birds and home to one of the world's most productive fisheries. Accelerated ecological change, in addition to the broader issues of water scarcity in the American Southwest, poses difficult social, economic, and environmental choices for the future of the Salton Sea and the inflows that sustain it. These competing forces have set the stage for a political and environmental drama being played by the U. S. Congress, state and local governments, and other stakeholders - foreshadowing a new battleground for the twenty-first century: water.<BR>The Salton Sea Atlas is the benchmark reference for the Sea that brings together much of what is known about this complex and controversial environment. Groundbreaking in its visual presentation of the surprisingly interwoven story, the Atlas is a comprehensive scientific, historical, and physical representation of this unique region. Using cutting-edge geographic information systems technology, vast amounts of data were transformed into multi-layered, multi-themed maps that are as visually compelling as they are revelatory of the hidden nature of the Sea and its landscape.