When is a Lake Not a Lake? When it is Ken's Lake, Moab, Utah - 2012

 

When is a Lake Not a Lake? When it is Ken's Lake, Moab, Utah

In 2012, a continuing drought on the Colorado Plateau created a meager spring snowpack in the Sierra La Sal. When I visited Ken’s Lake, near Moab, Utah in April 2012, I was encouraged by the volume of water that I saw behind the dam. Although I did not know it at the time, there was more water present than in any April for the past five years. As a casual observer, I saw what looked like a good water year for both irrigation and water sports on the lake.

In August 2012, the Grand Water and Sewer Service Agency (GWSSA) issued its summer status report on Ken’s Lake. According to the document, the Ken’s Lake water level has dropped from April’s 101% of average to a mid-August thirty-five percent of average. Using the first two charts in the document, I was able to determine that Ken’s Lake currently held 1000 acre/feet less water than it did in a normal year.

Next, I looked down at the five-year storage chart. Again, the results were alarming. With just over 400 acre/feet of water currently impounded, Ken’s Lake was heading to its lowest August levels in the past five years. With that trend, it was obvious that Ken’s Lake was destined to become Ken’s Lake Puddle again this year.

Some will say, “So what? It is a human made water storage reservoir. If all of the water gets used up every year, then it is serving its purpose”. Although that may be true, Ken’s Lake is also the largest recreational lake in the Moab area. When the reservoir goes dry, there is nothing of consequence to attract campers, hikers or wildlife. The lake is also a bellwether for drought conditions throughout the Colorado Plateau. If the towering La Sal Range gets little snow and has a fast spring runoff, few other places will fare much better. The regional drought seems likely to expand and become more prevalent in the Four Corners region.

It behooves the stakeholders and managers of Ken’s Lake to act now and prevent it from becoming a permanent eyesore. The easiest way to save the lake is to stop allocating water for alfalfa farming and other water-intensive crops. If a farmer is actually growing fodder for his or her own livestock, the GWSSA could make an exception. Instead of alfalfa, if each stakeholder planted grapes or fruit trees, the Spanish Valley could rise again as a tree crop and viticulture area.

If Spanish Valley and Moab Valley Farmers and environmentalists work together, Ken’s Lake may well remain a beautiful body of water, enjoyed by all. If not, will the entitled stakeholders pretend that there is no problem, or will they accept responsibility for the outcome?

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The Majestic La Sal Range Overshadows the Desolation of "Poverty Flat" - 2012

 

The Majestic La Sal Range Overshadows the Desolation of "Poverty Flat"

On April 15, 2012, I spent my day to revisiting special locations in and around the Spanish Valley, near Moab, Utah. By midday, I had completed an ecological survey of Behind the Rocks, ten miles south of Moab. After lunch, I depart the Moab Rim Campark, heading south on U.S. Highway 191. Although I did not know exactly where I might find it, I was looking for an unobstructed view of the La Sal Range.

Near the eastern end of the Spanish Valley, I turned left on to a rough gravel road that leads to Pack Creek. With jagged gravel the size of golf balls, the road was not favorable to travel with my fully inflated road tires. Limping along at a slow pace, I finally found an unobstructed view of the La Sal Range. There, in mid afternoon, the sun shone down on the mountains and reflected off fresh snow that fell the previous night.

After pausing to photograph the mountains, I turned my attention to the power lines that hung overhead. From earlier discussions with Moab residents, I knew that these high voltage lines originated at a coal fired power plant near Price, Utah to the north. From where I stood, I could see what looked like a series of energy beings carrying the electrical cables up the valley from Moab. After passing overhead, the lines continued their climb up the Spanish Valley and then over the mountains of San Juan County. Where they ended, I had no idea.

Here I shall explain the difference between the Moab Valley and the Spanish Valley. Other than there being a name change near the San Juan County line, there is no geographical difference between the two valleys. Anywhere near Moab, residents call the drainage the Moab Valley. To the east, in its upper reaches, most people call it the Spanish Valley. The most beleaguered area of the valley, around Ken’s Lake also carries the historical name, “Poverty Flat”.

Having experienced the most prolonged overgrazing of any area near Moab, Poverty Flat is apt moniker for that area. Today, it supports only sparse seasonal grasses and a particularly thorny species of cactus. With a large swath of the valley teeming with cactus spikes, no one would dare to graze cattle there now.

