Colorado River - Perfect Flood - 2009

 

Hey, what's that Sound? Is it the "Perfect Flood"? 

On June 22, 2009, the first full day of summer, we drove the Potash Road (Utah Route 279), beginning at its junction with U.S. Highway 191 North, near Moab, Utah. A paved highway, Potash Road parallels Kane Creek Access Road, on the opposite bank of the Colorado River. Both roads meander downstream from Moab and the Spanish Valley.

 

Watch the Action - The Potash Road Moab, Utah 2009

 

On the west bank, Potash Road skirts the Moab Pile, which occupies most of the floodplain along the outside radius of the river bend. When we stopped downstream of the pile and looked across, we saw charred evidence of the October 22, 2008 Matheson Wetlands fire. The high water table there has encouraged new growth in that unique and vital wetland habitat, but years will pass before nature erases the scar.

 

The Matheson Wetlands occupy a floodplain along the inside radius of this unique Colorado River bend. Its uniqueness as a riparian environment stems from the lack of canyon walls on either side of the bend. From the east, Spanish Valley descends gradually, until it meets the wetlands within the ancient flood plain. Despite a setback from the fire, The Nature Conservancy's ecologists are midway through a plan to bring back a natural flow of water throughout the Matheson Wetlands.

 

Water use planning in the Four Corner states, Nevada and Southern California depends on the stability and ultimate removal of the radioactive landfill, known as the Moab Pile. The fragile position of the Moab Pile is what most concerns downstream water planners in Phoenix, Las Vegas and Los Angeles. They know that documented paleofloods of enormous size periodically scour the flood plain of the Colorado in that location. At least two megafloods occurred in the past several thousand years. In such a flood, the broken megaliths that line the canyon upstream of the pile could be set loose, battering the vulnerable pile and washing it into the Colorado River channel. If it happened that recently, it could happen again.

 

In a “Perfect Flood” scenario, there would be heavy snowfall during a cold winter in the Colorado Plateau watershed. With an entire winter’s snowpack still in place, dust storms of enormous size could arise from the over-grazed Navajo Indian Reservation, to the South. Contemporary dust storms create weather vortices that are orders of magnitude larger than the largest firestorms. As the storms move across Southeastern Utah, land long overgrazed by ranchers and more recently overrun by off-road vehicles ads to the problem. If a series of such storms carried sufficient airborne soil, followed by rain, a blanket of dust could melt the Colorado Plateau snowpack in short order. At its peak, the subsequent flood could engulf the Moab Pile and wash its toxic and radioactive material downstream towards Lake Powell.

 

Currently, there is an active effort to relocate the Moab Pile to the new Moab Mountain, location at Crescent Junction, Utah. According to current Department of Energy (DOE) estimates, the removal project will take until 2022-2025. Depending on materials and conditions found in the core of the pile, those estimates are subject to change. As of this writing, the most optimistic estimates are for a thirteen-year project. Meanwhile, engineers and planners have done little to protect the pile from the potential of a Perfect Flood, as described above. The only observable difference at the site is the widening of a dry watercourse adjacent to the upstream side of the pile. The widening and deepening of that arroyo is all that stands between the river and the safety of the Lower Colorado Basin water supply and its seventeen million users.

 

If a Perfect Flood were to hit the pile before its complete removal, life in the West would never be the same. Communities and individuals whose water sources are upstream of the pile would be safe. Those living downstream of the potential washout could find Colorado River water unfit for home, industrial or agricultural consumption. If our water supply experienced a dramatic spike in chemicals, heavy metals and radioactive waste, we would immediately seek a different water source.

 

If seventeen million residents had to find new water supplies or perish, the Southwestern U.S. would face depopulation far greater than the Anasazi Disappearance, around 1200 CE. Financially, the Perfect Flood would make the estimated $150 billion cost of Hurricane Katrina look diminutive, by comparison. From Moab, Utah, to its dry and neglected delta, at the Sea of Cortez, Mexico, the Colorado River would become a river of death.

