boatman’s quarterly review the journal of the Grand Canyon River Guide’s, Inc. • voulme 32 number 3 fall 2019 the journal of Grand Canyon River Guide’s, Prez Blurb • Farewells • Andy Hall • Guide Profile • The Journey • Stanton’s Cave Point Positive • Save the Dates • Glen Canyon Dam and the Colorado River Book Reviews • Eye of Odin • Cooler Research • Whale News boatman’s quarterly review Prez Blurb …is published more or less quarterly by and for GRAND CANYON RIVER GUIDES. REETINGS FROM SALMON IDAHO where I’m GRAND CANYON RIVER GUIDES finishing up my Middle Fork tour. It’s the is a nonprofit organization dedicated to Gtime of the season where we all feel pretty well worked and probably need a vacation before the “dog Protecting Grand Canyon days of August.” I had a guest say recently, “You guides Setting the highest standards for the river profession just have a paid vacation.” I just pointed out, “Yeah, Celebrating the unique spirit of the river community fourteen hours a day, every day.” Anyway, onward… Providing the best possible river experience By now the incident at National Canyon has flowed around the community, of a guest thinking he was left General Meetings are held each Spring and Fall. Our behind and making his way down-river and eventually Board of Directors Meetings are generally held the first losing his life by drowning. This incident points to the Wednesday of each month. All innocent bystanders are fact it is impossible to protect guests totally from their urged to attend. Call for details. own misguided actions, however well-meaning they STAFF may seem to that individual. The crew had over 200 Executive Director LYNN HAMILTON years of experience combined plus a group of retired Board of Directors fire fighters and lifeguards as guests. As they are my President STEVE “DOC” NICHOLSON colleagues, l know that their attention to safety is of Vice President MARGEAUX BESTARD the highest order. Yet when panic sets in, thinking and Treasurer FRED THEVENIN logic ceases, and the result can be tragic. We may try, Directors MARA DRAZINA but we cannot protect everyone from themselves. ZEKE LAUCK Onward—in past writings l have discussed beach JUSTIN SALAMON erosion and the possibility of tapping into sediments THEA SHERMAN to rebuild them. The sand and sediments are there DERIK SPICE but are trapped behind the giant monolith of Glen LYNN WESTERFIELD Canyon Dam. How do we tap into them? To discuss GCRG’S AMWG this, an essay on dam building is necessary. First, a Representative DAVE BROWN little history: GCRG’S TWG The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation was established in Representative BEN REEDER 1902 principally to build dams on our western rivers. BQR Editors KATHERINE SPILLMAN The Imperial Valley south of Palm Springs, California MARY WILLIAMS is one of the hottest, driest places on earth, but the Our editorial policy, such as it is: provide an open soil is rich, for in the past the Colorado River flowed forum. We need articles, poetry, stories, drawings, through it depositing its sediments. Big agriculturists photos, opinions, suggestions, gripes, comics, etc. started farming it around the turn of the century Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of Grand (1890–1900). The Colorado flows east of the valley and Canyon River Guides, Inc. is higher in elevation, the Imperial Valley being below sea level thus irrigation ditches were dug to water the Written submissions should be less than 15OO words rich soils. All went well until the spring of 1905 when and, if possible, be sent on a CD or emailed to GCRG. Microsoft Word files are best but we can translate most the mighty Colorado tore out the head gates and the programs. Include postpaid return envelope if you entire river was diverted into the Valley and formed want your disk or submission returned. the Salton Sea. For two years attempts were made to re-divert the Colorado back into its original channel Deadlines for submissions are the 1ST of February, May, August and November. Thanks! to no avail. The real danger was eventually that the Salton Sea would rise above the land barrier to the Our office location: 515 West Birch, Flagstaff, AZ 86001 Office Hours: 12:00–6:00, Monday through Friday Sea of Cortez and thus reclaim the Valley to the sea, meaning the entire loss of the Valley to agriculture. PHONE 928.773.1075 Finally the Colorado was diverted back to its original FAX 928.773.8523 E-MAIL [email protected] WEBSITE www.gcrg.org Cover photo: Dugald Bremner, 1988, NAU.PH.2018.34.1.144.261 page 2 grand canyon river guides channel. The Southern Pacific