When a prolonged drought reduced the reservoir level of Lake Powell by almost 150 feet and its total storage capacity shrank by almost two-thirds, the public’s interest in water issues and the restoration of Glen Canyon grew dramatically. But our short attention spans and the lack of long term dedication to a cause seems to always be our undoing.

Two wet years in the Colorado River basin have raised reservoir levels at Powell to within 60 feet of maximum pool level again and subsequently, the “rude awakening” Mr. Nowak speaks of hardly raises an eyebrow.
   But the study’s long term predictions are sobering. Because the storage capacity of the larger reservoirs contains as much as 60 million acre feet of water, the researchers believe there is less than a 10% chance of fully depleting water storage in any given year by 2026. But if climate change continues to reduce Colorado River flows by 10% annually, the chance of total reservoir depletion jumps to 25% by 2057. And if flows fall by as much as 25% annually, the odds of total depletion are 50-50.
   And again, these projections are based on the assumption that dramatic changes are made in the way we store Colorado River water and the way its 30 million consumers use it. Without serious conservation efforts, these projections mean nothing. Somehow, I suspect if Abbey were here right now, he’d say, “Drink up my friends. Turn on the tap and let it run...let’s get this over with NOW.”

For more on this story follow this link:
www.agu.org/sci_soc/prrl/2009-20.html

But more than being a mentor, he has been a gentle friend to me in the darkest and brightest of times. We all have our seminal moments and meeting Ken Sleight was one of mine. I don’t know where I’d be today had I not met Ken.
So, Ken...Seldom Seen...a belated Happy Birthday to you from one of your biggest admirers.

THE FUTURE SHRINKING
  COLORADO RIVER...
On the morning after Ed Abbey died in 1989, a reporter visited Ken Sleight at his Pack Creek Ranch home. Full of emotion and still reeling from the shock of his friend’s death, Ken said, “The greatest tribute we could ever pay Edward Abbey would be to drain that damned Lake Powell.”
    According to researchers at the University of Colorado, Mother Nature may someday grant that wish. Abbey always had more faith in Nature than he did in the wisdom of Man, so it makes perfect sense. However, it may take a while to see his dream realized. In the meantime, recreationists water ski in oblivion, agri-business and developers keep sucking water from the great reservoirs and power users turn up the air conditioning. After all, it’s their grandchildren who will pay the price for our stupidity...who cares?

Balaji Rajagopalan and other researchers at the university believe that the massive storage reservoirs on the Colorado River might sustain the needs of a growing southwest population for a few more decades if water management policies are changed. Their findings were recently published in the journal, Water Resources Research, by the American Geophysical Union (AGU).
    But Rajagopalan warns, “...the more severe the drying with climate change, the more likely we will see shortages and perhaps empty reservoirs despite our best efforts.”
    Ken Nowak, a graduate student with CU-Boulder’s Center for Advanced Decision Support for Water and Environmental Systems, and the study’s co-author says. “The important thing is not to get lulled into a sense of safety or security with the near-term resiliency of the Colorado River basin water supply. If wedo, we’re in for a rude awakening.”

OUR BEST MEMORIES
ARE OUR BEST FRIENDS.
A Belated Happy Birthday
to my Pal, Ken Sleight...

From my vantage point on Abajo Peak, I’m comforted to know that my dear friend Ken Sleight is still out there tilting windmills at Pack Creek Ranch. He’s probably, at this very moment, pissed off about something or telling stories or cursing his computer, or chasing a horse around the corral. I’d bet he’s decked out in an old pair of boots, faded jeans, his shirttail’s out and he probably forgot to shave this morning.
   Thank God for Ken Sleight.
  I’m lousy at remembering birthdays, perhaps because I’m so accustomed to ignoring my own, but Ken turned 80 in August and that’s a milestone worth noting. The accomplishment, of course, isn’t

the number but the life he has put into it.
     I met Ken more than 30 years ago, when I was working behind the visitor center desk at Arches National Park. Ken bought some books, asked if he could write a check, I spotted his name and recognized it from Abbey’s reference to him in Slickrock. We’ve been friends ever since.

   Ken has been speaking his mind for half a century. He was doing battle with the Bureau of Reclamation over Glen Canyon Dam when the Sierra Club was bending over and he’s been playing Don Quixote ever since. Sleight has riled up more than his share of Westerners and taken the heat with grace and a grin. I’ve tried to learn from him.