The Little Colorado River Basin - Pre-ancestral Memories
In his 2007 book House of Rain, author Craig Childs
describes the Little Colorado River, as follows. “It is hardly a river.
A death rattle of water, more like it. Barely wet enough to be called a
river, it is named the Little Colorado. During the few weeks it runs
high; it is a bloody froth of silt.”
In June 2008, I visited the “Little C.” at Homolovi State Park,
Arizona. As I approached the river, runoff from winter snows and spring
rains had ceased. Ducking under a floodplain safety fence ravaged by
the river, I walked out on to the rapidly drying floodplain. The
remaining surface water in the riverbed collected in pools near the
banks. While lingering at the edge of a large pool, I realized that I
was standing in quicksand.
Without
warning, my sandaled feet sank up to the ankles. As I lurched to get
away, gravity pulled me deeper into the liquefied sand. The viscosity of
the quicksand made it difficult to move. In fright I pulled harder,
lifting one foot, only to find my other foot sinking deeper into a
bottomless goo. Driven by fear, I began my version of an Indian dance,
rhythmically lifting and then driving each foot into the quicksand. As
my dance step quickened, I arose from that hole in the Earth. Not
stopping the rhythm, I padding across the shaky surface until I reached
the riverbank.Looking back on that episode, I now realize new
things. One is that quicksand can be deep enough to conjure
pre-ancestral memories of death and rebirth. Unexpectedly, I 
had
reenacted my own version of the Hopi Indian Creation Myth. Although
firsthand versions of the myth are sacred to the Hopi, there are as many
translations of that myth as there are Hopi willing to tell a story to
an outsider. Still, at the center of each version of the myth is a
vision of the ancient Hopi people arising from a water-filled hole in
the Earth.
had
reenacted my own version of the Hopi Indian Creation Myth. Although
firsthand versions of the myth are sacred to the Hopi, there are as many
translations of that myth as there are Hopi willing to tell a story to
an outsider. Still, at the center of each version of the myth is a
vision of the ancient Hopi people arising from a water-filled hole in
the Earth. To this day, the Hopi protect their knowledge of
creation both for themselves and for all of humankind. Whether one
considers the Hopi story of creation to be myth or truth is not
important. Either way, the Hopi, who are native to the lands and
aquifers at the heart of the Little Colorado Basin, knew the power of
water to confer both life and death. I for one was happy to be reborn
that day on the banks of the Little Colorado River.
After my bottomless quicksand scare, I vowed to keep moving while exploring the riverbed. 
As I moved and observed, the lack of surface water led me to perceive that the Little C’s flow was opposite from its actual direction.
Proving the power of our belief systems, three years later, I still
tend to believe that the river flows back toward its source, in the
White Mountains of Arizona. Scientists tell us that only prior to the
Late Triassic Period, 250 million years ago did this system of rivers
and aquifers flow as my mind’s eye still perceives. Such is the power of
the landscape in the desert that it brings forth pre-ancestral memories for us to ponder.
As I moved and observed, the lack of surface water led me to perceive that the Little C’s flow was opposite from its actual direction.
Proving the power of our belief systems, three years later, I still
tend to believe that the river flows back toward its source, in the
White Mountains of Arizona. Scientists tell us that only prior to the
Late Triassic Period, 250 million years ago did this system of rivers
and aquifers flow as my mind’s eye still perceives. Such is the power of
the landscape in the desert that it brings forth pre-ancestral memories for us to ponder.The northern flank of the Little Colorado River Plateau basin ends at Navajo National Monument,
near the Arizona-Utah border. Its eastern flank is near the Arizona-New
Mexico state line. On the south the up-tilt of the Mogollon Rim
constrains it. In the west, U.S. Highway 89 North
traces its periphery. Even with its watershed of 27,000 square miles,
few places within the Little Colorado River Basin offer year-round
sources of surface water.
