Talk:Salton Sea/GA1

GA Review
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Reviewer: RockMagnetist (talk · contribs) 21:51, 21 January 2021 (UTC)

I am planning to review this article. RockMagnetist(talk) 21:51, 21 January 2021 (UTC)

Comments

 * I don't know how to edit this correctly but the fish liked when you click "sargo" in the ecology section is not the right sargo (it links to a fish also called sargo but present in the East Atlantic.) The correct sargo is Anisotremus davidsonii, which apparently is listed on wikipedia as "xanthic grunt" but is universally known as "sargo" in california, the only English speaking region in which the fish exists.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2603:9008:1A07:6500:AD3F:8B3D:116F:5295 (talk) 08:49, 16 October 2021 (UTC)


 * At a first glance, this article is generally well written and well sourced. However, I have already found one significant problem. The lead section should be an accessible overview of the contents (MOS:INTRO) and should summarize information in the body without adding significant content (MOS:LEADNO). This lead does neither of these things. Almost none of this information appears in the body, and the first sentence uses technical terms like "endorheic" that are never explained. What this article needs is a first section called Description or Geography that introduces much of the information in the lead but explains it a bit more, and then the lead needs to be rewritten so it summarizes the article properly. RockMagnetist(talk) 22:11, 21 January 2021 (UTC)


 * The Salton Sea is described in the first sentence as a rift lake. The rift and the reason for the Salton Trough/Basin (are these the same thing?) need to be described somewhere. RockMagnetist(talk) 19:22, 22 January 2021 (UTC)


 * Last paragraph of Before the modern era: I can't find most of the place names in the two sources given, and anyway - who cares? It would be better to use those sources to summarize some of the history that is actually interesting. RockMagnetist(talk) 23:26, 25 January 2021 (UTC)


 * Creation of the lake: A whole paragraph has no citations, and where there are citations I am not able to find most of the facts, for example flooding of the New River and Alamo River, their lengths, and any mention of Torrez-Martinez land. The section needs to be rewritten so the facts are easily verified, with citations being nearby and including page numbers if the source is long. RockMagnetist(talk) 19:00, 27 January 2021 (UTC)


 * Subsequent evolution: The article cited in the first paragraph only mentions a dam in a figure caption and says nothing about its use for flood control. RockMagnetist(talk) 19:08, 27 January 2021 (UTC)


 * Climate: There is no citation for the climate classification. It's really hard to verify the rest of the information in this section using the other sources. I can't even access the USDA plant hardiness map because I'm getting warnings that the connection is not private; and in an attempt to verify the data in the table, I had to visit the PRISM page where there are a lot of fields to choose from. I chose California, Imperial County, averaged over 1981-2020, and got similar but different numbers after downloading the data; there did not appear to be any data for humidity or dew point. Either an easier to use source should be found or this table should be updated and the method of obtaining the data made more clear. RockMagnetist(talk) 19:05, 28 January 2021 (UTC)


 * Vegetation: This is another one that is hard to verify. Basically, you have to compare the color of a region with the legend, and it's not obvious to me that the correct match is Saltbush/Greaswood rather than, say, Bluestem, while Great Basin Shrubland is not even in the legend. RockMagnetist(talk) 23:13, 28 January 2021 (UTC)


 * Salinity: I'm a bit mystified by a recent edit that added a second copy of the same material, from the same source, but this time as a quote. Also note that the first citation is a corrected version that has a current url instead of an archived url. RockMagnetist(talk) 05:01, 29 January 2021 (UTC)

Status query
RockMagnetist, I was wondering where this review stood. While this page hasn't been edited since the end of January, I see that Fettlemap has made a great many edits to the article, perhaps addressing the issues raised in this review. Is the article closer to meeting the GA criteria now? BlueMoonset (talk) 01:17, 18 March 2021 (UTC)
 * There is a amazing amount of material available on the Salton Sea. I have tried to flesh out the history and context but I didn't get into the technical items. I may have improved the first five items but I did not do anything to improve (or delete) Climate, Vegetation, or Salinity. If the article is going to reach Good, another editor will have to help with those issues. Fettlemap (talk) 02:40, 18 March 2021 (UTC)
 * Sorry, I have not been very active on Wikipedia recently. When I started the review, the article seemed quite far from GA-level, and I haven't been following it closely. I see that Fettlemap has been doing a lot of good work, so I will resume the review shortly, but I have a non-Wikipedia task that I need to deal with first. RockMagnetist(talk) 15:25, 28 March 2021 (UTC)

It's been three months since my initial comments, and kudos to for improving the lead, organizing the article better, and adding some good material. But most of my comments still apply verbatim. Since a lot of the issues involve verifiability, I'm going to fail it. I think the nomination was premature. However, I do think that it's B quality now. RockMagnetist(talk) 18:06, 22 April 2021 (UTC)
 * But the article is noticeably outdated now: it doesn't mention the planned lithium mine at the Salton Sea. Jarble (talk) 12:27, 18 July 2021 (UTC)
 * I think 'B' quality is appropriate. One problem is that The Salton Sea did not exist prior to the 1900s; any history prior to that should be removed or significantly edited.  History prior to 1900 belongs in articles discussing the Salton Trough, the Salton Sink, or Lake Cahuilla. 40.131.156.177 (talk) 23:34, 18 March 2023 (UTC)