The title quote of this post about whiskey and water is attributed to Mark Twain regarding western water rights.
WATER…yup, send us all you can spare! So let’s look at some REAL water issues to keep this CV fiasco in perspective!
There has been a lot of hoopla in Cape Vincent in recent
months over water system issues, who is connected, who isn’t etc. I’m not going to address that here. But here is a little perspective on water.
Here in the arid desert. S.W. we worry more about if we will
actually HAVE water to connect to. There is a saying in AZ that goes " If you see a dry gulley or "wash" that is a river. If there is water in it...that's a flood!"
Or..."If you fall in a creek in AZ, make sure when you get out to dust yourself off!"
Today in Flagstaff the relative humidity was about 10%, and
the wind was gusting up toward 40 mph.
That is fire weather. For the
next few days we are under a “Red Flag Warning, meaning the weather is prime
for a disastrous forest fire. Tomorrow the humidity is supposed to be 5%.
I’m painting a part of my house. Great weather to paint, except you gotta be
fast so the paint doesn’t dry before you can get it on the house!!!
Our house sits in a forest setting like much or Flagstaff
and the surrounding areas in all directions for many miles. If you go outside this time of year and smell
any smoke you scramble to find out where it is coming from as quickly as you
can and hope it isn’t down wind of your neighborhood!!!
In search and rescue I have been on neighborhood evacuations
in front of large forest fires and it is frightening!
A large forest fire near Flagstaff
a few years ago!
This year is particularly dangerous. While the N. E. was getting hammered with
snow, we and much of the West had an unusually dry winter.
Snow may be a pain in the butt in the N.E., well maybe
except for a white Christmas, but for us here in the S. W. it s a precious
commodity like gold falling from the sky, that keeps fire dangers lower and
recharges aquifers.
The high mountains near Flagstaff covered in a precious blanket of
thick snow in winter 2005 Part of the Flagstaff water supply.
Note this news story
from ABC about a little town not far from Flagstaff .
“In the northern Arizona city of Williams, restaurant patrons
don't automatically get a glass of water anymore. Residents caught watering
lawns or washing cars with potable water can be fined. Businesses are hauling
water from outside town to fill swimming pools, and building permits have been
put on hold because there isn't enough water to accommodate development.”
Read more at the link below
Here in Flagstaff we
are somewhat better off since we have
numerous sources of water, but we are on continuous restrictions, drought or
not. But we have been in a drought for
more than a decade in the S. W, worse at time than others.
In CV I worry if the water will be high enough so my boat
doesn’t drag bottom at the dock in August.
Here, I hope we get enough moisture so my house doesn’t burn down!!
We don’t have a lawn around our house…we have a “zero scape”
that doesn’t require much water. Our
yard except for a few very small gardens, is natural forest landscape. Such is the case with many homes in
Flagstaff and in the desert.
On the other hand, a 600 ft. fountain and artificial lake
at the Fountain Hills development near Phoenix. The fountain used to
run continuously but now only runs a few minutes on the hour.
The desert sprawl of Phoenix, AZ the" Valley of the Sun " from a mountain park trail.
Cape Vincent water is right on its door step, but in AZ water comes from wells, the N. AZ high snow country via dammed lakes and long canals, and via canal over 300 miles from the Colorado River.
Moving water around in the desert is critical to life, and water
delivery engineering is fascinating and often a spectacular feat
This is a picture I took from the top of spectacular Hoover Dam near Las Vegas. It backs up
where the high water used to be , probably as long ago as 1983 which was a very wet El Nino
year in the desert SW. The lake has dropped 75 to 100 ft. since then. Las Vegas has had to
lengthen and deepen its water intakes. And believe it or not the Las Vegas hotels are actually
models of water conservation according to what I have read.
A rare 2005 winter drenching desert rain storm in Death Valley Ca., one of the driest places
on the planet. A wet winter of 2005 in the desert SW caused a rare spring desert flower
display that only occurs maybe once in a decade or so.
Rare desert flower displays after a wet winter.
'Where water flows...the desert grows!"