According to the Arizona Department of Water Resources,
aquifers of the Little Colorado River Plateau basin contain large
quantities of groundwater in storage. However, they are in a sensitive
relationship with the Little Colorado River and its few perennial
tributaries. Lowering of hydrostatic heads by excessive groundwater
withdrawals may cause some perennial reaches of the streams to dry up
(Mann, 1976). After thirty-five years, it seems time for an update on
that research.When last surveyed, almost two decades ago, the two
southern regional aquifers were still in hydrostatic equilibrium, or
‘steady-state’. However, local groundwater sinks or cones
of depression were already developing in areas of heavy pumpage
(Arizona Department of Water Resources, 1991) such as the paper mill
near Snowflake and three of the power plants: Springerville Generating
Station, Coronado Generating Station (St. Johns), and Cholla Generating
Station (Joseph City/Holbrook). Of those top-four users of water in the
southern aquifers, three are coal-fired power plants.
According to the Food & Agriculture Organization
(FAO) at the United Nations, the Little Colorado River Watershed
qualifies as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS) –
Following is the FAO's description of the area.
“On
the Colorado Plateau (including the Little Colorado River Basin)
farming has been an unbroken cultural tradition for at least 4200 years.
The Navajo,
Zuni, Apache, Hopi, Paiute and Tewa have cultivated the most diverse
annual crop assemblage in the New World north of the Tropic of Cancer.
The landscapes of this ecologically diverse but arid region have been
shaped by a variety of traditional land and water use practices. Farmers
have managed the same fields and terrace gardens for centuries, in a
way well adapted to the arid climate and the altitudes from 3350 to 4000
meters. Their traditional ecological knowledge has been transmitted
orally in at least six indigenous and three European languages. In
addition to tending pre-Columbian crops, residents adopted and further
adapted some sheep herding, ranching and orchard keeping traditions of Hispanic, Basque and Anglo immigrants.
More recently, these rural communities have developed a multicultural
food system with extensive cross cultural exchange and mutual support.”In a recent report, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) said, “A
system-wide management approach is needed to achieve cost-effective
floodplain and sediment management, while enhancing environmental
aspects of the Little Colorado River watershed.”
In general, the outer boundaries of the Navajo Indian Reservation
coincide with the outer reaches of the Little Colorado River Basin.
There are two major exceptions. The southern boundary of Navajo
reservation coincides with the northern boundary of Petrified Forest National Park. From there, west to Flagstaff and south to the Mogollon Rim, the land is Forest Service controlled or privately held. The other exception to Navajo hegemony over the basin is the Hopi Indian Reservation. Despite their independent tribal status, the Hopi reservation is landlocked within the larger Navajo reservation.Surface and ground waters
flow between the two reservations without regard for political
boundaries. Although the Navajo and Hopi stress cooperation where they
can, competing claims on water rights can be a contentious issue. Among
other issues, the 1996 Navajo-Hopi Land Dispute Settlement Act
identified and funded the purchase of up to 500,000 acres of new Hopi
Trust Lands. These 'New Lands', including attendant water rights were to come from Arizona State holdings, beyond the borders of either reservation.
In
exercising their rights, the Hopi subsequently purchased land and water
rights within the southern reaches of the Little Colorado River Basin.
Little did anyone know at the time, but Hopi Trust Lands and their
concomitant water rights would soon make news again. In March 2011, the Ringbolt/Passport/Karlsson Group potash consortium obtained agreement from the Hopi Lands Trust to conduct exploratory operations on their Holbrook Basin holdings. Through that agreement, Passport Potash will have access to Hopi water rights in the southern reaches of the Little Colorado River Basin. Author's Note: Clarification on the Passport/Ringbolt/Karlsson Potash "Consortium". Article Updated 9/2/2017
Read Chapter Two – The Holbrook Basin Potash Project
Read Chapter Three - Holbrook Basin Water Crisis
Read Chapter Four - Colorado River Watershed At Risk
Email James McGillisBy James McGillis at 02:35 PM | Environment | Comments (1) | Link
