Walking the San Diego River: Week 7 1/7: Morelos Dam, Algodones, Baja California Norte, Mexico

Caveat: this page is still under construction, but I wanted to get the pictures uploaded ASAP

more text to come --Sasha

for video we have the following link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2x7bY868cM

and here's a video on the background

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJx6cFX6fFo

Today's River Walk is a very special episode featuring a very different river: The Colorado River of the The West. (Not to be confused with the Colorado River of Texas):

It is said that journeys of the nature Anita and I are undertaking have a way of changing the traveller. I would say one of the reasons is that you start to see things that would otherwise be easy to miss. You also begin to connect to others who are similarly aware and the collective consciousness begins to fan out (or if you prefer, a diverse crowd of people with some common interests get really excited talking to one another and then begin talking their even more diverse sets of friends). Today March 23, 2014 at 8:15 AM Pacific Daylight time, after many years of wrangling between a myriad of politicians, scientists, organizers, volunteers, communicators, farmers and engineers, on both sides of the border, the Gates of the Morelos dam were opened, allowing the first ever environmental release of water into the Colorado riverbed into Mexico. it's only a 3 hour drive and pretty serious history in the making so Anita and I decided to go out and watch.

Skies over the Imperial Valley

I-8 in really straight here.

We got up at 4 AM, and were out the door by 5. We had already crested the Peninsular Ranges by the time the sky grew light. Its been awhile since we've been up this early (though we celebrated the recent equinox watching the sunrise from Bessmer Path) and it's a nice change of pace. Crossing the Imperial Valley we were treated to an absolutely spectacular Sunrise, which then morphed into blinding light in my eyes. The interstate as with most roads around here runs very straight and happens to line up nicely with the sun around the time of the equinoxes

Approaching El Centro. Note the trees. We are now in The Delta.

Sunrise, next exit

I would ask if some fututre civilization will find our remains and treat the roads as we treat stonehenge. Probably not, here however. The reason there is a valley here in the first place is because the relative motion between the Pacific and North American Tectonic Plates results in quite a bit of extension, in addition to the strike slip of the San Andreas Fault further north. Someday this will be the northern end of the Gulf of California and spreading ridge will occupy the center of the Salton Sea. Indeed the only thing that separates the Salton Sea from the Gulf of California is the great pile of sediment we are driving across.
Indeed the Delta of the Colorado river is a vast and complex system. In San Diego we get a lot of our water from here, and the USA and Mexico get a lot of food from the fields irrigated here.

The Scale of this place is simply amazing. The San Diego River Delta can be walked in about a day or so, and represents the drainage of part of a county. The Colorado drains parts of Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, and California. It carved the Grand Canyon and many others. The delta wetlands were once larger than Rhode Island.

I need to clean my windshield.

Time for coffee and gas, this is beautiful but can't be good for my eyes

The border crossing at Los Algodones was straightforward, and got more questions from the USA folks than the Mexican folks. I told the USA Guards that we were watching the Morelos Dam opening and they seemed unsurprised. It's been 8 years since I was last in Mexico and like many US Citizens, the near border represents most of what I've seen of Mexico. While all the border towns are each odd in their own way, Los Algodones has the following distinctions: The northernmost place in Mexico, Surrounded by the USA on 3 sides, the primary visitors are Americans seeking affordable dentists and doctors. As we made our way slowly though the sleepy town we saw doctor's offices everywhere.

I also noticed that the streets were really narrow and it was not clear where the highway was, or anything. buildings are painted all sorts of pastels and pinks, giving off a rather surreal feeling to our journey. I kept driving until I found a bigger street than the one I was on and took left, knowing the river to be that direction.

Before

Signage got a bit more clear as we approached the Morelos Dam. There was quite a crowd but no trouble parking. Folks from both sides of the border just milling around looking for places to view the release. A couple of camera crews, and some official looking people in various colored shirts. I kind of feel like I look like people here, dressed in jeans, button down shirt and a hat. There was this little helicopter thing circling around with a camera attached presumably to document the event.

still water reflecting

little research drone

Hi Mom!

This will be a panoramic as soon as I cut off my left index finger

maybe not

Many agencies, researchers, and institutions represented here from both US and Mexico.

At 8:15 it just sort of happened, water started coming out. Not really much sound, no alarm, just everyone turning. Then the waves began to ripple across. It didn't seem like much at first, but it kept growing.

There she blows!

quite the flow

The afterbay is rising

Water began to rise kind of quickly, and soon the pond began expanding. Some of us lingered a bit to watch the water rise (such as the woman in front of me) but we all did slowly retreat. Some waterfowl began to return almost immediately. It felt a bit like the Prophecy of the Lorax whereif one plants the truffula tree maybe the Barbaloots will return with their Barbaloot suits it would be a hoot.

