Yesterday, June 14, my fellow teacher Joe Devine and I hit the Verde River in our school's new kayaks for a Father's Day outing. Check out the photo gallery here!

Despite the EXTREMELY low flow of 30 cubic feet per second (the Verde is at its most fun above 300), we decided to give it a shot and see what there was to see on the whitewater run. I had always avoided the river during the early summer because of the low flow, but Joe and I were determined to try out the new boats, come hell or low water.

the Beasley Flats to Gap Creek portion runs 8 miles, so we set out with the notion that dragging boats and shoving through miles of flatwater was pretty much a given.

Boy were we surprised to find that the Verde was not only runnable, but a lot of fun!


The river had seen little traffic this time of year, and this winters floods had channelized the current nicely. In drier years we might have had trouble, but this was a good one.



Both Off the Wall and Pre-Falls were totally runnable if a little bumpy.




We were able to scout Pre-falls by simply jumping into the middle of it; a truly bad idea at higher flows.



Our only portage was Verde Falls rapid, in which a normally six foot class four rapid instead sucked the river through a corkscrewing slot too tight for a boat to pass.



We saw more wildlife that day than I have ever seen on the river: vermillion flycatchers, orioles, herons, red-winged blackbirds, bald eagles, otters, grackles, and a large trout that jumped aboard Joe's kayak.


At this flow, don't expect a free ride on the river. We had at least seven total miles of flatwater between rapids. Even with no wind, it was a great workout, not even counting the 1/3 mile uphill hike to the truck at Gap Creek.


The weather was hot but the water was perfectly cool. All in all, a great way to spend a day! We proved that the Verde is a blast any time of year!




-Ron

Dad, Artist, Teacher, Conservationist, Paddler

I spied this letter in the Prescott Daily Courier this morning.


This was my response:

Build build build! What about planning for responsible use? What about preserving our ridgetops and hills? Why does it seem like every month a new hill in our area is carved out or chopped off by bulldozers? What about preparing for future water needs (and I don’t mean mining it and draining our rivers!)? What about encouraging industries other than homebuilding so we have an income that isn’t growth-based?
Some of our supervisors seem only interested in growth at any cost, and the cheapest way to do it, by pandering to the interests of Big Stucco. Some of these supervisors are working selfishly, and doing a terrible job of protecting Prescott’s future. Forget growth, what about preservation and sustainability? We need to insure that people have other reasons to move here, such as quality of life, natural beauty, and a SUSTAINABLE water source. Otherwise, we’ll just have another suburb of Phoenix, with little of Prescott’s abundant natural beauty left. But what do our supervisors care? Their pockets are already lined with money from the growth lobby. That’s the only type of green some of them seem to care about.

I’m just getting warmed up.

Some people have asked me recently, "What can I do to help? I feel like the battle has already been lost!"
All any concerned citizen needs to do is ask themselves,"What am I good at, and how will that talent help others?"
I found myself asking the same question a few weeks ago, as I was losing sleep over this issue. But what can I really do? I teach from early morning, get home at 5, play with my kids until their bedtime, at best I have an hour each night. Is that enough?
I listed some of the things I could do: paint, teach, write, organize, design, bring people together, and make a website. And I can talk.
So I started doing those things. From 9 until 10 at night, most nights of the week. Soon I had a website with almost 100 friends. Soon I had completed a painting for a benefit auction. Soon, the ball began to roll, and the more people I talked to, the larger the ball became. Suddenly my 5 hours a week became something incredible. Something powerful. Something more important than catching an episode of South Park.
If you can play music, we may need you for a benefit concert in the future. If you can paint, draw, or take photos, donate something you have created to an art auction. Contact me at theverderiver@yahoo.com to find out how.
We'll be holding a large silent auction with Save the Verde in the coming weeks. If you aren't artistic, come to the auction and bid on something. You can own some outstanding art and know it represents something beautiful and important. Some of these works can be had for very low prices.
If you can write, write letters to newspapers, magazines, senators, mayors, and governors. Visit Save the Verde to find out more. Write to magazines like Arizona Highways, Outside, Backpacker and National Geographic, and ask, no, demand that they cover this issue, and make our corrupt county officials look bad on a national level! There is so much that any one person can do!