Even for a hiker the Poverty Flat landscape is like an ankle-high low forest of knife blades. Consequently, the area just west of the Ken’s Lake Dam is now a no man’s land, bereft of greenery and populated only by the hardiest desert dwelling species. In the 1890’s, grass in the Moab and Spanish Valleys grew so high that it hid from view horseback riders who approached town on the Old Spanish Trail. Current visitors to the Spanish Valley realize that the area near Ken's Lake is an inhospitable place, but most have no idea that just over one hundred years ago, this was a Garden of Eden, not the current rock and cactus garden.

Since it once held the Old Spanish Trail, I believe that early visitors, ranchers and miners referred to the entire valley as the Spanish Valley. Later, as Moab became a more prominent feature, residents and outsiders alike began calling the lower, western reaches the Moab Valley. Today,  the Google Map of the Spanish Valley as the portion of the greater valley inside the border of San, Juan County. Given the importance of Moab and the remoteness of the eastern part of the valley, Google’s dual designation of the Moab Valley and the Spanish Valley seems like a good one to me.

After viewing the extreme environmental destruction in the Spanish Valley, I headed for the human made creation called Ken’s Lake. You may read about that visit in my next article.

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A Springtime Visit Behind the Rocks Offers Some Surprises - 2012

 

A Springtime Visit Behind the Rocks Offers Some Surprises

On April 15, 2012, I drove from Moab, Utah to Behind the Rocks. There, for one long weekend each year, that area is the hub of activity for the 24-Hours of Moab off-road bicycle race. It had been six months since my October 2011 visit to the event. Half way between the two races was a good time to assess the environmental impact of annual off-road bike racing Behind the Rocks.

Behind the Rocks is a sandy-soiled mesa ten miles south and two miles off-road from Moab, Utah. In spring, summer and fall, since the 1890’s, cattle had grazed Behind the Rocks. Before its first ecological breakdown, the fragile mesa endured decades of overgrazing. Only its 5500-foot elevation has kept the area from cactus infestation, as happened in the upper section of the nearby Spanish Valley. Under the trampling hooves of range cattle, indigenous cryptobiotic soil deteriorated and blew away. Whatever natural vegetation may have existed prior to a century of grazing, the mesa now supports a combination of weedy and grassy areas.

Kane Creek provides the main runoff channel for the entire mesa. Although the spring flow can be intermittent or nonexistent, summer thunderstorms sweep huge amounts of soil down Kane Creek. Increased movement of soil amplifies streambed erosion. Where small watercourses once meandered, sandy arroyos with straight-sided banks now stand. Some areas have lost all their soil, leaving expanses of bare rock.

For the past seventeen years, hundreds of off-road bicycle racers and fans have camped, played and ridden Behind the Rocks each October. Each year, self-appointed guardians of the local environment lament supposed damage done by the 24-Hours of Moab Race. Some hike cross-country in order to photograph a few bicycle tracks that stray from the designated course. The real issue is not only about damage by errant bike racers. It is also about the monitors tramping across a fragile landscape in order to “get their shot”.

Driving across the deserted landscape that day, I could not locate the bicycle race venue. Without its tents and bicycles to identify it, I drove on by. Soon, I came across an open area eroded by off-road vehicles. Along the fringes of the area, I could see how vegetation had once held the soil. Within the eroded area, there were only traces of native vegetation. Although I saw no off-road vehicles Behind the Rocks that day, evidence of vehicular traffic was everywhere. One nearby sand dune had hundreds of tracks leading to its summit.

Getting out of my truck, I surveyed the 24-Hours of Moab Race venue and the La Sal Range beyond. Admittedly, there was little vegetation where the main tent had stood. Only after leaving my vehicle did I realize the damage that I was causing. Looking down, I saw that the wide tires on my truck had crushed whatever soil-crust had formed since October 2011. Otherwise, the race venue looked quite similar to much of the surrounding landscape.

During my earlier discussion with 24-HOM race promoter Laird Knight, he had told me about their environmental amelioration techniques. Each year, after all trash, facilities and vehicles depart; Knut & Sons roll their enormous water trucks around the empty venue. A generous sprinkling of water turns fields of dust into fields of mud. As the sun dries the mud, it forms a crust almost as strong as natural cryptobiotic soil. Unless churned by wheels, hooves or feet in the off-season, Laird said, “Racers and visitors to the next 24-Hours of Moab Race can expect to see the area look much as it has for the past eighteen years”.

Rather than seeking to end the one family event that helps to regenerate the environment Behind the Rocks each year, environmentalists should concentrate on overuse by off-road vehicles. The Bureau of Land Management should place an immediate ban on driving in watercourses and sensitive dune areas. If not, the remaining soil on the mesa will continue its slow-motion disintegration down Kane Springs Canyon and into the overburdened Colorado River.