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By James McGillis at 11:45 AM | | Comments (0) | Link

When "Moderate" Fire Danger Turns "Extreme" At Pack Creek - 2009

 

When "Moderate" Fire Danger Turns "Extreme" At Pack Creek

On June 24, 2009, we departed Moab, Utah, heading for Navajo National Monument, about 225 miles south.  After viewing the Pueblo Verde Ranchettes, at Moab Ranch, we noticed smoke reaching skyward to our east.  A fire of recent origin appeared to burn across a steep ridge, just below the slopes of the La Sal Range.

 

We motored up Spanish Valley Drive to where it becomes Geyser Pass Road, in Northern  San Juan County.  Since we were towing a travel trailer, it did not seem prudent get any closer.  Noting that it was 1:45 PM MDT, we snapped a few pictures from there, and then headed south on U.S. Highway 191, towards Monticello, Utah. 

 

During our brief viewing period, we saw neither aircraft nor ground crews heading towards the fire.  Around us, everything was "busines as usual".  To us it seemed that a fast-moving fire was not a problem to anyone in the area.

 

When we wrote this article on July 7, 2009, we searched for any news regarding the fire, but no articles surfaced on the subject.  Although we still do not know exactly what happened that day, here are the pictures to prove that it is a dry summer in Moab and Spanish Valley, Utah.

 

As smoke continued to billow, we thought that perhaps it was time for local fire officials to change their signs from “moderate” to "extreme" fire danger.

 

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By James McGillis at 06:09 PM | | Comments (0) | Link

The Moab Rim Escarpment - As it is Above, So it is Below - 2008

The Moab Rim Escarpment - As it is Above, So it is Below

One of the things that I love about Moab, Utah is the juxtaposition of desert and mountain environments.  Midway between those two extremes is the Moab Rim, a towering escarpment that overlooks the Spanish Valley and the town of Moab. 

 

Geology of the Moab Rim

 

According to information on the website “The Geologic History of Moab”, during the “Tertiary Period, the Moab Fault allowed salt to erode, collapsing the center of an anticline.  A fault line runs down either side of the Moab valley, joining just upstream of the Moab Uranium Pile, near the entrance to Arches National Park.  Perhaps because of water running down along the fault line, salt dissolved away deep under the rock of Moab.  The overlying slab sunk down, creating a 'collapsed anticline' that is the Spanish and Moab valley”. 

 

Bisected, as it is, by the Colorado River, one wonders if the whole valley might at one time have been a lake, impounded on the downstream side by that solid rim.  If so, did it slowly and inexorably wear away until the river canyon established itself, finally reaching the natural, smooth gradient that the river exhibits today?  If any geologists know the answer to this question, we would love to hear about it via email.

 

The Grand Canyon of the Colorado River is famous to most visitors as a place where we look down and into the canyon.  The Spanish Valley is a place, similar to Zion National Park where, for the most part, we look up to the canyon rim. 

 

One exception to this is if you hike the Hidden Valley Trail, which climbs 680 from the valley floor to the top of the rim and a final elevation of 5270 feet.  From there, one has myriad views that include Potash, Moab, the Spanish Valley and Geyser Pass in the Manti La Sal National Forest.  Since the whole hike is only two miles one-way, it should be on the “to do list” of every reasonably fit visitor to Moab.

 

If you plan to hike the trail, it is best to start early, before the heat of the day.  Take plenty of water and a camera to document the spectacular scenery and late season wild flowers.  Since this is a protected area, do not stray from the path, as even one off-path hiker can leave tracks that will not heal for years, if not decades in this fragile environment.

 

Another way to enjoy the Moab Rim is from below.  My favorite place for doing this is west off of Highway 191 on Canyon Rim Road, which starts on the south end of the Moab Rim Campark (at 1900 South Highway, 191, Moab, Utah).  The pavement ends just past the power lines that parallel Highway 191.  If you continue up the dirt road, you can park where the road turns right and get out of your car.  With its easy access and immediate remoteness, it is a great place for a disabled visitor to get away from civilization for a bit.

