Havasupai Update

[fotogirl53]

The Nov. 2 edition of the Arizona Daily Sun (Flagstaff's newspaper) carried an exclusive story about the current conditions at Havasupai. A former tribal employee, now Coconino FN employee, Stephen Hirst, was allowed down to report. To summarize, the 36 hour flood caused extensive damage with the area below the village trashed. Much of the trail and both bridges are gone; the spring that provided water to the campground is burried and blocked--the water is coming up in many places and running through the area. The composting toilets are 1/2 full of mud. High bluffs are still crumbling. A 1/4 mile gorge cuts about 100 feet down to the Redwall. Travertine dikes gave way, forming a new waterfall. 1/2 way down, the creek drops 30 feet befor a final 20 foot drop-- what left of Navajo Falls comes out of a 4 foot spout to the side of the original falls. The travertine pools gave way and mud flats cover them now.

The estimated cost of clean-up, repairs and returning the creek to its original bed is $2million. There will be a benefit concert and live auction in Flagstaff on Friday, 11/6 at The Green Room at 15 N. Agassiz with bands, and Havasupai dancers. Coconino National Forest is sponsoring a firewood drive on Nov. 15-16. The tribe has a relief account set up at Wells Fargo. They have a website.

Let's try to help restore this Arizona gem and give the people back their livelihood.

[JoelHazelton]

Huh.. Does the creek really have to be returned to its original bed?

[azbackpackr]

Thanks for posting this. I sent it to my daughter in Flag--she will want to help, I know.

[Hoffmaster]

Huh.. Does the creek really have to be returned to its original bed?

I'm with you. Let nature do it's thing.

[JoelHazelton]

Well it just seems unnecessary to me. I'm sure it flowed over a slightly different route for a long time before a huge flood made it the way it's been for the past several years, and if it changes again, so be it.

I can hear it now: "Dude, I hear Havasu Creek looks a little different. No way I'm paying to go there!"

[Jeffshadows]

Huh.. Does the creek really have to be returned to its original bed?

I'm with you. Let nature do it's thing.

x3

[azbackpackr]

Seems to make more sense to leave it alone, doesn't it? It will just get messed up again in the next flood. They can punch a trail through there, and they can rebuild the spring house, but I don't think they need to spend $2 mil, do they?

[chumley]

Tourism is the main source of economic prosperity for the Havasupai tribe (besides perhaps government assistance) so I think it is very important that they re-establish the campground, and rebuild any bridges or trails that were washed away. Similarly, something needs to be done so that visitors can access the spring water in a safe and clean manner.

However, I agree that any attempts to "relocate the creek to its original bed" is foolhardy. In fact, it sounds as if the spring itself has been relocated, and I'm not sure that trying to "put it back" is a good idea.

Supai exists today because of what nature created there over eons. The travertine pools that were washed away will be formed elsewhere along the stream over time. New wonders will be created where others were washed away.

I'm not an expert on Native American cultures, but it seems to be completely contradictory to (my perception of) their beliefs to mess with the natural order of things. I think they should work with what nature has left as minimally as possible. Perhaps some kind of display can educate visitors on before/after, and how floods have altered and affected the community throughout history.

Or they could just build a casino down there while they're at it.

[big_load]

Tourism is the main source of economic prosperity for the Havasupai tribe (besides perhaps government assistance) so I think it is very important that they re-establish the campground, and rebuild any bridges or trails that were washed away. Similarly, something needs to be done so that visitors can access the spring water in a safe and clean manner.

However, I agree that any attempts to "relocate the creek to its original bed" is foolhardy. In fact, it sounds as if the spring itself has been relocated, and I'm not sure that trying to "put it back" is a good idea.

It's hard to tell without maps and pictures whether the first goal (restoration of the campground) can be achieved without relocating the creek. It probably widened out in the campground during the flood (thus burying the spring and everything else in mud) and the flood's retreat could have left that flat part a tangle of meanders through the new mud. That's one possibility, anyway. I'd like to see what it really looks like.

[nonot]

The mud cleanup alone is probably the cost. I can't imagine how they will relocate the entire creek. I doubt they can severely alter the path of the creek below Navajo. Keep in mind they had an entire irrigation setup throughout the village they may also have to rebuild, which may be part/most of the "relocation".

[big_load]

Keep in mind they had an entire irrigation setup throughout the village they may also have to rebuild, which may be part/most of the "relocation".

Thanks for mentioning that. The scant information I've seen implies that most of the damage was below the village. However, the way the creek runs above and around the village and the way it's banked, I have to believe that there's enough damage through there to entail some real work. Does anyone here know more about that?

[Davis2001r6]

Right now all I picture is a muddy canyon with a small creek flowing through it. No green travertine pools anymore, no beautiful waterfalls etc. If thats the case I can see them wanting to restore it to it's original location.condition otherwise they will not get the visitors that they did in the past. $2 million doesn't seem like a lot for cleanup though. As full as those campgrounds were everytime I saw them they should have plenty of money in the bank, especially with a $35 entrance fee and $17/night person. Glad I saw it before this happened though, it may never be the same.

