Potash Road, Part 1
Posted on September 21, 2009 by James McGillis | Comments
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 Spanish
Valley.
Watch the Video, "Potash Road, Moab, Utah"
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Email James McGillis