Another 24 hours, and there is still snow on the west face of the Sandias.
Loki and Glenda
Sad news! The Tangle Heart Tree took a tumble.
Snow on the mountains, dry as a bone in the valley, the Tangle Heart Tree that succumbed to the drought in 2011, has fallen over.
Late afternoon
Persistence of dry
Plied, lifeless, fallen, broken
The drought counts its dead
pTerodactyl hanging hopeful on the edge of a pathetic puddle.
pTerodactyl pacing on the edge and reflecting on a pathetic puddle.
We have received zero precipitation for the month of October, and less than an inch of rain over the previous three months, so the Clearwater Ditch is drying up south of us. Only a few puddles remain. There is a little more water in the Clearwater Ditch north of us, backed up behind beaver dams.
A lone juvenile Sandhill Crane was hanging out on the ditch bank foraging in the sand.
In my last post I responded to comments about the Rio Grande running low that in the 60s, 70s into the early 80s, the Rio Grande would dry up in the summer months. The current headlines read “Rio Grande runs dry in Albuquerque for the first time in 40 years“. The water is running low, but it is still running through Corrales. Other people have asked when will the drought end? Based on historical trends, I’m guessing we will be under drought conditions for another seven years or longer. I put together the page below that shows historic trends in annual precipitation and the Palmer Drought Severity Index. Note the Storage levels in Elephant but follow the drought index. There was a very severe drought in the 1950s. We might reach that level of severity over the next several years. While the current conditions are alarming, they are not unprecedented. Another article you might be interested in is “5 droughts that changed human history” on the World Economic Forum website.
Climate is always changing, and those changes in warming and cooling and flooding and drought run in various cycles from a few years to thousands of years to tens of thousands of years. I remember a person mentioning to me that the goal of the current fight against climate change was to get the earth to have a constant temperature of 70º F (21º C). All I had to say is that if the climate warriors who apparently believe they have God-like powers actually reach that goal, the earth will be dead. I don’t know how common the idea that the war on climate change is to stop the climate from changing in an attempt to establish a constant temperature, but just that fact that someone actually believed it I found quite frightening.
On the Rio Grande this afternoon looking north from Beaver Point.
On the Rio Grande this afternoon look south from Beaver Point.
Stormclouds all around
The Drought
By Timothy Price
Where did all the water go?
Where did all the water go?
Where did all the water go?
Scorched earth cracked white clay
Fried in dryness, woe
Drought sucks life’s blood away
Where did all the water go?
Where did all the water go?
Where did all the water go?
Where did all the water go?
Thirsty plants bow their heads
Pray for rain, the watershed
Parched seeds cry die of thirst
How have we earned this curse?
Sun shines happiness
We frolic in deceptive rays
Encourages us to foolish ways
Water’s precious, so we say
But we waste it anyway
In denial as it dwindles
Less and less from day to day to day
Where did all the water go?
Where did all the water go?
Where did all the water go?
Where once water flowed clear and cold
Green slime clings to mud
The water’s foul, so the waterfowl
Fly off in search of some
Where did all the water go?
Where did all the water go?
Where did all the water go?
Dawn
A hard heart in sun-baked clay
Low flow with Sandias in the background. The river normally flows at the top of the bank I’m standing on. The bank is about four feet higher than the water right now.
A rare view looking north from the middle of the Rio Grande. The river is low enough that I walked around the corner in the top left of the above photo. Normally, the only way to get this view would be from a floatation device or to swim out to the middle of the river because the water is normally from bank to bank at this point.
Sunset last night.
Spunk Rock!
Stormclouds building up threatening to rain. I hope it’s more than just a threat.
I drove through north Corrales and all access to the river and bosque are closed. People say we are in a drought, but really we are experiencing what is more normal for arid New Mexico. So if the bosque and state parks and wilderness areas are only going to be open when we have above normal rainfall, New Mexico may end up being closed for longer than most of us will live. Rosencrantz was hanging out in the bamboo looking smart, and René was having a bad hair day after I gave him a shower.
Off Center & Not Even 