Behind the Rocks combines both fragility and stability in one location. With respectful usage, the mesa will regenerate or at least maintain itself. If scoured down to bedrock, Behind the Rocks will lose its appeal as a place for human recreation. With care and cooperation by all interested parties, Behind the Rocks will remain a remarkable place to bike, hike or even to trail-ride in a Jeep.

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The Farmer and the Cowboy Should Be Friends (of the Environment) - 2011

 

The Farmer and the Cowboy Should Be Friends (of the Environment)

   

In early October 2011, I made my annual fall pilgrimage to Moab, Utah. Having lived there for three months in the fall of 2005, I knew that October weather in Moab was unpredictable. After the first cold front of the season blew in with me, I was surprised at how quickly weather in the Spanish Valley returned to its default position, which is Indian summer.

 

On October 6, 2011, it was sunny in the valley, yet storm clouds still hung on the peaks of the La Sal Range. What better day could I find to visit Ken’s Lake, out on Poverty Flat, near the head of the Spanish Valley?

 

When I arrived, I saw a few campers in the campground, yet on only one boat floating upon the lake. As I watched, I could see the oarsman rowing his pontoon-style fishing boat towards shore. Although I stood no further than thirty feet from where he made landfall, the old angler never looked up or acknowledged my presence.

 

Only when I asked him why the lake was so high this year did he speak. He gave me a few matter-of-fact sentences, telling me all that I needed to know. “It was a good snow year. There was still snow on the north-facing slopes until August. The slower snowmelt this year kept filling the lake, even as irrigation water flowed from the dam. Still, it hasn’t rained much lately and the lake is a lot lower than it was just a few weeks ago.” After I thanked him for the information, he returned to his silent mode, placed his boat on a small trailer and drove away without another word.

 

After he departed, I marveled at the differences I could see from just one year earlier, in October 2010. When I wrote an article about that visit, I called it “Ken’s Puddle”, which is what it looked like to me. At that time, I suggested that farmers and others who shared in Ken’s Lake water might want to look towards conservation of this resource, rather than exploitation. Did my words and wishes have some positive effect on water levels in the lake? On the other hand, did fewer regional dust storms this year keep more snow in the higher reaches of the La Sal Range watershed until later in the season?

 

Cynics would say that those entitled to shares of Ken’s Lake Water took every drop that they could get this year. Redemption came only when Mother Nature replenished the water faster than the outfall pipe carried it away to crops and cattle. I prefer to think that even those who are “entitled” are conserving more and using less of those sacred waters. By his demeanor, I would guess that the lone angler I saw that day was a longtime Moab rancher or farmer. By not drawing his full share of Ken’s Lake water this year; did he help Ken’s Lake to remain one of the few cold-water fisheries in Southeastern Utah?

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Snowstorms Continue in Canyonlands and Moab, Utah - 2011

In 2006, I began working and writing in Moab, Utah. Then, and for several years thereafter, conventional wisdom held that it rarely snowed in Moab. Most locals said that when it did snow, the weather would soon warm up, melting the snow within a few days.

 

Then, along came the winter of 2009 – 2010. It snowed often in December and again in January. Even with partial thawing between storms, there was still snow on the ground well into February. As 2010 drew to a close, our friend in Moab, Tiger Keogh offered hopeful reports. Her emails indicated dry weather and daily high temperatures above forty degrees. Between Christmas and New Year’s, her sunny reports ended. On December 30, 2010, it snowed in Moab and has snowed several times since.

 

One of the benefits of deploying webcams in several locations is that we can check the weather all around Moab every day. Since this winter’s snow began to fall, our Canyonlands Field webcam has shown whiteouts overnight, followed by snowplowing the following day. Our webcam, located at the Moab Rim Campark and Cabins has shown heavy snowfall in the La Sal Range. In early January 2010, during a respite from the storms, I observed a sublime alpenglow-sunset over the Spanish Valley.

 

While viewing different locations in Grand County, Utah, I sat 800 miles away, in Simi Valley, California. From my remote location, I captured a series of images from the two webcams. Since each webcam updates every three seconds, I saved several image sequences. Once I had a series of images saved, I open a “GIF Animator” program and then compiled the sequences into “digital filmstrips”. I then saved each filmstrip as an “animated GIF”.

 

In an age where we can stream high-definition video to mobile devices, the animated GIF image seems quaint. CompuServe first developed the Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) in the 1980s. With the slow-speed modems and dial-up networks then available, creating motion online was quite a feat. In order to show animated images, CompuServe applied “lossless compression” to each image. Restricted to 256 colors, not the millions of colors available in a high-definition video, animated GIFs offer impressions, not details. Even so, an animated GIF that shows spectacular scenery and at least some action can have a charm all its own.

