Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

I don't live near the Tevis trail, but I know how much it means to so many people.  I find it depressing to think that an historical landmark such as the Western States Trail could be obliterated by water inundation.  I know the state needs water, and I don't suppose anyone else wants to offer their homes or land to be inundated, either, but to take away an historical landmark seems to be against a lot of our country's policies.  Of course, the government doesn't see the Tevis Trail as we horsemen do.  I know how frightening the thought is, because in 1951 and 1952, there was a plan to dam up the Swanton valley and inundate all of us.  At that time, we hadn't even built our house yet, but all the people here would have had to build upland and roads would have to have been re-built to take folks out the "back way"; that would have meant a lot of new earth-moving in the local wilderness. 

Core samples of the underlying geology were taken, and I have to say I am eternally grateful for the percolation qualities of our local chalk rock (shale).  The tests showed that had a dam been built, all the water would have percolated into the earth, because chalk rock does not hold water.

If water persists in being scarce, I could suggest we do away with green lawns and green golf courses, for starters.  Couldn't golf be played on a mowed brown course?  There must be huge amounts of water used for those purposes. 

When we sailed up the Yangtze River in 2000, saw the Three Gorges Dam being built and realized how many thousands of people were going to be displaced to higher ground, I grieved for the people whose families had lived on little farms on the mountainsides for generations. Their whole history was there, waiting to be drowned.

 

Just thinking in print...

 

Barbara

----- Original Message -----

From: Ann Blankenship

To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sent: Friday, July 25, 2008 3:08 PM

Subject: [RC] Auburn Dam

God, I hope we don?t start a big online war over the Auburn Dam.  I will only say that whenever something is won, something is lost.  In this case, we would lose the beautiful river canyons and trails that we treasure here. 

 

Ann  (almost deleting this before posting)