I was working on a comment to post on YouTube with the video, but it got way too long.
A “must watch” for anyone interested in the Colorado River Basin and why we need to take action NOW, drain Lake Powell, restore Glen Canyon, KEEP the water in Lake Mead, and then we have a few years to deal with pollution and water rights.
My video comments, a good draft:
Thanks Mojo and Mrs. Mojo, excellent stream!
I just found Joey’s Dtech channel and will be checking his videos.
I didn’t know about the silt at the Lake Powell dam, it makes sense.
With everyone talking about the water rights, awaiting the Bureau of Reclamation’s decision on who gets how much water, and its horrific decision to waste upriver reservoirs’ water on Lake Powell, NOW is the time to ACT.
ALL hands on deck!
Lawsuits must be filed, including injunctions to stop draining upstream reservoirs immediately. The tribes and other affected parties, we all have to move into overdrive!
Nobody, not even the Natives, should be farming near the river, adding more pollutants. Instead, focus on CLEAN drinking water, and possibly some water for farming, as long as there’s fertilizer runoff into the river. If you’re interested in Native history, the novel Gardens in the Dunes is one of my favorite books:
https://www.amazon.com/GARDENS-DUNES-Leslie-Marmon-Silko/dp/0684863324?
This would be a great opportunity to implement 21st-century high-density farming techniques, permaculture, greenhouses, etc. We can’t move back to the past, have to focus on our FUTURE.
You mentioned the LV Springs Preserve, and I visited it in 2015 with the Kingman master gardeners. So INSPIRING! Do they not have a spring anymore?
I’m very disturbed by big non-profits being so silent — whose payroll are they on?
Why is the Glen Canyon Institute entirely IGNORING the water QUALITY?
I watched a TERRIBLE ABC News interview, will have to find that again. It was so awful, I wondered whether the Glen Canyon Institute got paid off or ABC did super weird edits.
We must DRAIN Lake Powell because:
- It loses so much water to evaporation and the ground
- It PREHEATS the water for the TOXIC blue-green algae
We must KEEP the Lake Powell water in Lake Mead. Dilute the LV treated sewage, and then work to clean up that “treated” sewage and reduce pollution by river runners and maybe even boaters?
Does everybody dump their PEE into the LV drinking water?
The most important issue is to immediately STOP wasting what little water is left in Lake Powell, and STOP the Bureau of Reclamation from draining other reservoirs.
The people in charge at the federal government are STUPID (or just incredibly corrupt?) — just look at the REFLECTING POOL! Extraordinary incompetence and corruption with our tax $$$ funneled to their friends.
I just discovered that keeping Lake Powell is all about PROFITS.
The Utah tourist industry — the usual corruption. It’s all about $$$ for businesses.
As Mojo said so well:
Everything here, folks, is cause and effect. From the Rocky Mountains up where the snowpack happens, all the way down the river to Mexico. Everything you do on this river is cause and effect all the way down.
I’ll have to add Desert Rat’s video at the border ASAP, absolutely shocking.
While I’m extremely concerned about LV polluting the water with the treated sewage, that can easily be fixed. Only takes $$$.
However, it’s the venture-capitalist monoculture FARMING that’s causing major problems, not only wasting water, but also affecting the quality of the food. I don’t want to eat food grown with toxic water, from sewage to toxic bacteria!
LV paid a fortune to remove lawns etc. to minimize water use, but you cannot expand forever, for so many reasons, and the LV water will likely become a LOT more expensive once it’s filtered properly so it no longer POLLUTES the lake.
Additionally, keep in mind, it’s irrelevant how much treated water you return to the lake if NO fresh water comes for your drinking water!
You might as well bypass returning it to the lake and just send it directly back into LV kitchens, perpetually. Obviously, there’s some water loss to address, as well as MORE PEOPLE moving in. Build a desalination plant. Desert Rat mentioned one in his border video, and he said they’re not running it because it is too expensive.
