LVjetboy
11-28-2004, 08:18 PM
"Regardless of Drought, Floodgates Opened. Powell drained for 90 hours to save the humpback chub."
http://members.cox.net/lvjetboy/DrainPowell.jpg
This a recent (Wednesday November 24, 2004) "experiment" to help save chubs at the expense of Rainbow trout. Meanwhile Powell drops 3 feet. Interesting...an earlier (http://www.usatoday.com/news/science/enviro/2002-04-11-grand-canyon-flood.htm) "experimental flood" (1996) (http://www.usatoday.com/news/science/enviro/2002-04-11-grand-canyon-flood.htm) was a failure, but dam officials keep trying to appease the Sierra Club's wishes. Meanwhile, the most beautiful lake in the US takes second place to humpback chub...
http://members.cox.net/lvjetboy/SavePowell1.jpg
Nature's "good", man's bad? So the humpback chub are better than Rainbow trout?
What do you think?
Consider this...(by Paul Ostapuk):
"As an ex-Hate-the-Dammer, I can appreciate and understand some of the downstream environmental concerns like reduced sediment loading, the need for seasonal biological cues and temperature control modifications for the dam to warm the river.
However, I am disturbed by some of the recent tactics of the "Drain the Lake" faction. Too many reports are distorted and the press in its eagerness to report controversy doesn't take the time to apply a critical level of thinking to some of the arguments.
Some information is nonsensical. For example, I've read that the dam is ready to burst and when it goes that the town of Page of would be flooded. I've read that medical officials are warning pregnant women not to swim in Lake Powell, that the Lake will fill with silt in as little as 50 years and that the Colorado River corridor through the Grand Canyon was once a biologically rich Shangri-La and that now it is dead and dying.
FACTS: The dam has met and continues to meet every single safety inspection. The City of Page sits 1300' above river level where it is impossible to be flooded.
FACTS: Sonar data indicate a sedimentation rate that would take 700 years to fill the dam and this does not take into account any mitigating efforts like just letting some silt go through the jet tubes. And just because sediment will one day preclude power generation doesn't mean that we need to drain it now. Lake Powell will be around for thousands of years. It's eventual shallow lake ecosystem will still be an outstanding recreational area and play an important role as a wildlife refuge. One of the prettiest places I knew growing up was the quiet backwater area, a lush jungle of green growth and teeming with wildlife that just happened to be the silted backwater area (http://www.lakepowell.net/sabino.html) behind a small dam on Sabino Creek near Tucson.
Contrary to popular belief, the Colorado River corridor through the Grand Canyon is not dead and dying. The biological activity is quite vibrant. In fact, productivity has exploded by a factor of 5-10 from the harsh environment of the pre-dam days. Did you know that the number of beaver (http://www.lakepowell.net/beaver.html) have increased since the dam? (Carothers and Brown 1991)."
(LVjetboy) Here's one we took pictures of just last summer...
http://members.cox.net/lvjetboy/Beaver.jpg
Continued...
"That the number of wetland marshes (http://www.lakepowell.net/marsh.html) in the Grand Canyon had increased from just 10 in 1965 to over 65 in 1976? (Stevens and Ayers 1993)
The reality is that Lake Powell is a tremendous asset that is here to stay. Wouldn't it be better if we brought together our "dueling banjos", combined our collective energies and created some real music"? The Colorado River delta needs a guaranteed allocated supply of water. Why not put our environmental energies into doing something positive, something productive. The idea of more disturbance and more destructive actions fails to motivate me.
Can dams be operated better? Most certainly. Can we learn to appreciate the positive economic and environmental attributes of water storage? I would hope so. Can we learn from out past mistakes and move forward? Absolutely!
Living here at Lake Powell...I can tell you...you don't need to mourn. Birds sing and fish swim. There is more wildlife now than ever before... more beaver, more peregrine falcons, more bald eagles. And the recreation! I'm tired of fighting for permits, waiting 10 years to go on a raft trip and having to camp in pre-defined areas. In my eyes the biggest reason to keep Lake Powell is that it is truly he last great place for adventure and true recreation.
Drain Lake Powell and you'll be looking at 30 year waiting lists to raft. You'll have to wait in line to enter the distorted remains of Music Temple. It would be nothing like the mystical experience of those lucky few back in the 1950's. Much like the memories of your home town, the experience in your mind is much more satisfying than the reality of today's world."