 

If you have four-wheel drive, or are riding a mountain bike, you can continue on to a series of connecting dirt tracks that take you to the base of the Moab Rim.  Either way, there are several desert watercourses (dry, except during a storm) that you can walk without damaging the fragile soils and plant life that you will encounter.

 

One of the best times to visit the base of the Moab Rim is at dusk.  From there, you can watch the sun set behind the rim and see Moab transform from an apparent lake of trees into its nighttime incarnation as a brightly lit tourist town.  You will still hear traffic on the highway, but it is muted and unobtrusive.  After the sun dips below the Moab Rim, the desert air will cool considerably, so bring at least one layer of clothing beyond what feels right while the sun is still up.

 

Since this is one of my favorite places in the Spanish Valley, please do our environment a favor if you visit here.  Bring a plastic grocery bag and fill it with any beer bottles or other small trash you might find there.  If each visitor removes even a small amount of trash, the occasional “hell raiser” will be less likely to see this as an open dumping ground.

 

If the Moab Rim were located anywhere else except among the profusion of natural wonders that surround the Spanish Valley, it would probably rank National Monument status.  Since it is open land and policed on the honor system by the Bureau of Land Management, I hope that everyone who cares about the Moab Rim will help protect and enjoy its unspoiled beauty.

 

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By James McGillis at 07:35 PM | | Comments (0) | Link

From This Valley They Say You Are Leaving... 2007

From This Valley They Say You Are Leaving...

On Friday September 28, 2007 I will depart from Moab, Utah. After leaving Durango on the Autumnal Equinox, I met Carrie late that evening at the airport in Grand Junction, now touted as the center of Colorado’s wine country. From there, we drove the 110 miles to Moab, much of it in a heavy rainstorm. Upon arrival in Moab, the early storm had passed, so we did a quick setup of the coach and turned in for the night.

 

Having lived in my travel trailer for the better part of the past two years, the sound of rain falling overnight was a comfort to me. In the morning, Carrie was amazed that I could sleep through a downpour of such biblical proportions, but sleep I did. As we drove around town the next day, I was confused upon seeing how much red earth had washed across the roads. Until we arrived at the Colorado River, I was skeptical that the overnight downpour could have caused such a shift in the landscape.
As you can see, by the next afternoon, it was a clear and beautiful day.

 

On our way up-river towards Castle Valley, I was amazed to see how much the river had risen and how turbulent and red its fabled waters flowed.

 

At Castle Valley itself, we found a display of light unlike any I had previously seen. Between the clouds, the late afternoon Sun and the geological features there, it was a sight to behold and to remember.  In this area, it is all too easy to take such breathtaking sights as commonplace.   Still, Mother Nature has her ability to stop you in your tracks and make you take notice.

 

After three days together in this most spiritual of lands, Carrie flew back to Burbank, California on Wednesday. I spent one additional day here in Moab. My excuse for doing so was to clean up some computer work and get ready for a three-day trip home to Simi Valley, California. Moab and the  Spanish Valley are now like old friends. Once you know them, you never want to leave them, but leave I must.

 

On Friday, I will stop at Navajo National Monument for one night of dry camping at 7300 ft.  It is the best free camping in the Four Corners area.  Also within the monument are some of the best preserved Pre-Puebloan Indian cliff and alcove dwellings, dating to around 1250 AD.

 

After a long pull, through Flagstaff, Arizona and Needles, California on Interstate 40, I will spend this Saturday night at Mojave National Preserve, a 1.4 million acre unspoiled desert paradise.  although hot in the summer, from late September until early April it is a wonderful place to spend a night or two during your travels on I-40.

 

I was pleased to discover that on her first trip here, Carrie loved Moab as much as I do. We are looking forward to spending time here each year. 

 

On Sunday, I will pull all the way to Simi Valley, California, where Carrie and I will be together again.

 

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