Running out of dry land

Anita in front of the rising water

Here is us at the moment in history

Time for some well deserved champagne.

The joy was palpable and the festivities abundant. the air seemed to cool a degree or two with the breeze off the water, but some folks were finding other ways to cool down. A number of people closely connected with this project broke out the champagne and began showering one another with the champagne in congratulations. Most well deserved, these moments don't come easy. Members of the media were on scene to interview the primary players and I was privileged to listen in on a few interviews. It is awareness that is the big goal here. At some point one of the folks present shouted out that the river was about to reoccupy the channel in which we were standing and we best not be on the wrong side. We lingered for a bit taking it all in, watching the water rise, until we learned that the "flood" would be progressing downstream.

A lot of people from across the professional spectrum earned their
champagne this morning.

I suddenly realized I was in the path of the cork

This channel will eventually flood

rising water

Floatsam

Drone across the water

~ 30 km south it has been dry for ages

We headed south along the highway that ran atop the levee looking out across the rich agricultural area and the homes of people who lived there. I must say I still don't grok driving in Mexico. Speed limit was something like 35 mph most of the way, but I kept getting passed. We weren't exactly sure where we were going or if we were even on the right road, but there was no where to pull over. Speed limits change abruptly and the road surface seems to be falling apart. Eventually we made it to San Luis Rio Colorado, where we crossed and then looked for a way down to the river. Instead of reaching the river, however we ended up on a road heading south of San Luis Rio Colorado through more fields. I was getting more comfortable and decided just to keep going. We ended up at a dead end by the river and were the only car for a bit. It seemed pleasant enough so found a spot out of the trafficway and parked. We were soon joined by two families who had also heard of the impending flood and were out to watch. It is much bigger thing in Mexico, clearly. It makes sense a lot of folks here have memories of when there was more water in the river or parents or grandparents who remember. This is not just some academic exercise it is the return of a better life in this region.

Empty riverbed full of Tamarisk

A wilderness between Sonora and Baja

Is this the main channel?

Looking "downstream"

Anita and I walked into the riverbed looking for any sign of water. All we found was sand (and a snake). The river bed is absolutely immense down here, it was hard to figure out where we were and how far it all went. There used to be steamboats coming up here, now all sand. Eventually we found the other side and I scrambled up the sand and got a view. Nothing but desert sands for miles in all directions. We were getting overheated and it didn't look like the flood was coming so we got back in the car and went up to San Luis Rio Colorado.

looking upstream across the wasteland

Irrigated field

We crossed this bridge 3 times trying to figure out where we going

Colorado river from Federal Highway 2

Sorry kinda blurry

party under the bridge. Regular afternoon?
No it is a party celebrating the river!

Next time I go to Mexico I am getting that road atlas that has street maps of every town. It seems to be the only way not to get lost here. The intuition I use to navigate US cities just does not apply here. I can translate the signs, but there is a bit of attention lost in the processing and you kind of need your attention here. There is clearly some underlying organizing principle to how people drive though what is unclear. Also offramps are done a bit different here as well. It still makes sense, it just challenges the assumptions one would have after a living in the US all one's life.

It is already scorching hot.

Looking back to San Luis Rio Colorado

There was also a river bed clean up going on today.

Had some chats with folks from around town about this.

There was quite a festival under the bridge, mostly locals from San Luis Rio Colorado. We did not see anyone from the Morelos dam. Indeed some friendly locals welcomed us to the party and seemed happy we were here. It is said that Mexico is safer than the US in many parts and that people are friendlier and more open to talking. Here I could see that, as also I could back at the end of the dirt road. There are dangers here and I am aware of them, but too often the perception of danger is part of the problem. Today I was able to "not worry" and saw a world open up. They also told us that the flood wouldn't be here for another 6 hours or so. We thought maybe we could walk into San Luis and grab a bite to eat, but town center turned out to be quite some distance from the river itself so we took some more pictures.

There had been some immense efforts to clean up the riverbed. The topographic low often ends up collecting a lot of trash. It was as if people had something to hope for and were inspired for the first time. It would have been lovely to linger to witness this all. I however had my day job and a long drive home.

Another shot of me, we are tourists.

A view of the river bed.

Fiesta celebrating the return of the river.

What I saw here was truly otherworldly and only the beginning of a far better future, one where the US and Mexico recognize more their common destinies. One where the environment is valued for its own sake and it's well being is known to be critical to the well being of society as well. It took about 2 hours to cross the border, apparently typical for a Sunday afternoon, and then another 3 and 1/2 hours to get home; and yet even now I see myself returning soon to see more of this land at the end of the Colorado and people connected to its future.