Follow the Water

Flirtatious: "Shhh! I trapped myself a Preble's Jumping Mouse. Wanna see it?"

Real Mood: Moist

Prediction: The endangered Boreal Toad will squeak again.

I took my Broadcast Journalism class on a bizarre journey today. We visited a section of a 70 plus mile long recreation trail tied to an agricultural canal.  Journalists in search of good pithy stories are often told to , "follow the money." Well out here in the West the same result can be had by "following the water."

The section of the canal we amble trickles along a community that hosts acreage and homes belonging to the likes of NFL hall of famer John Elway, and his former Bronco Boss Pat Bowlen. [I just picked the most visible, not the wealthiest residents by a far piece.]

The waters in this canal also blend with wells to fill ponds and raparian retreats for the most exclusive prep school in the market.

A young woman, decked out in her show attire, rides by on a rather impressive prancing stallion. Astride one horse, she is leading another steed through a gentle cantor.  One student notes, "I guess it's not enough to have just one!"

We walk within three feet of a pair of geese. Any where else on the planet a pair of geese would be high tailing it in the "get away from humans" direction with even a TEN foot seperation. [Even when they are hobbled by molting.] 

Clearly these geese are residents. They just twist their haughty heads in our direction seeming to say, "move along."

And so we do.

Any homes we pass are at least an acre away, and about that large. Most of them could easily support my extended family, yours and any others who might be joining us this evening. [And all our horses.] Sour grapes? Sounds like it, doesn't it?

It will now be tough to convince you otherwise, but let me try. My mission is not to instill collosal envy. It is not to comment on any strata of society. It is just to point out that when something is scarce? To own that something is wealth. Wealth is power.  And where there is wealth and power, there are usually some pretty good stories.

This metro area's most exclusive areas just happen to be along rivers, creeks and canals.  These rivers, creeks and canals just happen to run through the most exclusive golf clubs, the uppity cemeteries, the gated communities, and oh yeah, a few farms.

Here's an interesting story in itself. The water authority here says this canal is not a very efficient way to deliver water.  Too much water is lost through soil seepage and evaporation? So they are going to cut the thing in half? Would it be the half with the multi-million dollar homes, the exclusive golf course, the prep school, the farmer with three planes and a hangar behind his farm house? 

No, those parts of the canal seem to be working just fine.

The parts they'll be shutting off roam through middle and lower middle class neighborhoods, small public golf courses, through a senior citizen complex, behind a huge working class apartment complex.

I know. It all sounds acidic and resentful.  But it's just the reality. Communities with money and special assessments have taken care of their part of the canal. Jurisdictions begging for tax support from little guys just do what they can. And that's just not enough.

The demand for that seeping and evaporating wet gold is calling.  There are new communities being built with shallow aquifers. They want some of that water.

Developers and builders are passing along new tap fees to pay for that water.

There are Spring and Summer rafting enthusiasts clamoring for that water.

Summer boating and fishing enthusiasts don't want their reservoirs drained by August.

There are ski areas that want some of that water for snowmaking. In that vein there are forces calling for and against cloud seeding. More snow here now? More water downstream later. But in the right places?

Environmentalists are demanding stream flows that will protect endangered fish.

A reservoir that hosts a breeding pair of Bald Eagles by law gets it's portion no matter what.

Then there is this crazy natural irony. This state feeds mountain snowmelt to 17 states and gets virtually none in return. Follow the Colorado, the Rio Grande, The Platte and The Arkansas.

[The North Platte River loops down from Wyoming into Colorado for about five miles. Of course it reconnects with the South Platte when it gets to Nebraska.]  

Yet this state has water compacts with most of those states guaranteeing them a percentage of our production.

[Drought years are not good years for interstate cooperation in the West.]

Here's some opinon. My position is a good journalist is always conflicted. She's always redirected by new information. He often discovers a story with one point of view? But the more she learns from probing the issues, the harder it is tip the scales one way or the other.

So you know what? At this point I'm pretty impressed these high rollers along the canal have been able to hang on to their measure of nature's gift. And what I'm really hoping is that my student friends get the metaphor.

Want News? Follow the water!

[DID YOU KNOW THE ORIGINAL 19TH CENTURY PLAN WAS THE MAKE THIS CANAL NAVIGABLE ALL THE WAY TO THE MISSOURI RIVER?]

[ALONG ONE OF THESE WATERSHEDS? FARMERS AREN'T BEING ALLOWED TO PLOW OR DEVELOP LARGE PARTS OF THEIR LAND BECAUSE THIS PARTICULAR CREEK IS HOME TO THE ENDANGERED PREBLE'S JUMPING MOUSE? THE GUY WHO DID THE RESEARCH ON THIS? HE'S NOW SAYING HE MIGHT BE MISTAKEN. MAYBE THIS MOUSE ISN'T ENDANGERED AFTER ALL.]

PRETTY EXCITING STUFF, EH? WELL IT'S NOTHING COMPARED TO WHAT WE'LL PUT OUT THERE IN THE DIGITAL ETHER ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF "PMM." GET YOUR CAMERAS AND TAPE RECORDERS OILED. YOU'RE GOING TO NEED THEM.

If you say I'm "all wet?" You're just showing your age.