What do you think?
jer
http://members.cox.net/lvjetboy/DrainPowell.jpg
This a recent (Wednesday November 24, 2004) "experiment" to help save chubs at the expense of Rainbow trout. Meanwhile Powell drops 3 feet. Interesting...an earlier (http://www.usatoday.com/news/science/enviro/2002-04-11-grand-canyon-flood.htm) "experimental flood" (1996) (http://www.usatoday.com/news/science/enviro/2002-04-11-grand-canyon-flood.htm) was a failure, but dam officials keep trying to appease the Sierra Club's wishes. Meanwhile, the most beautiful lake in the US takes second place to humpback chub...
http://members.cox.net/lvjetboy/SavePowell1.jpg
Nature's "good", man's bad? So the humpback chub are better than Rainbow trout?
What do you think?
Consider this...(by Paul Ostapuk):
"As an ex-Hate-the-Dammer, I can appreciate and understand some of the downstream environmental concerns like reduced sediment loading, the need for seasonal biological cues and temperature control modifications for the dam to warm the river.
However, I am disturbed by some of the recent tactics of the "Drain the Lake" faction. Too many reports are distorted and the press in its eagerness to report controversy doesn't take the time to apply a critical level of thinking to some of the arguments.
Some information is nonsensical. For example, I've read that the dam is ready to burst and when it goes that the town of Page of would be flooded. I've read that medical officials are warning pregnant women not to swim in Lake Powell, that the Lake will fill with silt in as little as 50 years and that the Colorado River corridor through the Grand Canyon was once a biologically rich Shangri-La and that now it is dead and dying.
FACTS: The dam has met and continues to meet every single safety inspection. The City of Page sits 1300' above river level where it is impossible to be flooded.
FACTS: Sonar data indicate a sedimentation rate that would take 700 years to fill the dam and this does not take into account any mitigating efforts like just letting some silt go through the jet tubes. And just because sediment will one day preclude power generation doesn't mean that we need to drain it now. Lake Powell will be around for thousands of years. It's eventual shallow lake ecosystem will still be an outstanding recreational area and play an important role as a wildlife refuge. One of the prettiest places I knew growing up was the quiet backwater area, a lush jungle of green growth and teeming with wildlife that just happened to be the silted backwater area (http://www.lakepowell.net/sabino.html) behind a small dam on Sabino Creek near Tucson.
Contrary to popular belief, the Colorado River corridor through the Grand Canyon is not dead and dying. The biological activity is quite vibrant. In fact, productivity has exploded by a factor of 5-10 from the harsh environment of the pre-dam days. Did you know that the number of beaver (http://www.lakepowell.net/beaver.html) have increased since the dam? (Carothers and Brown 1991)."
(LVjetboy) Here's one we took pictures of just last summer...
http://members.cox.net/lvjetboy/Beaver.jpg
Continued...
"That the number of wetland marshes (http://www.lakepowell.net/marsh.html) in the Grand Canyon had increased from just 10 in 1965 to over 65 in 1976? (Stevens and Ayers 1993)
The reality is that Lake Powell is a tremendous asset that is here to stay. Wouldn't it be better if we brought together our "dueling banjos", combined our collective energies and created some real music"? The Colorado River delta needs a guaranteed allocated supply of water. Why not put our environmental energies into doing something positive, something productive. The idea of more disturbance and more destructive actions fails to motivate me.
Can dams be operated better? Most certainly. Can we learn to appreciate the positive economic and environmental attributes of water storage? I would hope so. Can we learn from out past mistakes and move forward? Absolutely!
Living here at Lake Powell...I can tell you...you don't need to mourn. Birds sing and fish swim. There is more wildlife now than ever before... more beaver, more peregrine falcons, more bald eagles. And the recreation! I'm tired of fighting for permits, waiting 10 years to go on a raft trip and having to camp in pre-defined areas. In my eyes the biggest reason to keep Lake Powell is that it is truly he last great place for adventure and true recreation.
Drain Lake Powell and you'll be looking at 30 year waiting lists to raft. You'll have to wait in line to enter the distorted remains of Music Temple. It would be nothing like the mystical experience of those lucky few back in the 1950's. Much like the memories of your home town, the experience in your mind is much more satisfying than the reality of today's world."
What do you think?
jer