Hey, maybe it is hopeless. Maybe loss of this river is inevitable. But if you really care, if you really love our wilderness, wouldn't you want to know that you fought for it? Could you deal with the idea that you could have done something but didn't, after it was too late?

If everyone does a little part of what they do best, and join those talents, we can save this river. I have no doubts.

Hello everyone!
Here are some upcoming Verde-related events you might want to mark on your calendar:

Save the Verde, a very motivated branch of the center for Biological Diversity, is planning an open house on Saturday, June 9th, from 4-7pm in Prescott. Check out their site to find out the details, and stop by and show your support or volunteer to help! Be sure to get on their email list to stay up to date on local conservation efforts!

The Verde Watershed Association is holding two presentations on recent reports by the US Geological Survey regarding the Upper and Middle Verde Watersheds. Hosted by John P. Hoffman, these sessions are designed to inform the public about what effect the pipeline might have on the flow of the Verde. The first one will be held at the Davis Learning Center at Embrey Riddle University in Prescott on June 20th at 7pm. The ssecond lecture will be held on the 21st at the Camp Verde Schools Multi-Use Theater Complex, 280 Ft Lincoln Rd in Camp Verde, also at 7pm. this will be a great opportunity to ask questions and get some well informed answers.
Please visit the Verde Watershed Association's web site for more info.

In other news...
High Country News has posted an excellent article on The Battle for the Verde. It's well researched and very convincing. It also makes a certain county supervisor look like a douche, which is cool.

American Rivers, an organization I have long admired for their tireless work to protect flowing water has posted a new article about the newly increased threat to the Verde. AND it just happens to mention this very site, which makes me quite proud. It seems that a little work has gone a long way. Here's hoping the momentum only builds from here!

-Ron
Dad, Artist, Teacher, Conservationist, Paddler

Hello everyone!
I have made some changes to The Verde River page.
After just a few weeks on MySpace, the response has been incredible! I have met some fantastic and motivated people, who just keep giving me great info and contacts. Thank you all! With all of the enthusiasm thundering like the Verde in a summer monsoon, I have since become aware of several more groups with the same mission. Cool!
Interestingly enough, I have somehow failed to find any groups or individuals who just can't wait to suck the Verde dry with a big ol' pipeline. What does that say? That says to me that a few snarky politicians and water hungry stucco-philes are no match for some motivated citizens. Let's be an angry mob of torch-bearing villagers beating down their doors, until they decide to take their dirty water-hungry developments somewhere else! Let's send them out on a rail! Whatever that means.

To paraphrase Ansel Adams: This is our wilderness. It's a shame we have to fight our own government to protect it.

So, good news! I have added a number of new links on my profile! Check them out, volunteer, and demand to know why they don't already have a MySpace page up and running for you to add to your friends list! It's the right thing to do.

The YMCA in Prescott is a great place to paddle. Indoor pool, heated year-round, and open on Thursday nights to anyone who likes to kayak.
It's a great way to try out different boats, bring your own, and meet excellent people who share a passion for paddling.
I have been learning how to roll, and after the first day of sinuses packed with chlorinated pool water, I decided that nose plugs weren't a bad idea. Soon, a dive mask replaced the nose plugs, and sillicone wax ear plugs completed the ensemble. You see, the human head just isn't designed to spend time submerged upside down. The mask was great; not only was my nose free of six gallons of poolwater, I didn't suffer from chlorine rainbow vision. My friend Cody Howard of Huckin' Huge recommended the earplugs, testifying that ten plus years of wet ears has left his equillibrium shot.

Here are some fun things I found out about rolling in a kayak:
•Like climbing, it's more about form, than strength.
•Even though it's about form, you will still be sore as hell.
•Sometimes you don't come back up again, so you have to go back upside-down, think about how you could have done things differently, then try again. Then again. And stay calm while upside down in the water while wearing a heavy boat that is between you and your next breath of air while your sinuses fill up like the Titanic.
•Don't panic. You will probably live.
•Rolling is really cool once you pull it off.

This is Thomas Atkins' excellent model of the Big
Chino Aquifer, one of the major sources of the Verde
River.

The aquifer is a massive underground water
table, north of Prescott, Arizona. This water table
feeds the upper reaches of the perennial Verde, which
officially begins near the town of Paulden. This part
of the river is spring fed, and although the Verde
basin gathers water from a number of tributaries, the
springs are the only source that flows year-round.
The aquifer is fed by a collection of sources, mostly
reliant on annual rainfall. Many attempts have been
made to describe the workings of this complex system,
but Mr. Atkins' model certainly does it best.

