SOUTHWESTERN USA
RS ROAD TRIP
RS ROAD TRIP
August 12, 2017 (Day 5)
Ely, NV to Richfield, UT
Miles Today: 233 / Total Trip Miles to Date: 1,271
Today's Route
(Click on map to enlarge)
Our route continued east from Ely, Nevada (elevation of 6,437 feet) on Highway 50 (The Loneliest Road in America) toward Utah. The desolate landscape continues until Delta, Utah.
Photos
Looking west from the junction of Highway 50 and a dirt road to the ghost town of Osceola, Nevada. Osceola was a gold mining camp where gold was discovered in 1872. Approximate elevation at fence is 5,700 feet.
{Photo on flickr}
Looking north from the junction of Highway 50 and a dirt road to the ghost town of Osceola, Nevada. Approximate elevation at fence is 5,700 feet.
{Photo on flickr}
Border Inn
The Border Inn is a no-frills oasis located on Highway 50 at the Nevada-Utah border at an elevation of 5,100 feet. The smoke-filled bar and slot-machine area are reminiscent of the past. The inn provides fuel, a convenience store and "clean, cool rooms to rest from your travels." I love the cafe here and always stop for pancakes, ham, and coffee. The closest town (Ely, Nevada) is 65 miles to the west. Delta, Utah is 90 miles to the east.
{Photo on flickr}
{Photo on flickr}
This seven foot diameter pipe, placed in front of the Border Inn by the Great Basin Water Network (GBWN), calls attention to another American water grab. Las Vegas' insatiable desire for water has resulted in a proposal by Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) to build a pipeline to drain water from east-central Nevada and the west desert of Utah. If implemented, the proposal will cause disastrous impacts to the human and natural environment.
{Photo on flickr}
The Project
SNWA proposes a pipeline from rural eastern Nevada to Las Vegas to pump 27 billion gallons of water every year. Estimated cost is $15.5 billion in 2011 dollars. I don't understand why the sign on the pipe indicates 58 billion gallons. As currently planned, the project would include a 260 mile buried pipeline (3.5 to 7 feet in diameter); up to 80 groundwater production wells covering 4 desert valleys (Spring, Cave, Dry Lake, and Delamar Valleys) and Snake Valley; and 350 miles of power lines.
Great Basin
The Great Basin, stretching from Utah's Great Salt Lake to the Sierra Nevada Mountains and from southern Idaho to southern California, is an arid land. Dry is a natural condition in the Great Basin, but it's been even drier in eastern Nevada and western Utah where a drying trend has been going on for more than a decade. Average rainfall in Nevada, the heart of the Great Basin, is a mere 7 inches per year with some areas averaging less than 5 inches per year.
The limited water throughout the Great Basin has produced century-old, small and hardy agricultural communities where production of bountiful crops and livestock depends on shallow groundwater, large regional springs, and small creeks. Each of these sources of water depends on healthy groundwater flows supported by precipitation in mountain ranges which receive more moisture than the valleys. Water is critical to the Great Basin's plants and animals including unique species found only in regional springs.
Because the Great Basin is a desert, water is life and water management is part of the Great Basin's heritage. The unprecedented size and boldness of the SNWA project is enabled by the fact that more than 80 percent of Nevada is public land. Rural communities are surrounded by public lands that are used for grazing, wildlife, recreation, mining, energy development and community watersheds.
Rural people and tribes, who make a living from the land and the water, know that water does not exist in quantities to support the proposed exportation project. They know that rural water is already over-appropriated and cannot be pumped by SNWA without damaging senior water rights and harming the environment on which all Nevadans depend, whether for their livelihoods, for recreation, or because they value wildlife and endangered species. Is the project viable or affordable, given their understanding of the limited water in the high deserts of the project’s target area? Is a $15.5 billion project to tap an uncertain and finite source of water really financially feasible for southern Nevada ratepayers?
Great Basin Water Network
GBWN supports sustainable local water use. It rejects water speculation, and questions public policies that enable water to be extracted to the detriment of local communities. Through a combination of grassroots outreach, legal action, and true grit, GBWN and its allies have fended off the Las Vegas water grab so far. GBWN is comprised of urban and rural, ranchers and farmers, counties and communities, Native American tribes, hunters, anglers, hikers, conservationists, tourists, and businesses who believe that sustainable water use is essential for the survival of all parts of the Great Basin, including Nevada and Utah. GBWN is an all-volunteer, non-profit organization.
Past is Prologue
Owens Valley, California is an existing example of the removal of large amounts of water from rural desert areas and fueling explosive growth in a distant city. The City of Los Angeles at the turn of the 20th century took water from the Owens River in eastern California. The result of the construction of the Los Angeles Aqueduct was that the Owens River dried up, Owens Lake and local agriculture disappeared and the economy suffered.
The loss of Owens Lake left a huge playa of alkali and salt deposits which create a dust problem whenever the wind blows. Winds stir up noxious alkali dust storms that carry away as much as four million tons (3.6 million metric tons) of dust from the lakebed each year, causing respiratory problems in nearby residents. Los Angeles residential water customers pay annually for the costly and resource-intensive dust mitigation.
This vintage service station is located along Highway 50 in Scipio, Utah. See ghost sign on side wall of garage building (photo below). Scipio (population 290; elevation 5,300 feet) was settled in 1859.
This ghost sign is located on the side of an out-of-business, vintage service station (see photo above) located on Highway 50 in Scipio, Utah. Scipio (population 290; elevation 5,300 feet) was settled in 1859.
{Photo on flickr}
Vico motor oil was produced by the Utah Oil Company refinery located in Salt Lake City. The building no longer exists, but today the location houses a modern Tesoro Refinery. Utah Oil Company was incorporated in 1909, and was the first commercially successful petroleum company in Utah. In 1917, half interest in Utah Oil was bought by Midwest Refining Company. Standard Oil of Indiana took ownership of Midwest Oil in 1921, including Midwest's half ownership of Utah Oil Company. Standard later acquired 75 percent of Utah Oil, and in the 1950s, that percentage was increased to 100 percent. Utah Oil Company's products included Vico motor oils and Pep gasolines. Retail filling stations used Vico brands until 1948.
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Tomorrow:
Drive to Cortez, Colorado.
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Copyright
These photographs are the property of Leon Jackson, and are protected by copyright laws. Photographs may not to be downloaded or reproduced in any way without the written permission of Leon Jackson. © 2017 Leon Jackson. All Rights Reserved.
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1 comment:
Love you journey and your photos!
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