 

Illustrating this article are three animated GIFs. The first shows snowplows working on the tarmac at Canyonlands Field. The second shows the Spanish Valley and Sierra La Sal Range, ending with an alpenglow after sunset. The third shows nightfall at the airport on January 8, 2011. I hope you enjoy the action and the scenery as much I enjoyed compiling these animated slideshows.

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Help Save Ken's Lake Moab, Utah - 2010

 

 

Help Save Ken's Lake

Moab, Utah 

After writing about Spanish Valley water issues during 2009, I realized that I had never seen Ken’s Lake up close. On a clear afternoon in October 2010, I set out to remedy that situation. Heading south from Moab on Spanish Valley Drive (The Old Spanish Trail), I turned left on San Juan County Road 175 (better known as Ken’s Lake Road). Soon, I could see the inside of the dam to my left, but could see no water impounded behind it.

 

 

Watch the Video - Ken's Lake, Moab, Utah

 

 

After arriving at the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) parking lot on the south side of the lake, I finally spied Ken’s Lake itself. In the distance, and well below the level of a weed-choked gravel beach, I saw a large puddle, down near the base of the earthen dam. Although I had read about overuse of the Ken’s Lake Reservoir, I did not expect to see such a sorry sight. Other than as a curiosity, there was little to attract visitors or campers to Ken’s Lake that fall.

 

Who allowed Ken’s Lake to almost disappear and why? To answer that question one must look at two seminal issues that continue to shape politics on the Colorado Plateau – “water rights” and “grazing rights”. Although these are complex issues with no easy solutions, suffice to say that “entitlement thinking” on both issues has led to a long-term degradation of the environment in Southeastern Utah. With appropriate will, the greater community could reverse some of the damage done. In order to do so, all concerned must join to reevaluate and redistribute “water rights” and “grazing rights” under terms that our now drier environment can sustain.

 

Moab historian Faun McConkie Tanner exemplified the traditional view of cattle grazing in the area, both then and now. In her 1976 work, “The Far Country, - A Regional History of Moab and La Sal, Utah” she wrote, “The grazing of cattle and sheep has been a principal industry since the settlement of the region. Supervised and limited grazing under Forest Service regulation protects the plant growth and in some measure saves soil erosion caused by overgrazing.” Almost forty years later, her rosy picture of what is now a deeply degraded environment prevails.

 

In his 1994, “Coyote’s History of Moab”, Jose’ Knighton states that, “Corporate cattle operations abandoned Moab (in 1896) because the land could no longer support their huge herds. Hit-and-run exploitation of resources would eventually become an established pattern of abuse for Moab. But a century ago, decades of overgrazing took their toll. Flash floods roared down Mill Creek and Pack Creek, silting up dams, carving deep gullies and destroying homesteads.”

 

In 1981, after tireless promotion by Kenneth McDougald and others in Moab, engineers first filled Ken’s Lake with water diverted from Upper Mill Creek. From its inception, water use at Ken’s Lake reflected Faun McConkie’s old Moab, not the more environmentally aware approach of Jose’ Knighton. In my research, I could find no references to which agency decided who would receive shares of Ken’s Lake water. Today, however the Grand Water and Sewer Service Agency (GWSSA) delivers the vast majority of Ken’s Lake water to alfalfa farmers in the southern Spanish Valley.

 

Here we can see the grand circle that started with Moab’s cattle raising origins. Since the 1880s, the biodiversity and availability of natural forage in the area have steadily declined. One hundred and forty years after cattle first roamed the Moab Valley; current residents live in a significantly degraded environment. Making an emphatic point, McConkie Tanner states that, "All of those interviewed stated that sagebrush grew tall enough for a man on horseback to ride hidden through brush, and that grass grew to a horse's belly in Moab, but at La Sal this was almost reversed." No such microenvironment exists today in Grand or San Juan Counties, as every inch of usable land had at least once seen cattle hooves breaking through the crust of ancient soils.

 

Some would say that Moab exists in a desert, which has always been a desert and those who wish it to be otherwise should forget about it. Rather than a desert, early accounts tell us that the Spanish Valley resembled a Garden of Eden. I, for one believe that it can be so once again, but only if a portion of the available water supply goes toward reestablishment of native plants and natural habitats in what post cattle-boom settlers called Poverty Flat.