The tube at the top represents rainfall. Using water
bottles, Thomas fills this tube, which sprinkles water
on the model. The water saturates the model's
representative geologic layers, and as the level
rises, water flows out of the tubes to the right,
representing the springs near Paulden.
One of the most interesting aspects of the model is
the way in which it demonstrates the relative height
of the springs in relation to the water table. They
sit at the very top, like the lip of a pitcher.

Thomas's next step is to plug other tubes into the
model, representing various small wells that draw
water from the aquifer. This causes a minimal drop in
the outflow.

Following this, Thomas plugs in a larger hose, which
represents the proposed Big Chino Pipeline. This
pipeline is being pushed by a variety of Yavapai
county politicians, in the interest of future
development. Their reasoning is, with explosive growth
facing all parts of Arizona, we need to secure that
enough water is available for any and all forms of
future development, rather than plan growth around the
available water and conservation practices.
The hose pulls water out, and the springs run dry in a
matter of minutes.

Here is a more detailed description of the model, in
Mr. Atkins' own words:


The black tube at the top represents rain and snow
clouds.

I used two liter bottles to place water into the
system... the rain comes out and fills the Big Chino
Aquifer with water, the Verde River starts to flow
(Far Right)

There are three tubes depicting the Verde River, High
Rate (fat tube), Medium Rate (medium tube) and Low
Rate (little tube).

During the Native American times the river flowed at a
relatively high rate, there was no demand on the water
from the

Big Chino Aquifer, what water fell on the aquifer and
the rim around it percolated into the permeable strata
below and slowly made its way toward the lower end of
the aquifer, the schist uplift and the Verde River.
The model depicts this flow.

Then the Native Americans "disappear" from the scene
and ranchers drop a few shallow well to water their
live stock. (Short wells top left of model.)

This has no appreciable effect on the level of the
aquifer and the flow of the Verde River.

Next farmers in the Big Chino drop a number of
irrigation wells, but still this had no huge effect on
the water level of the aquifer and the flow of the
Verde River. ( A couple of more wells on back side of
model)

Finally the future... because of the fact that the
Upper Verde Cities in Yavapai County have experienced
a huge growth spurt and the demand on the existing

Chino Valley Aquifer has completely outstripped any
chance at Safe Yield and that we are mining the water
in the Prescott AMA at a huge rate these cities have
purchased land and water rights to

Water residing in the Big Chino Aquifer and are
actively planning to sink large production wells into
the aquifer and pipe the water to Chino Valley,
Prescott, Prescott Valley area, this will provide
water for thevery large developments planned near
the Prescott Airport and Prescott Valley and hopefully
resupply some of the water deficit in the Prescott AMA.
Also very large developments are planned on the Big
Chino and large wells will be sunk and pumped for
those needs.

To show this activity, large wells, shown on the model
are activated.

Within a very short time of the first activation the
aquifer starts to be pulled down. It is pulled down
faster and faster as new large production wells are
added to the model!

The Verde River flow moves from high, to medium to low
and then stops altogether!

The birds, fish, trees, the down river towns and
finally the SRP start to complain and grumble.

The aquifer is still being drawn down.... what is the
end result of not maintaining a balanced dynamic
equilibrium?!

The "cast" is asked what might be solutions to the
problem.

The answers are obvious.

If anyone is interested in inviting Thomas Atkins to
bring his model and speak on this topic, he puts on
quite a convincing show. For schools with Earth
Science programs, or lessons on water conservation,
this fits right in.

Here is his contact information, please give him a
call!


Thomas Atkins
309 S. Washington
Prescott, Arizona 86303
tatkins@commspeed.net
tatkins1943@mac.com
928 713 9406



-Ron Harvey
Dad, Artist, Teacher, Conservationist

This is a copy of a letter that I sent out about a month ago, in differently edited forms to public officials, mayors and newspapers across the state regarding the big Chino Pipeline, a gigantic vacuum that county officials plan to plug into a large aquifer at the headwaters of the Verde, to feed the landslide of tract home development invading our state like a desert-eating virus.
Hope you like it.


