Rain in the Desert (II)
2 Comments Published December 1st, 2007 in National and International Issues, Southern Utah Talking Points and Questions.
The rain that arrived in Zion Canyon on August 26 (at 3:45 PM) was so welcome that I wrote about it. I didn’t realize then that over three long, dry months would pass before we got another one. The land was getting powder dry; deep dry.
Yesterday, the rains came again. Sure was nice! This morning, the high peaks of Zion are covered with a white frosting of snow.
This is why water is so critical in the desert. I’ve written many times about the futility of throwing money at the Lake Powell pipeline. The bottom line there is that there is just no water to be had. California and Arizona will use it up. Or it won’t get to the lake in the first place. But water or no water, if we build a pipeline, we’ll pay for it. We could end up with an expensive, empty, white elephant snaking across the desert. See my article, A Drought of Common Sense.
The only thing that makes sense is to learn to use less water; something Color Country will learn a hard lesson about sooner or later. In researching the “Drought” article, I learned that an 18 hole golf course will use about one and a half million gallons of water a year. There are at least ten courses in the St. George area. Some have more than 18 holes. That’s … what? … 15 million gallons of water a year, just for golf.
But the rain that arrived yesterday sure was nice!
Dan,
Rain in Dec? Here in MI we don’t usually get to experience that without dire circumstances due to the freezing! :} It does seem to be getting warmer up here during the winter, tho.
Again, your photo is breathtaking! Could they be larger so older eyes could see them better?
Drought has been hitting so many parts of the Country the last few yrs. This yr we seem to be experiencing way too many rains in the midwest- Look at Iowa, for instance. Too bad that excess water couldn’t be moved inexpensively and non destructively to areas that could really use it … say the CA wildfires!
I do agree with you that pipelines are not the answer … water conservation would be. You are trying on your end by building the little dams you mentioned in the Aug article. I’m sure your practicing many other things, to.
“I’ve written many times about the futility of throwing money at the Lake Powell pipeline.” I’m not from your area, nor have I read all your blogs yet. But I do agree that a pipeline is not the answer. You cannot take from one place to give to another. One or both places will suffer it. First from the disruption to the environment of all places involved. Then the financial cost (which will be ongoing to keep these things in working order). Not to mention the upset people on all levels. I’ve not seen where these things make anyone happy. Except the owners & politicians who get fat pocket linings in the process!
I think of what you wrote: “Don’t be were you don’t belong” sums it up very well. If you don’t like dry and hot, don’t move to the desert! If you don’t like cold and snow don’t live in the North! So on & so on.
The proposed Lake Powell Pipeline is a controversial idea that is supported by the business and real estate interests here.
Back in the 1920’s, the seven states that the Colorado River flows through concluded an agreement dividing up the water. At that time, the issue was so contentious that in 1928, and again, in 1935, the Arizona National Guard was called out to keep engineers from putting up Boulder and Parker Dams. (Arizona didn’t sign the agreement until 1945.)
The “Upper Basin” states, which includes Utah, have never been able to use “their share” because they didn’t have a way to do it. Millions have been spent on public works projects like the Central Utah Project (which transports water across mountain ranges from the Green River basin, a tributary of the Colorado) to the valleys on the western side of Utah to use part of the allocation. Much of the cost of the Central Utah Project was paid by federal dollars. That means you. But Utah farmers mainly grow hay for cattle with it. Such is the stupidity of western water use.
But the Lake Powell Pipeline will have to be paid for by the counties here in Color Country. Congress won’t give us a free ride on this one. Supporters of the pipeline say it can be built for about $600,000,000 or so (going by memory – I haven’t looked it up). More independent analysis says it will cost well over a billion.
There aren’t that many taxpayers here in Color Country to finance a project that big. If the people who live here now have to pay it, water rates will go through the roof. But supporters have a plan. They say that because the population here is growing so fast, construction impact fees will provide much of the funding and the rest will be provided by the larger population. (I’m buying a house for my mother right now. The water impact fee just to start construction was $5,000!)
So, since the cost of the damn thing is so high that the people who live here now can’t afford it and the only way to pay for it will be through continued population growth, it leads to a situation that is neatly summarized by a twist of an old phrase:
“If you build it, they MUST come.”
If they build the pipeline, it will make a continued population explosion in Color Country an absolute requirement. That’s why the business and real estate interests want it so much.