 

The source for all Spanish Valley aquifers, reservoirs such as Ken’s Lake and streams is the Sierra La Sal, southeast of Moab. Over the years, cattle and sheep ranching in Southern Utah and Northern Arizona have denuded much of the land. Now, each spring, dust storms arise on the Navajo Reservation, north of Kayenta, Arizona. Prevailing winds carry the dust north, through Bluff, Blanding and Monticello, Utah. As the storms intensify, their vortices vacuum the land of soil. As the storms lift into the cool air surrounding the La Sal Range, they dump their blanket of soil in muddy rainstorms reminiscent of biblical disasters.

 

In the spring of 2009, one such storm hit both the La Sal Range and Moab. Starting as a dust storm more powerful than any current resident of Moab could recall, the accompanying deluge of muddy rain painted every car in Moab with the red and brown colors of desert soil. After the storm, the remaining snowpack in the high country glowed pink in the afternoon light. With the pink snow having a higher albedo, solar energy rapidly melted what remained. This gave Ken’s Lake only a quick shot of water, which was not enough to satisfy the demand for irrigation water. During the resultant draining of the lake, recreational and environmental interests received no consideration at all.

 

Many streams in the La Sal Range converge at Upper Mill Creek, from which a 650-foot unlined tunnel diverts part of the natural flow to Ken’s Lake. In decades past, the inflow to the lake came gradually and continued throughout the spring and into the summer. In recent years, Ken’s Lake receives one rapid shot of water during spring snowmelt, and then must rely on rainfall for replenishment throughout the summer and fall. With a combination of decreased snowpack, rapid snowmelt and over-subscription of water rights, Ken’s Lake becomes another symbol of the degraded environment around Moab.

 

Officially, the Utah Department of Environmental Quality/Division of Water Quality has washed its hands of the environmental issues at Ken’s Lake. Their written statement is, “Temperature impairment is a result of natural causes. The energy input is a direct result of heating by the sun”. To anyone who visits Ken’s Lake in the fall or winter, it is obvious that a lack of stored water causes wild swings in lake water temperatures. Neglect, abuse and overuse of grazing lands and water sources upstream and upwind of Ken’s Lake have creating a mud puddle in the fall and a frozen ice sheet in the winter.

 

When first built, authorities assumed that Ken’s Lake would be a warm water fishery. In the days before agricultural interests routinely drained the lake dry each summer, a diverse cold-water fishery established itself there. While casting a blind eye toward the end of cold-water fisheries in the area, the Utah Division of Water Quality plans to designate the lake as a warm water fishery. To the state, it to be a question of, “Warm water, cold water; who cares?” Ironically, the minuscule size of the lake during fall and winter allows it to freeze solid. As the BLM puts on its blinders and looks the other way, some local residents use the frozen pond for ice-skating. How even the most callous bureaucrats could designate an oft frozen pond as a warm-water fishery defies my imagination.

 

The number of cattle in the Ken’s lake watershed and nearby dry areas such as Behind the Rocks is lower today than it was in the 1890s and perhaps even lower than in the 1990s. Still, damage done over more than a century of abuse will not repair itself while the trampling and overgrazing continue. Only by fencing off the most sensitive and degraded areas from all grazing will the land regenerate itself. On demonstration plots, volunteers could replant native species of ground cover. With permission from those who “own” shares, maybe a squirt or two of Ken’s Lake water would facilitate re-vegetation at those sites.

 

It is time for independent-minded farmers in the Spanish Valley to forgo a small portion of their Ken's Lake water allotments. Do farmers need up to six cuttings of alfalfa in a single season, or could they get by with three or four? In the summer, a trip south on Spanish Valley Drive is like an obstacle course. Each day, profligately wasted water showers vehicles at several places along the road. If you need a quick car wash, it only takes a few minutes for complete inundation. One needs to look no farther than the permanent water stains on the roadway to see who is at fault. In a better world, farmers would relinquish a small portion of their sacrosanct entitlements in favor of the greater good. If so, Ken’s Lake might live up to Ken McDougald’s vision of an agricultural reservoir that also provides year-round recreational opportunities to residents and visitors alike.

 

In their state of denial, the BLM, the state of Utah and the GWSSA cannot see or admit that Ken’s Lake is a serial disaster, which might fit easily into the plot of the movie, Groundhog Day. Only when ranchers, farmers and government officials admit that the environment can no longer sustain a mid-twentieth century approach to water and grazing entitlements, will there be change.

 

I see a day in the not too distant future when all the stakeholders in this environmental, economic and political conundrum will rise to the occasion. When they do, they shall discover a process whereby we can save Ken’s Lake from its current state of repetitive annual destruction.

