14-plus years of drought in New Mexico
Inspired by these insanely cool California drought visualizations from Circle of Blue, here’s a drought history in New Mexico over the last 14 years:
Archive of entries posted by jfleck
Nature or not?
Mule deer, in the grass outside the Far View cafeteria at Mesa Verde National Park. Is this nature? Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world’s leading questionnaire tool.
Endangered species and the question of federal discretion
Simply put, no environmental law has had as much impact on western rivers–or created as much controversy–as section 7 of the ESA. – Reed Benson I’m on record as arguing that the Endangered Species Act is a terrible water management tool, while simultaneously being not terribly effective as an environmental tool. But you manage water …
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Aztec Motel
In Albuquerque, we frequently tear down our old Route 66 motels, but keep their signs:
CLEAN ARGE R OO MS
The Desert Sun Motel is frozen at $19.95 a night (and up): CLEAN ARGE R OO MS $19/95& UP FREE COF EE CABLE TV HBO ESP VACANCY It looks like a project stalled in mid-renovation, though it’s hard to see how this could have ended well if the owners had continued to spend money. It’s …
Water in the Desert, San Juan River edition II
When last we met, I showed you the San Juan River looking like the only water for miles (and not much water at that) as it flows across the Ute Mountain Ute Nation near Four Corners. Today, after miles of driving around the high country of the Four Corners region (vacation road trip) I have …
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Water in the desert, San Juan River edition
My search for water in the desert took Lissa and I this afternoon up US 160 from Teec Nos Pos in Arizona’s far northeastern corner, past the Four Corners Monument and into Colorado, where the highway crosses the San Juan River. Teec Nos Pos has a weather station that averages 8.09 inches (20.55 cm) of …
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Big Foot and the Two Grey Hills Rug
tl;dr Lissa and I met a man today who saw Big Foot in the foothills of the Chuska Mountains on the Navajo Nation west of Newcomb, New Mexico. He could neither hear nor speak, but we have no reason to doubt his story. Lissa misplaced her purse, which was easily found, and we bought a …
“Mummy Lake” – we always want it to be about water
Lissa and I stopped this morning at Mesa Verde’s “Mummy Lake”, more recently renamed “Far View Reservoir,” on account of apparently there was never any mummy. Now we learn, thanks to science, that there was probably never a reservoir or lake, either: The structure at Mesa Verde National Park known historically as Mummy Lake and …
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Petroglyph Point
There’s an easy grace in spending a warm spring Friday afternoon with my partner of more than 30 years, looking at things we’ve looked at a million times before.