Canyon Country Zephyr | 2008-04-01 | Page 2

FTYR/ APRIL-MAY 2008 THE CANYON of course, it has to be. We said it would make an awful nice gift to the Southwest to save both of our biggest canyons. Think of the good PR for Lost Wages. She was also intrigued to learn that (we) will accept using Glen Canyon Dam as a backstop in wet years to a full Mead, as long as it is summarily drawn down... At any rate, it means the trend is going towards drawing down COUNTRY Z EeRorllk Powell... PO BOX 327 MOAB, UTAH 84532 JIM STILES, PUBLISHER i WWW. [ESE The writer’s enthusiasm is sincere, I believe, if not na- hur.com ive. And I seriously doubt if he/she sees the trap. eezephyr@ frontiernet.net [e-mail] CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Ken Sleight Martin Murie Ned Mudd Scott Silver Loch Wade Cecil Garland THE ARTIST John Depuy HISTORIC PHOTOGRAPHS Herb Ringer (1913-1998) ZEPHYR PILOT & AERIAL RECONAISSANCE Paul Swanstrom ZEPHYR TRANSPORTATION FLEET SPECIALISTS Gene Schafer Tom Wesson WEBMASTER Gary Henderson [e-mail] So. Is it possible that Ms. Mulroy has a genuine interest BY TEMS EES CECIL GARLAND’S QUIXOTIC FIGHT I met Cecil Garland once, more than 20 years ago, at a meeting of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, in Boulder, Utah. Incredibly (from a 2008 perspective), we were both SUWA board members. In those golden days, extreme wealth wasn’t a pre-condition to environmental board membership, though even then, I recall a rich wea- sel from Colorado who seemed to dominate the _ ings—I should have smelled a rat, even in 1985. In the end, neither of us were board-types left almost as quickly as we arrived. But I’ve Cecil's battles to save Utah’s West Desert from a long-distance one. When I heard of his efforts to fight the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s (SGNWA) morals of the United States are not merely food for laughter, they arean . entire banquet. scheme to pipe northern Nevada's water to Vegas, I knew Cecil’s voice needed to be heard in The Zephyr. His cover story begins on page 12. Cecil's arch nemesis in all this is Patty Mulroy, the “water czar” of Vegas, SNWA’s boss and the noisiest and most enthusiastic proponent of the pipeline. She solemnly swears that she has no desire to destroy the agricultural economy of rural Nevada, but at the same time darkly hints that perhaps the wisest and best use of all that water can be provided by a booming urban economy like Las Vegas. She claims that her city is taking great strides to reduce water waste and you’d almost think she was turning Las Vegans into role models for modest living. reduce water waste and you'd almost think she was turning Las Vegans into role models for modest living. I thought that was pretty funny, but then a few months ago, I received a copy of an email that was circulating on the web. It was a letter from one of Utah’s most prominent and respected environmentalists and it proposed that we consider the possibility of working with Ms. Mulroy, instead of fighting her. Ms. Mulroy is a brilliant tactician and a politician with a bright future. She knows what to say, to who, and in what context. She is a gifted manipulator. Especially in this case. In part, the email said: z Hi Everyone, We had an important meeting this week with Nevada water czar Pat Mulroy. The meeting was at her suggestion. First we enjoyed the day in sunny Las Vegas touring the amazing Springs Reserve, a brand new theme park/educational experience on the site of the former springs or vegas that prompted settlement in such a godforsaken place. This was Pat Mulroy’s brainchild, very very impressive, and foregrounding a message of conservation, yes, water conservation. Worth a look: http://www.springspreserve.org/html/origen_ live.html We met with Ms. Pat Mulroy herself in the afternoon for an hour. Very cordial and frank. She explained to us that the Lower Basin would be pleased to keep Mead full at the expense of PowMark Twain in drawing down Lake Powell? Should we really believe that Nevada's water czar is concerned about the restoration of eco-systems in flooded canyons of the Colorado River? On some level, she might genuinely care. She recently told High Country News, “1 would not have described myself as very environmentally responsible back in the early ‘90s,” she says. “Over the years, I have grown not only to understand and appreciate it, but have become very vocal about the need to think about the whole, including the en- vironment that we leave behind for our children.” Is it possible that Ms. Mulroy has a genuine interest in drawing down Lake Powell? Should we really believe that Nevada's water czar is concerned about the restoration of eco-systems in flooded canyons of the Colorado River? Maybe. But I doubt it’s what drives her. Pat Mulroy wants Las Vegas to keep growing. She’s savvy enough to realize she'll get no support for her pipeline if Las Vegans make no attempt to conserve the water they have. But make no mistake—she’s not ready to put a lid on Vegas and say, ‘This is as far as we go.’ She’s made that clear. And it raises the old question—if a city can find ways to, in this case, conserve water, that allows it to grow by another million, or two million people...is that a real accomplishment? What about the other resources that are consumed in that kind of mad growth? I suspect Patty sees an opportunity to co-opt environmentalists, to bind their hands with her own self-promoted good intentions, for the sole purpose of serving her not so She claims that her city is taking great strides to CIRCULATION Lance Lawrence Jose Churampi Doug Meyer The political — and commercial proceed- and we followed my bun- ker in southeast Utah, and have stayed an admirer, albeit SUBSCRIPTIONS & TRANSCRIPTIONS Linda Vaughan THE ZEPHYR, copyright 2008 The Zephyr is published six times a year at Moab, Utah. The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of its vendors, advertisers, or even at times, of its publisher. All photographs and cartoons are by the publisher, unless otherwise noted. : Also, incidentally, there is talk of her running for governor of NV, which she didn’t deny. So, this is an important relationship that we will keep close. Tt ell, but that the Upper Basin still clings to it as a count in case of a compact call...she was interested we thought that drawing down Powell would allow of two canyons in one fell swoop, that is Glen and savings acto hear that restoration Grand, if a sediment bypass was provided at Glen Canyon Dam——which 2 hidden agenda. If she supports a draw-down of Powell Reservoir, to keep Lake Meade full, is she hoping environmentalists will turn a blind eye to the pipeline? It’s happened before, for reasons that escape me. For example, the Grand Canyon Trust vehemently opposed the Lake Powell to St. George water pipeline for years. Its web site was full of press releases and position papers. Then, quietly those links were removed and any sign of their opposition to the pipeline vanished. When I emailed GCT’s water issues director, Nikolai Ramsey, he explained, “The Grand Canyon Trust made a capacity-based decision two years ago not to continue our heavy involvement in SW Utah with the exception of continued participation in a few ongoing issues like Virgin River... It has been our experience that growth is rarely, if ever, stopped by shutting off the water supply. If the people are coming, the water will be brought in, with politicians cheering all the way. “ Egads! That's like saying, ‘We can’t stop the use of automatic weapons, so why bother—they’ll get them if they really want to.’ Or...’If they really want the oil from the Arctic Wildlife Refuge, they'll get it...so why fight it?’ Still, with regard to the SNWA’s plans, keep in mind, there is nary a mention of the pipeline in the email, nor do I suse she ever raised the issue herself. Patty Mulroy is way too clever for that. The influence will be subtle, not blatant. But here’s the real question...do environmentalists even need Mulroy’s support? Does she hold any cards worth trading for? Or is global warming and a persistent drought in the desert southwestern United States making her willingness to “negotiate” a joke? Consider these excerpts from a recent New York Times story: Lake Mead, the vast reservoir for the Colorado River water that sustains the fast-growing cities of Phoenix and Las Vegas, could lose water faster than previously thought and run dry within 13 years, according to a new study by scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The lake...has a 50 percent chance of becoming unusable by 2021, the scientists say, if the demand for water remains unchanged and if human-induced climate change follows climate scientists’ moderate forecasts, resulting in a reduction in average river flows. Demand for Colorado River water already slightly exceeds the average annual supply when high levels of evaporation are taken into account, the researchers, Tim P. Barnett and David W. Pierce, point out.... “We were really sort of stunned,” Professor Barnett said in an interview. “We didn’t expect such a big problem basically right on our front doorstep. We thought there'd be more time.”