Article updated 08/23/18

Comment from a friend: You are so right! One item not mentioned (DOG POLLUTION). No one picks up after their dog. THANKS - Scott Taylor

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By James McGillis at 03:34 PM | Environment | Comments (1) | Link

 

 

Only One Ranchette Remaining at Moab Ranch - 2010 

In 2006, I stayed at the Moab Rim Campark for most of the fall. After a series of unrelenting storms pushed me south to sunny Arizona, I made plans to come back to Moab and the Spanish Valley as soon as weather permitted.

 

In the spring of 2007, I was back at the RV Park and ready to look at property. Jim Farrell, the owner of the Moab Rim Campark is also a local developer. After touring other available parcels, Jim suggested that I look at Pueblo Verde Estates, which is one of his development projects.

 

Soon, I had money down on a one-third acre lot. At the time, only the roads and utilities were completed. Even so, I could see that this would soon become one of the premier developments in Moab and the Spanish Valley. Standing on level ground at the site, one has spectacular views in all directions. To the West is the Moab Rim, its crenulated sandstone ridge looks impossibly steep and tall. It reminds me of the Grand Canyon, but from the bottom, looking up. To the northeast is the La Sal Range, which includes several peaks greater than 12,500 feet in elevation.

 

Over the next three years, I observed the development activities at Pueblo Verde Estates several times each year. During the build-out, my friend Mary Wright was the sales agent for the modular homes planned for each parcel. To help her efforts, I developed the Moab Estates website, which included the first live webcam from the upper Spanish Valley.

 

When the economy slowed in 2008, the developers of Pueblo Verde Estates teamed up with the Housing Authority of Southeastern Utah. Over the next two years, the housing authority built high quality, affordable homes on each of the remaining lots. The unique project involved federal government grants and sweat-equity provided by the future homeowners. When completed, the project included more affordable housing units than any similar project in the history of that federal program. Now, those three-bedroom, two-bath homes are a financial and aesthetic credit to their owners and to their neighborhood.

In 2008, I realized that the remaining Ranchettes were an untapped treasure for their future owners. Each Ranchette is almost 2.5 acres in size and includes surrounding open space, dedicated to that purpose. Access is via wide paved roads, which include concrete curbs and gutters.  Underground utilities, include water, sewer, electricity, natural gas, telephone and cable TV, all of which are in and paid for.

 

In order to inform prospective buyers, I developed the Moab Ranch website. Recently, I completed an update to that website. Now you can view the remaining Ranchette on an interactive map and take a video tour of Moab Ranch. Additionally, you can view a webcam that streams live from the property.

 

Author's Note - November 10, 2013: When the word gets out that only one horse property, complete with unobstructed La Sal Range views, is available for $95,000, the final Ranchette will sell fast. No other property in Moab has all of the amenities you will find at Moab Ranch, at any price.

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Help Conserve Moab's Water - Drink Rare Utah Wines - 2009

 

 

Help Conserve Moab's Water - Drink Rare Utah Wines 

During our October 2009, visit to Moab, Utah, we noticed that fall color had arrived in the Spanish Valley. The deciduous trees showed bright yellow leaves, but the scarcity of freezing weather had produced few of the burnt-orange or flame-red leaves we had hoped to see.

 

Before the sun drops behind the Moab Rim, there is often good light to the north and east. From my vantage point at the Moab Rim CamPark, the Slickrock sparkled in the late afternoon sun. Likewise, the Moab Rim reflected light along the length of its crest. To the east, clouds shaded the La Sal Range. Dark green foliage faded into dark gray granite near their summit. As the cloud formation moved slowly across the sky, its virga veil trailed below. With the recent warm, dry weather, there was no snow, even on the highest peaks. In the high country, autumn was over, but winter had not yet begun. From the top to bottom, the relict forest of aspen seemed to have dropped its leaves all at once, leaving behind only a trace of color.

 

The next morning, Carrie McCoy and I set off to explore in and around the Spanish Valley. Our first stop was at Johnsons on Top, a mesa bounded by Mill Creek Canyon to the north and the Spanish Valley to the south. Several years ago, Grand County and the State of Utah approved a low-density, high-end residential development on that mesa. When the real estate market dematerialized, that project, known as Cloudrock went on hiatus.

 

Since last year, the only “improvement” to the mesa was additional signage admonishing off-road vehicle drivers to stay on the road. For years, the access gate at the road has made it look like an entrance to private property. Only the locals and a few Moab old-timers know that there is an undeveloped mesa at Johnsons on Top. It follows that marauding outsiders probably did not make the many off-road tracks we saw that day. More likely, some locals felt entitled to make a social road wherever and whenever they pleased, even if it was across Utah Trust Land.