-TIM-

[nonot]

Canyons flood, it happens, it's nature's way of refertilizing. I don't think I would plan a trip there again for another 3-5 years. Nice fertile mud should have provided for plenty of flowers and greenery by then. It may end up better than what it was last year, but it was spectacular then so it will be hard to beat.

I'd imagine the waterfalls are back to blue, but the cliffs and rocks are probably still muddy until a couple good rains wash them clean.

[fotogirl53]

I just got back from the fundraiser in Flagstaff. Someone has put together a video of before, during and after the flood. It is shocking. The water scoured the creekbed down to bedrock. The banks are gone and the level has dropped many feet. There is no nice fertile mud to grow anything--most of it was all washed down canyon. Hang on to your photos of how it used to be, because I don't think it will ever be beautiful again in my lifetime. I suggested that the video should be put on utube. 90% of the tribe's income came from tourism; now that is gone and will be gone for a very long time. And money in the bank? These people were on subsistence living. Do you think the village lived in poverty out of choice? The tourist dollars paid for food, paper products, milk, formula, clothing, etc. for the tribal members. I wish everyone could see the video--and then feel compassion for these people.

[joebartels]

Do you think the village lived in poverty out of choice?

yes

[nonot]

Search youtube for havasu creek USGS. Yes, Navajo Falls was scoured away and there is currently a big ugly swath that was cut void of foliage, but there are also new (albeit less impressive for the one that is shown) waterfalls to be discovered. The canyon was made deeper in some places but in other places (where Navajo used to be) there is now land where there once was creek.

I can imagine that some of the narrower spots down canyon might be scoured, such as the constriction at the blue hole below beaver and the last section before the colorado, but in other places there is plenty left to be colonized by plants. The scoured area may include the former camping area, but that is not all of Havasu canyon!

Campsites can be relocated, they can create terraces if necessary as the ground is not fully stabilized.

Like a forest after a fire, it may take 3-5 years for small plants to cover the hillsides and 15-20 before another tree swing appears, but to say it's gone forever...nope.

[azbackpackr]

Choice? They have the same choices anyone else has. Do they take advantage of the choices? Mostly not. They don't even choose to make crafts to sell to tourists, such as baskets or even printing up t-shirts. They have an 85% alcoholism rate, a similar HS dropout rate, and to make matters worse, there is a pattern of incest and rape, especially against young boys, amongst tribal members. And lately they have a big problem with methamphetamine amongst the younger ones. They are proud of their place, their waterfalls, etc., but use of drugs and alcoholism takes away any ambition they might have to create a better living standard for themselves. The smart ones leave and don't come back very much.

I used to know someone who worked down there at the school, which is where I got some of this information.

I don't feel sorry for them. I think they should take the reins and do something with their lives. For the most part, they are not helpless to make positive changes in their lives, they just don't choose to.

[chumley]

So as tourists who pay the visitation fees, does that make us "enablers"? Sounds like the loss of tourism revenue might force some changes, which might actually HELP the tribal residents overcome some of the problems.

BTW - The video is crazy. I'd like to see more of the downstream parts of it though. Geologically speaking, it's interesting to see how the "stable" layers of travertine are quite thin, and when eroded by floodwaters, there's just essentially loose sediment underneath that can be so easily washed away. But the layering of travertine and sediment and travertine again makes me think that this has happened a few times before ...

[Dschur]

An earlier flood took alot of damage of the Havasupai falls what was seen after 1993 is not what was there before...

Late in February 1993, torrential rains came to the Coconino Plateau. The runoff was compounded by a series of storms. A deluge of water gathered strength as it was funnelled down into Cataract Canyon and came raging into the makeshift dam, causing it to overflow and to begin to disintegrate. As the dam failed an enormous wall of water went crashing down Cataract Canyon toward the Havasupai village. Fortunately, someone had thought to warn the tribe who, as night fell, scurried to their refuges of higher ground in the nooks and crannies of the red sandstone walls surrounding the village. The tidal wave hit the village sometime after midnight. It carried away just about every structure the Havasupai owned, their entire centuries-old irrigation system, their cattle, fields, crops and orchards. It scoured their hallowed burial grounds scattering their ancestor's remains down the canyon. Even the beautiful waterfalls and blue-green pools were violated. The ancient travertine retaining walls that took so many years to deposit were sliced way in seconds leaving muddy sloughs where the blue-green pools had been. The destruction was total and cataclysmic. As the flood subsided and the Havasupai ventured down from their refuges they found only a sea of mud sprinkled with a few belongings and dead animals.
Havasu falls lost ALL of its travertine pools below as a result and there was virtually no pool below there until the next year when the built the first dam there to rebuild the pool and get some of the other falls to the side going again. That dam got washed out again and they built a new one which looked like was holding up and being covered in sediment growing more naturally. I have no idea whether that broke again from this flood. The whole delicate top growth of the falls was carved out and two very basic mooney falls looking chutes came out.

[azbackpackr]

I am glad you posted this info. I knew about this flood but didn't think to look for a write-up about it. It can also give us some perspective about how precarious man-made as well as natural structures are in that area. And some idea of the history of flooding in the area.