Dear decision maker/editor/mayor,
Today I returned from riding the Verde Canyon Railroad with my extended family. It was an exquisite sight, to see such a gorgeous rushing river. While riding the train, I could not help but think of the Prescott area's Big Chino Pipeline, and how it would undoubtedly suck this glorious canyon river dry, all for the sake of development. the notion that a new pipeline into the headwaters of this river might not hurt this fragile desert river is preposterous. Our local leaders, apparently lead by County Supervisor Carol Springer, have taken it upon themselves to decide that development at any cost is what our area needs, regardless of what the local population thinks. Time and again, they have pushed to squnder our area's water resources, rather than conserve what we have.

The primary issue must be protection at all costs of one of this country's most endangered rivers. If pumping in Big Chino stops or reduces the water flow, our precious Upper Verde, its wildlife and green are lost forever to feed more lawns and ornamental fountains, which have already chipped away at Yavapai County's rural heart. The notion that a new pipeline into the headwaters of this river might not hurt this fragile desert river is preposterous. Where do these people think the water comes from? A giant faucet from heaven? If pumping in Big Chino stops or reduces the water flow, is anyone naive enough to think that it would be shut down?

I can't live with the notion that the Verde died so that Dell Webb or KB Home can bulldoze the landscape for thousands of stucco boxes. They are stealing from us at every turn. How much more theft of this glorious state's wild places will we tolerate? They steal our views with every bulldozer development. They erase our history, landscape, culture, and everything that makes this state unique!

We must live within our limits and admit that every place has a carrying capacity for population. We may have already overreached ours.
-Ron R Harvey
Prescott, AZ

My name is Ron.

I grew up in the desert southwest. My first job was as a trail guide for the Palm Springs Desert Museum when I was 16. When most kids my age were getting stoned and wrapping their parents' BMWs around palm trees, I was hiking. I built my first piece of architecture on the edge of a 100 foot cliff above our house, painted it to blend with the surrounding granite, and slept there every night for the better part of a year. I lived and breathed the Mojave Desert.
My family spent every summer along the Mogollon Rim in Arizona. My aunt and uncle purchased a historic home in Camp Verde, on a tributary of the Verde River. From the age of 8, I wanted to be there more than anywhere else.
In `89, we moved to Prescott, I graduated from High School in `91, in `93 I moved to Tucson to pursue a degree in Media Arts, by way of archaeology, geology and paleontology studies.

In 1995, I broke my arm and spent a month relatively sedentary. At the same time, Arizona Highways published an article on West Clear Creek, and I was hooked. I resolved that as soon as the cast was off, I would drag whoever I could find down that canyon, and never spend another month as immoble as that one. I had always been a hiker, but West Clear Creek was a shot in the arm. I was hoelessly reconnected with flowing water.

Soon my best friend Eric and I blindly placed a finger on the AZ map and went wherever it landed, nearly on a weekly basis. Around that time, someone gave me a copy of Mystical Canyons of Water, Light, and Stone by Richard D. Fisher. I got a job at the local gear shop, The Summit Hut, to feed the gear beast, and began caving, climbing, and canyoneering in every spare moment. The Rock House in Camp Verde became a center of operations for most trips. With friends I explored Salome, Cibecue, Beaver, Oak Creek, Sawmill, and any other canyon buried in the living rock of the southwest. Trips to Fossil Creek became ritualistic, and riding the flume a right of passage.
I graduated from college and momentarily lost and found myself in southern Africa, worked as an artist for many years, and remodeled an old house in central Tucson, with a bafflingly diverse cactus garden. I spent many summers as a counsellor for the American Cancer Society's Summer Camp program(happily located directly above Christopher Creek Gorge), which is how I met my wife, a fellow adventurer.

We rambled on to new adventures around the southwest and Belize, before our son was born. Shortly after Eli came into our lives, we moved to Prescott, for the cooler weather and safer neighborhoods, also closer to the rim and it's canyons. We have two kids now, 6 months and 2 years old, so our trips have been more limited lately, so I have turned my attention to conservation, in the form of graphic design and letter writing until the kids get a little older. We still get them out and into the canyons as often as we can, and paddle the river as often as possible. I have been teaching Art and Media Arts at the High School level for two years, which gives me the summers to explore with the wife and kids. Life is bueno.