 

At the far rim of the mesa, we snapped our “MoabLive” outdoor portraits. From that high ground, we saw Mill Creek Canyon below. The dust storms of spring 2009 had hastened snowmelt upstream in the La Sal Range. Pools of sand, terraced in the streambed, provided an illusion of flowing water. A photo of the La Sal Range that we took from that spot one year prior showed a snowpack at high elevation.

 

When the creek went dry, the Grand Water and Sewer Service Agency (GWSSA) had to close its Sheley Diversion Tunnel from Mill Creek. When water no longer flowed down the tunnel to Ken’s Lake, the reservoir had no other replenishment source. By October 2009, demand for irrigation had drained the reservoir almost to the elevation of its outfall pipe. Over-subscription and overuse of Ken’s Lake water resources are now a fact. If early snowmelt becomes the norm, future years may bring only one brief shot at filling Ken’s lake. As the major source of irrigation water for the Spanish Valley, that resource may now be too valuable to support large-scale alfalfa farming in the desert.

 

Using data collected in 2001, the Utah Department of Environmental Quality/Division of Water Quality (DEQ/DWQ) found increased temperature to be the major “pollutant” present in Ken’s Lake. Blaming it on solar heating alone, the DEQ/DWQ petitioned the U.S. EPA to reclassify the lake as a “warm water fishery”, rather than to find ways to retain its old designation as a “cold water fishery”. In so doing, they ignored the fact that only 400 acre feet of water is normally present in Ken's Lake at the end of any summer season. Perhaps it was not obvious to the state agency, but such a small pool of water exposed to the summer sun near Moab would rise in temperature.

 

The solution to this dilemma rests largely with farmers in the Spanish Valley. By leaving a higher residual waterline in the lake each year, that larger mass should not heat up as quickly as the smaller pool now does. That would require a "conservation mentality", rather than the current "extraction mentality". In October 2009, there was barely enough water in Ken's Lake to support a small warm water fish population. It would soon drop to its minimum level, after providing Spanish Valley grape growers the final shot of irrigation water necessary to protect their rootstock from the coming winter freeze. In less than ten years, Ken’s Lake has gone from full to empty and from cold to warm. If spring 2010 again brings dust storms to the La Sal Range, expect to see hotter water and less of it at Ken’s Lake. With the recent spate of regional dust storms and the continued drying of the western climate, we believe that the new pattern of rapid snowmelt is likely to continue.

 

Departing the mesa, we came upon a ridge overlooking the Spanish Valley. From there we saw a high desert environment, sprinkled with irrigated fields, ranchettes and homes. With the Pueblo Verde Tract directly below us, we scanned the valley for other signs of irrigated life. In the center of the valley, we saw greenery that was the vineyards at the Spanish Valley Vineyards and Winery. According to their website, the estate comprises several acres of vineyard and its attendant small farm winery, both of which are owned and operated by the Dezelsky Family. There, they grow and produce wines made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Gewurztraminer and Riesling grapes, as well as a unique cherry wine.

  

Having found the tasting room closed Sundays, on a Monday afternoon we made our second attempt to visit the winery. Located on Zimmerman Lane, just off Highway 191 South, the winery would benefit from a “cultural location sign” on the highway. In California, each wine-growing county provides tasteful highway signage directing motorists to local wineries. Perhaps Utah will see both the economic and the environmental light and then begin promoting their rare vineyards and wineries.

 

When nearby Arches Vineyards and Winery ceased production, the Dezelsky’s bought their remaining stock of bulk wine, finishing it under the Spanish Valley Winery label. In 1998, the owners of Red Cliffs Lodge purchased Arches Winery, collocating it with the lodge and renaming it Castle Creek Winery. When Castle Creek Winery opted to purchase grapes from outside of the state, that left Spanish Valley Winery as the last which grows, produces and bottles only Utah appellation wines. In almost any state other than Utah, that alone would be enough to elevate the winery to the status of a cultural landmark. In a state which legalized bonded wine making only in 1988, the state's overall attitude towards wineries and wine making remains one of indifference and neglect.

 

One needs to look only as far away as the Mimbres Valley near Deming, New Mexico to find St. Clair Vineyard and Winery producing and bottling a fine New Mexico Zinfandel, among other varietals. Luna Rossa Winery also grows and produces in the Mimbres Valley, at an elevation similar to the Spanish Valley. Both valleys sit atop large aquifers. The sensible way in which New Mexico supports desert viticulture provides an example of how Utah might support its own growers and producers.