built a track and So here lies a possible source for sand and literally drove filled box cars into the gap where the sediments to rebuild beaches in the Grand Canyon— old head gates were. The need to control the Colorado sitting right behind the cofferdam, adjacent to the was now graphically apparent. Interestingly, when a diversion tubes that would allow the sediments to high dam was first proposed by Secretary Larue (or La flow around the dam. Most of the infrastructure is Roux) his choice was Glen Canyon but was overruled already in place. Only one diversion tube needs to because there was no nearby infrastructure or market have the concrete removed and a proper functioning for the sale of power, whereas Boulder Canyon had gate constructed to allow sand and silt to flow around the Southern Pacific thru Las Vegas and Los Angeles as the dam. Sound far-fetched? Well, yeah. It will take a market. That site eventually became Black Canyon, a lot of convincing politicians and bureaucrats to as it would increase entertain the notion. the size of the Fortunately, most of reservoir. Lucky for the infrastructure us and the Grand is already in Canyon because place—it just needs a dam in Boulder modification. It’s a Canyon would have Civil Engineering inundated even more project, no new of the Grand Canyon. technology is needed. So, how Glen Also a huge selling Canyon Dam (and point is that it will dams in general) are extend indefinitely built: the first step the life of Lake is to divert the river Powell as a reservoir. out of the channel. That should please a Diversion tunnels lot of the populace must be dug through and politicians. A the sandstone Outgoing and incoming GCRG presidents, Doc and Margeaux. lot of questions around the dam site will arise: is there to deliver the river water back to the channel below. enough sand and silt there to tap into? Cost? How to Dikes were built in front of the diversion tunnel do it? What clearly is needed to start this process is to entryways thus preventing the river from inundating recommend funding a feasibility study. That can’t hurt the sites. The tunneling was started in the spring of can it? Not too much money to find something out 1957 on each side of the river. Each tunnel was 41 feet that could possibly be answer to a problem that is only in diameter and half a mile long—22,000 tons of getting worse. rock being removed a day. Gates were installed at the At the spring GTS, Jack Schmidt handed us a pearl upriver portals then a cofferdam was constructed—a when he said (paraphrased), “Speak clearly and define rock earthen structure blocking the river and forcing what you want the Grand Canyon to look like in the it to flow through the diversion tunnels after the future.” We as a guide’s organization have already protective dikes were removed. In February of 1959, affected the Grand Canyon in a positive way with the after 22 months of removing rock, the Colorado Grand Canyon Protection Act. There is more work to River was diverted out of its channel and the dam site do and we can affect the Grand Canyon’s future in a exposed to begin actual construction. Four years later positive way. We’ve got to pull together. in March of 1963, the gates at the head of the diversion My tenure as President of GCRG is about over. It tubes were lowered and Lake Powell started to fill. has been some work but a pleasure to work with all The heavy load of silt and sand settled behind the these interesting and positive people. I feel richer for cofferdam. The diversion tubes were then filled with the experience. My friend, Margeaux Bestard, will be 150 tons of concrete to ensure no leakage occurred. It taking the reins in September and guiding us thru the is a shame that the engineers of the project weren’t as next year and I’m sure she will be fantastic. prescient as the Chinese engineers with Three Gorges All the best to everyone out there, may your runs Dam on the Yangtze where they put in sluice gates so be smooth and exciting. sand and silt could be drained from behind the dam thus preventing the reservoir from filling with silt. Doc Nicholson boatman’s quarterly review page 3 Farewells JOAN NEVILLS STAVELEY—OCTOBER 7, 1936 – APRIL 9, 2019 however, off limits. Many spankings reinforced this, yet explorations sporadically continued. OAN GREW UP on the banks of the San Juan River This idyllic world ended on September 19, 1949 in Mexican Hat, Utah, with her parents Norm when Mom and Daddy died in the crash of our plane. Jand Doris Nevillls, her sister, Sandy, and their Joan’s next years were spent at Wasatch Academy in dogs.