Prelude
The Colorado River Compact on Wikipedia.
Damming the Colorado: a photo essay, by David Alan Boyd, of Hoover Dam and Lake Mead.
A (true) Parable for Earth Day, a post from the artist’s blog that was the first public expression of Black Heart.
Killing the Colorado, an interactive map and series of articles at Pro Publica.
Cadillac Desert provides an excellent overview of the Bureau of Reclamation and the watering of the West.
Indian Coal
The 1985 documentary film Broken Rainbow tells the story of the displacement of the Navajo people from the Black Mesa.
Royalties from energy production and extraction represent 95% of the $225M Navajo Nation tribal council annual budget. $50M comes from royalties from the Black Mesa coal mines, and $44M from the Navajo Generating Station. The Navajo (Diné) are caught in a bind between long-energy contracts and needed economic resources, and the traditional values and the health and wellbeing of their peoples. This video of the Attorney General of the Navajo Nation telling a gathering of the Diné why they have no choice but to continue down the path is revealing.
Dirty Power
White Man Water
The story of the Colorado River Compact and the Central Arizona Project are engagingly told in Chapter Eight of Cadillac Desert.
A Layperson’s Guide to Arizona Water published by the University of Arizona
Arizona Cheers As Canal Carries Colorado River Water To Phoenix, 1985 New York Times article on the completion of first segment of CAP
Hedge Funds are now speculating on Arizona Water and CAP is negotiating purchasing water rights from a New York hedge fund.
The Business of Agribusiness
Salinization is a major issue with irrigation using Colorado River water as it can destroy farm land. The effects of salinity are readily apparent in images of industrial farmland in Central Arizona.
Federally subsidized irrigated cotton grown in the desert.
Arizona’s Shrinking Aquifers combined with the Colorado River drought is putting the water squeeze on Arizona farmers.
Desert Farmers
Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community Traditional Farming, a short video.
The New Water Czars, an article about the recent water rights settlement with the Gila Pima-Maricopa Community.
Coda
The Long Walk of the Navajo on Wikipedia
The Long Walk Away, The Long Walk Home, a documentary on The Long Walk of the Navajo.
Navajo Livestock Reductions on Wikipedia