 

As a bonded winery, Spanish Valley Winery represents a way of life once thought to have great promise in Southeastern Utah. Our friend Jim Farrell told us that his Moab Rim Campark used to include the phrase “and Vineyard” on its highway sign. Patrons of the RV Park loved the ambiance that the vineyard provided. When interest in viticulture waned in this century, Jim redeveloped the vineyard into a row of rental spaces for recreational vehicles. Although he enjoyed being a grower, economics dictated that Jim sacrifice romance for economic necessity. 

In the 1970s, a University of Arizona viticulture survey found great promise in the Spanish Valley. With its highly mineralized, gravelly soil, hot days and cool nights, the study concluded that the Spanish Valley had potential to become one of the premier viticulture areas in the country. That survey, plus the backing of one Utah state agency encouraged locals to plant grapes. In the late 1980s, just as the first viable crops matured, another state agency declared that winemaking was illegal in Utah. By 1988, when winemaking became legal in Utah, many of the early growers had abandoned or removed their vineyards. The few stalwart growers remaining near Moab have only Spanish Valley and Castle Creek wineries as outlets for the sale of their grapes.

 

More recently, former Governor Jon Huntsman pushed the Utah legislature to rationalize Utah's liquor laws. Until then, the unofficial stance by the state was disdain for Utah winemaking and sales at its wineries. Since the 1970’s, whenever latter-day Utah wine makers went up against the moral strictures of the Latter Day Saints Church, the winemakers lost every time. Even now, one cannot taste or purchase wine on a Sunday or holiday at any Utah winery. An official summary of Utah Liquor Laws does not even mention wineries or their tasting rooms. With almost sixty days of forced closure each year, how can any business expect to prosper? This is ironic in Utah, which retains a state monopoly on the sale of all packaged liquor, except for beer. With politics, morality and economics stacked against Utah’s small farm wineries, is it any wonder that this potentially rich viticulture area grows alfalfa instead of grapes?

 

As of this writing, the Spanish Valley Vineyard and Winery is offered for sale. For over twenty years, the Dezelsky’s have either worked for or owned the operation. By their choice, it is time for them to move on. A sale of the property will allow a new owner to build on their solid reputation as producers of Utah appellation wines. For less than two million dollars, a new owner could own acres of cultivated vineyards, an abundance of high tech equipment and facilities that could handle far larger production.

 

In 2009, the Christian Science Monitor wrote that the Four Corners area is already hotter and drier than it was fifteen years ago. Not since the Great Disappearance of Pre-Puebloan Indians around 1200 CE, has the climate been this hot or dry. With that knowledge, the State of Utah should actively encourage, rather than discourage its citizens from growing grapes and producing wine. An easy way to show that they care would be to allow bonded wineries to offer tasting and retail sales on Sundays and some holidays. For the moralists among us, the overall consumption of alcohol in Utah would not rise perceptibly. Raising water-stingy grapes with drip-irrigation might then become a viable economic alternative to growing water-thirsty alfalfa in the desert. Additionally, Utah should allow tasteful highway signage, directing visitors to each rare and unique winery in the state.

 

When dust bowl storms swept across the Great Plains in the 1930’s, the federal government Shelterbelt Program encouraged farmers to plant trees as windbreaks, thus retaining loose soil in their fields. Farmers and ranchers in Southeastern Utah should likewise be encouraged to plant grape-arbor windbreaks adjacent to their fields. By doing so, the arbors could help diminish the intensity of regional dust storms that now plague the area. At Monument Valley High School, Utah, a small plot of grapes grows near the athletic field. Could this signal a renaissance in viticulture in Southeastern Utah? For the sake of the few remaining warm-water fish in Ken’s Lake and all of us who love Utah wines, we hope so.

 

After leaving the winery, we spotted a large American Bison resting in the well-watered yard of a home on Spanish Valley Drive. In the 1870s, bison herds were so large that transcontinental rail traffic often halted for hours so that the animals could cross the tracks. Despite their historically large numbers, they did not destroy their natural environment. As the wheels of off-road vehicles sink ever deeper into the soft soils of Johnsons on Top and other mesas, we must face facts. Creation of new social roads in the desert threatens both our soil and our water. Inadequate water conservation threatens to leave us like that lone bison, resting under the desert sun on the last patch of irrigated soil in the Spanish Valley.

 

When off-road enthusiasts eschew new social roads, alfalfa farmers take less water from Ken’s Lake and all of Utah begins supporting its homegrown wine industry, we may yet again see balance in the water cycle of the Spanish Valley, Utah.

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By James McGillis at 12:58 PM | Environment | Comments (0) | Link