Drought

Wet and Dry in the West

mikemjensen lake powell, Useless Observations, Utah Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

For as long as recent memory serves, the warning sirens have been sounding. It’s a shortage here, water restrictions there, and “one good year does not a drought end” everywhere.

In the western US, water is always a concern; there’s more of us than there is of it. For most of my life, the threat of sudden death (exaggeration) has always been the water forecast it seems. The number of good years are few and far between and the memories faded by endless reports of dead fish, dry swimming pools, and brown lawns.

powell

Stolen from: Friends of Lake Powell

This year is a good year. The reservoirs are full or filling- big Lake Powell has added four feet already; the rivers are flowing to excess, and the snow is still falling in the mountains- nearly two feet of new snow this weekend alone.

There are no reporters talking about new city restrictions, low snow packs, or crops drying in the sun-dried and cracked fields. In fact it seems this year may be one of those years that not only erases a multiple year drought, but postpones the begining of another for a few seasons. My hope is that everyone remains in conservation mode, that we all learned how valuable water is and not to waste it anymore in a year of plenty than in a year of little.

It’s truly a year to savor, void of the water doom and gloom warnings and alarms.

Flooding excluded.

 

Post 3-099

Flooding is the New Drought

mikemjensen Useless Observations Tags: , , Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

So last I heard, California was in a drought. The lakes were dry. The trickles of water flowing across dry cracked mud puddles passed as reservoirs.pc-140820-california-drought-01_df9e66504eb531798626153aae549f70-nbcnews-fp-1200-800

To my astonishment, when Google listed stories I might be interested in, the announcement of one of the bigger dams in Northern California is facing possible failure due to erosion on the spillway while trying to keep the water behind the dam from breaching the top.

Wait. What?

I don’t mean to get on those people who cried that we may just have to accept that this drought might never end; but if before the snow pack even has a chance to melt, we’re already worried we can’t hold it all- maybe someone didn’t know what they were talking about.920x920

Or maybe I might be in denial.

 

 

 

Post 3-043

Make the Lake Great Again

mikemjensen kayaks, Life's Truths, Utah Tags: , , , , , 2 Comments

Hey Kids,

One of the pictures I currently have as a random cover header photo on this blog is on the Spiral Jetty on the Great Salt Lake. It is a land art project located on the northern shoreline. Refresh the page a few times and it’ll pop up.IMG_20150322_185821_183

Few, in comparison to the population surrounding the lake, have ever seen it. Few still are the number of Utah natives that even venture out to this inland sea.

The Great Salt Lake is salty, with shallow, muddy shorelines. The mud under the wind and sun dried crust is smelly. When the wind blows and stirs the lakes waves, the smell can overtake the entire valley downwind. People call it the lake stench.

The waters hold no fish; brine shrimp are the lake’s only aquatic residents. Flies buzz along the shoreline and larger flies bite people visiting the dry, half-burnt, half-inaccessible Antelope Island. The place and its rumored bug problem are avoided by most.

But the same Island holds one of the pure strains of Bison. Mountain sheep and elk roam the Island’s highlands. Sandy beaches on its west shore allows the few visitors a glimpse of being on an ocean, fully equipped with sun sets to take your breath away.

Deer and Antelope roam free. Watch carefully and you’ll see one of the coyotes too.

The Great Salt Lake marshes and distant islands gives migratory birds refuge and thousands of pelicans a place to nest. Sea gulls freely roam the skies and salty breezes and if one closed their eyes and listened, you could be on almost any pacific beach you could imagine.

Kayaks glide high and smooth on ofttimes glassy waters. Sail boats set out and roam far enough away to disappear into the horizon.

The Great Salt Lake is magical. A world of its own. In the lights of the large metropolis, yet separated enough to be called wilderness. It is the last remains of a once greater lake, Lake Bonneville. A true endangered species.

The lake currently sits at its historical low, surpassing the low level set back in the early sixties. A prolonged drought and continued diverted water have the lake gasping for life. Some fear it might dry up completely and become nothing but a memory and a dust bowl.

I hope we’re smart enough to know we don’t want that. I hope were smart enough to know the lake needs its share of water. I hope we’re smart enough to figure it out before it’s too late.

The loss would be unmeasurable, the health risks would be uncalculatable, and the sin would be unpardonable.

 

Post 3-038

A Long or Short History

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Hey Kids,

I remember 1977.

Star Wars. That was really what that year was about. How many times did you go to see it? We were poor, and yet I saw the movie at the theatre maybe 4 or 5 times. When was the last time you watched a movie at the theatre 4 or 5 times? Me, never before and never since. And my 4 or 5 times was nothing to what many of my friends did.

1977 was also the middle of a serious drought in the west. We lived in Reno at the time and the Truckee River through downtown dwindled to more of a creek and series of puddle holes, from what I remember. When things finally got better, the question became whither it was the end of the drought or just a slight reprieve to possibly a longer drought, not yet realized.

And then in the early 1990’s, I left California in the middle of yet another drought. The reservoirs all drew down to then historic levels. One lake in particular drew down to expose the old dam before they built the much larger new dam. Again, the weather changed and the drought subsided.

Without going into a long history, this has been the pattern of the West my entire life. Yet during these times, we have figured out how to manage it. Our lakes fill. Our lakes empty. Too much rain one year. Too little the next.

I’m not a climate change expert and I really think it’s beyond my scope to understand it all. I like the Earth and without being a total alarmist, I do what I can to help. If help is even possible. For all I know what we see happening can be part of a larger picture that we cannot map in just 200 years of history. Hasn’t the earth froze over and thawed a couple of times that we know of? I don’t know, and I really, beyond recycling, using the AC less, trying to get the best fuel mileage, and etc.; I don’t see my part or opinion as very crucial.

Sizing up the exposed dam. That spillway is a long way up there. East Canyon Res., Utah

Sizing up the exposed dam. That spillway is a long way up there. East Canyon Res., Utah

But while I’m here, I’m going to enjoy the Earth my time has allotted to me. I’ll fish the streams, I’ll hike the mountains, and like today, I’ll Kayak the lakes.

None of us had any idea that nearly 40 years later we would be awaiting the release of a new Star Wars movie and the West would be in yet another drought. 40 years again from now, I hope people are still wondering if the lake is half full or half empty; and I’ll be the old man in the middle yelling “Fish on!”

 

Day 181