Water is so important in the SW that many Native American
religious rituals are centered on water. I have been fortunate to
attend several religious such dances on the Hopi Indian reservation.
My wife’s father drilled the first Flagstaff water well and
others for the city. He along with my
brother-in-laws when they were younger drilled deep wells all over the S. W.,
one as deep as 3700 ft. in Texas!
Around Flagstaff it is common to have to drill 1500 to 2000
ft. or more to get water.
When my folks lived in a mobile home park in Phoenix in the 1970's the park well was so deep the water must have been near geologic hotspot and the water came out of the well warm. You couldn't get a cold glass of water, and the irrigation ditches steamed on cold mornings in the winter.
Water out here is almost as valuable as oil or gold!
When my folks lived in a mobile home park in Phoenix in the 1970's the park well was so deep the water must have been near geologic hotspot and the water came out of the well warm. You couldn't get a cold glass of water, and the irrigation ditches steamed on cold mornings in the winter.
Water out here is almost as valuable as oil or gold!
My one brother - in – law ended up working for the city
water dept. which made sense because he actually helped drill many of the city wells with his dad. He is retired now. So I thought I would ask him about what he thought of the CV
water dist. 2 fiasco. His first reaction
was, he laughed and said…”that sounds illegal”!
He worked for the city water dept. a long time and he indicated he could
not ever remember anyone pulling a stunt like that in Flagstaff.
Then we started talking about water meters, where he told me
that to place a new water meter for a one inch residential line, which is not
uncommon for many houses, as of Jan. 1, 2014, would cost you a tidy
$12,895.00!!! Like I said, we look at
water here a little differently.
We are lucky in Flagstaff because we get water from a large
mountain, a clean lake, and deep, deep wells.
The water is very good in quality and taste.
I finally hooked up to CV water last summer, and I commend the CV water guys who were very friendly and helpful, but I almost choke on CV tap water taste.
I finally hooked up to CV water last summer, and I commend the CV water guys who were very friendly and helpful, but I almost choke on CV tap water taste.
In fact water laws and water rights in the West are
complicated and a BIG deal and people take them real seriously. Not long ago in the West, screwing around
with a water system, or violating somebody's water rights might mean you could get a visit from the business end of a shotgun! And NO
I am not suggesting that as a solution in CV!
Both my
brother-in-laws have visited CV in the past and were astonished when with no
permit or paper work I hooked up our old
cottage pump and just put the line in the river and pumped all I wanted. They couldn’t
believe that was legal.
So despite the CV water fiasco in water dist 2…count your
blessings!
But I still think the town should deal head on with what
appears to be an abuse of the CV water system.
I would like to see these CV Water Dist 2 people try to get
away with this crap in the desert S.W.
Shall I say… it isn’t likely this nonsense would be “tolerated”!
From a story on western water rights in Oregon below.
“Oregon was already 50 years old
when a new statewide water law was passed in 1909. Up to that time, the laws
had been vague, and disputes over water were common. When neighbors disagreed
over who was entitled to water, the case was often settled with shotguns and
dynamite. In that era, violence over water was so serious and so commonplace
that Mark Twain is said to have observed, "Whiskey's for drinking; water's
for fighting."
Oh by the way...Enjoy your water while you can, because as people and businesses relocate to the sunny dry sunbelt of the S. W. we are gaining VOTES. before the housing market collapse Phoenix and Las Vegas were the fastest growing places in the country...and when we run out of water...we are coming for yours ... and we won't be coming with a little PVC pipe to hook up a few good ole buddy users!!!
So much water above ...and so little below. I love to be able to live the contrasts between the wet N. E. and the desert S. W. I am also intrigued by the life style and cultural influences created by the abundance of water...or lack of it. It has been a real education!
Hiking remote sand dunes in the
Cadiz Valley of the Ca. Mojave Desert.
We saw no other human tracks in the dunes.
So much water above ...and so little below. I love to be able to live the contrasts between the wet N. E. and the desert S. W. I am also intrigued by the life style and cultural influences created by the abundance of water...or lack of it. It has been a real education!
Cadiz Valley of the Ca. Mojave Desert.
We saw no other human tracks in the dunes.
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