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The synoptic view of the southern Imperial Valley of southern California shows a desert landscape transformed by fresh water. The large, irrigated field patterns of the valley are clearly visible near the center of the photograph, with little vegetation discernible east or west. The east-west line of the U.S.-Mexico border is easily identifiable where the cultivated field patterns change dramatically. The highly reflective, elongated feature in Mexico is the Laguna Salada, a lakebed that receives water only intermittently. The darker area west of the Laguna Salada is the northern end of the Juarez Mountains of northern Baja California. The Salton Sea, a large, salty lake 230 feet (70 meters) below sea level, is visible to the north.