You mention the “clean” water downstream from Hoover Dam.
I just read a FB comment claiming that it smells like “outhouse” every afternoon when a lot of water is released by Hoover Dam. Fact check anyone? Too bad we can’t post odors!
The massive blue-green algae in Lake Mohave certainly indicate that there is way too much pollution (nutrients) for the bacteria to thrive.
Just because the water “looks” clean doesn’t mean it’s not “treated” sewage.
You are correct about Arizona’s mismanagement of water.
I still have former AZ Gov. Ducey’s (R) glossy publication INVITING corporations to farm in Arizona!
So corrupt.
You also mentioned our new governor, Hobbs (D), taking serious legal action, especially against foreign corporations that are draining the aquifers and leaving residents’ wells dry. Essentially, Saudi farms export our precious water! Entire towns now rely on expensive water delivery, and retirees are forced to abandon their homes.
It’s politics, all about PROFITS, kickbacks, campaign contributions, contracts, corruption. Your votes matter, but it’s irrelevant right now because we need immediate action to stop the Bureau of Reclamation from draining upstream reservoirs: lawsuits!
On my side of Lake Mead, we watched the water recede at Pierce Ferry. The campground is miles from the water now. First, the salt cedar was thriving, then dying. It looks rather grim now. The native plants did NOT come back yet. No wildflowers, no cacti.
I do agree with the Bureau of Reclamation re-evaluating water rights every two years, DISCOURAGING more development.
Even the Supreme Court will not end uncertainty, as a new administration, LEGISLATION, and judges retiring will change rulings. Remember abortion rights being overturned? NO certainty ever. Even the Constitution is being reinterpreted.
It’s so interesting to see you “city people”, while I moved to the DESERT.
I could not have cared less about Lake Mead back in 2000 and never had a boat.
I love the solitude, the plants, the animals, and I’m happy when I don’t see anyone for a few days, or weeks, except for my volunteers (natural building, adobe, etc.)
It wasn’t until I recently saw the LMNRA pictures of the TOXIC blue-green algae in Lake Mohave on Facebook that I dove down this rabbit hole.
Next, Mohave County District 4 Supervisor Don Martin outright refused to demand warning signs for South Cove, and he is in complete DENIAL (likely dementia).
Don Martin conspired with AZ state legislators to divert STATE funds for South Cove boat launch improvements, and he has categorically refused to disclose how much AZ taxpayers paid and how this even happened. South Cove is inside the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, and the NPS should have paid.
There is so much to research.
Did Trump really revoke allocated NPS funds?
If so, why?
AZ State Representative Leo Biasiucci (R, District 30) is campaigning hard.
Most local boaters vote for boating and are not very smart. Biasiucci panders to boaters in local Meadview groups, protecting the PROFITS of local businesses, real estate investors, and brokers while ignoring how old, sick, and poor residents suffer and die here, with many committing suicide with saved-up opiates.
I will request Leo Biasiucci and Don Martin’s comments to add to this page.
Will they continue to ignore me?
I used to take my dogs to the lake and river, and we had so much fun.
It’s just not right to pollute so much that you can’t even take your dogs anymore without risking their lives. The dead coyote should have been autopsied by the NPS. I can only apologize to all whom I took swimming in that polluted water. I really did not know how bad it was.
Now is the time to prevent ALL fish from dying, like in the mismanaged San Carlos Reservoir (Rio Grande) a few weeks ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccu46R_9gQc
“ASU lawyer says drought and water laws led to the death of the entire fish population in San Carlos Lake.”
So much litigation about the Rio Grande, the exact same water rights issues, and a court ruled that farms had to be purchased to conserve water. It CAN be done, and it’s the blueprint for the Colorado River Basin. I love Hatch chili, but I don’t mind paying double, triple … it’s irrelevant. We need to save the rivers!
Thank you so much for your reporting, Mojo and Mrs. Mojo!