Wet Desert: Tracking Down a Terrorist on the Color

Оглавление

The governor shook Grant's hand firmly. "Mr. Stevens. Nice to see you again."

Grant nodded. "Governor."

The governor winked at him. "You seem to have survived the challenges to your reputation."

Grant nodded. "I appreciated your comments." The governor's statements had gone a long way in swaying public opinion.

The governor looked around to verify that no one else was listening, then leaned close. "Well, off the record, if Roland Blackwell and those other morons had been making the decisions, we would have lost Hoover Dam. And, as you know, things would have been a lot worse downstream."

Grant knew the governor was right.

The governor stood up straight. "So what do you think about what happened in Washington last week?"

Grant shrugged. "I've never seen politicians be so secretive. Usually somebody spills the beans."

The governor laughed. "I agree. The President must have some serious leverage we don't know about." He glanced around nervously. "You guys work for the Bureau. What's going to happen here today?"

Grant smiled. He was going to ask the governor the same question. "We only know what you do. An important press conference. Mandatory. Be there."

The governor nudged Grant. "Come on. A week of political jockeying, followed by a press conference at the site of the Glen Canyon Dam. What else could it be? He's got the votes."

Grant nodded, but held out his hands. "Sounds logical, but then again, this President goes both ways. Who would have expected the trip to Mexico? He might announce that he agrees with the environmentalists, and he's going to let the river run."

The governor smirked. "Are you kidding? This guy has never voted for anything environmental in his life. None of those whackos voted for him, and none of them ever will, no matter what he does. And he knows it."

Grant agreed with the logic, except that none of the Democrats in Washington were talking about the secret negotiations, which meant they had something to gain. Of course, the Republicans weren't talking either, which made it even more confusing. Grant was trying to think of an answer when the governor saw someone else and quickly excused himself. They watched him go.

"At least we're not the only ones in the dark," Fred said.

Grant saw a contingency of managers from the Bureau of Reclamation over by a buffet of hors d'oeuvres. Bruce Godfrey of River Hydraulics was among the group. Grant and Fred walked over and joined them. Bruce was uncharacteristically quiet and nervous. Grant wondered if Bruce had heard something. For the next half hour, the crowd in the visitor center continued to grow. Although Grant didn't know most of them, he recognized many as Washington politicians he had seen on TV. Finally, a few minutes before 11:00 a.m., a helicopter could be heard. It landed in a vacant spot in the rear parking lot. The crowd was ushered outside and to the rear lot, where Grant noticed a small platform had been erected on the edge of the canyon. A podium with a half dozen microphones had been placed in the center of the platform. On each side of the podium were two large easels covered with canvas.

The President of the United States exited the helicopter surrounded by a throng of Secret Service personnel all wearing dark sunglasses. As he worked his way to the podium, he greeted the Senate Minority leader, a Democrat, and they shook hands and smiled at each other, although the entire country knew the two men despised each other. The pack of people from the visitor center jockeyed for good spots close to the podium. Grant and Fred remained farther away under the shade of one of the few sparse trees in the lot. The national news networks had set up their cameras about five car lengths from the podium, so they could get the steep canyon walls and the Colorado River in the backdrop.

When the President approached the platform he was followed by the Senate majority leader, a Republican, and the Senate minority leader. Right behind them were the top-ranking Republicans and Democrats from the House of Representatives. An aid with a clipboard gave them all last-minute instructions. He pointed at the microphones and then at one of the covered easels, raising the canvas slightly, but not enough to uncover the display under it. The president nodded repeatedly. The two Senate leaders were positioned next to the easel on the left side of the platform, and the two representatives next to the one on the right. A woman touched up the President's hair, and brushed something off his cheek. Another aid stepped to the microphones, tapped one a couple times then said "test" until somebody gave him a thumbs up. Grant noticed that almost all the networks were already filming, their news anchors most likely speculating on what the President might say. Grant wished he and Fred were closer so they could listen. By 11:05 a.m., the anxious crowd had waited long enough. The President finally stepped to the microphones.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I speak to you today from the great state of Arizona, the exact site where two and a half months ago a terrible act of terrorism dramatically changed the canyon behind me and caused massive destruction for hundreds of miles downstream. I am joined today by leaders of both parties…" He turned and motioned to the four politicians behind him."… on this important day."

"As you all know, this unique period of time since those two disastrous days in June has been eye-opening. Passion has been unleashed by many organizations, factions, communities, and races. Some would have us leave the Colorado River un-dammed and uncontrolled. Their voices have been loud, and amplified by many in the media. Others would have us rebuild these dams immediately, to restore their livelihoods, recreational areas, and in some cases, their drinking water." The President leaned forward and glared into the camera. "Unfortunately, many citizens of our country and the world are celebrating this act of terrorism, in spite of the staggering loss of life and property. I myself will not tolerate anyone celebrating the destruction of property and loss of human life for their own interests."

Grant wondered what the solution would be, since the President had just painted both sides of the argument as extremes, rebuilding the dams and not rebuilding them. Would he propose rebuilding only some of them?

The President continued. "First I'd like to say a few words about these dams and life on the Colorado River before them. According to historians, each spring as snow melted in the Rocky Mountains, the Colorado worked itself into a frenzy for three to five months. North of Black Canyon, for the most part, the river was trapped inside the rock walls of the Grand Canyon and Glen Canyon. However, south of Black Canyon, the river spread out and flooded everything from what is now Laughlin, Nevada all the way to the ocean in the Gulf of California. Nothing was safe. Farming was nearly impossible with too much water in the spring, then almost nothing in the late summer. A typical year on the Colorado was three to four months of floods, followed by a dry river for the remainder of the year."

"In the pre-dam years, Imperial Valley farmers in California discovered fertile soil and built a canal to their farms. With water, their farms flourished. But in 1904 a spring flood caused the canal to break, and the Colorado River changed course, diverting itself entirely into the Imperial Valley where it flowed for three years before the Southern Pacific Railway finally diverted it back into its channel and back to the ocean. That flood filled the valley with water, and refilled the Salton Sea."

"The dams dramatically changed life on the Colorado River. They completely eliminated the spring floods. They averaged the flow and allowed farmers to water year round. They allowed water to be stored and used to sustain life in desert cities like Las Vegas, Phoenix and Los Angeles, none of which could survive without water diversions. The electricity generated by these dams powered the west. The dams have also created recreational areas enjoyed by millions of people each year. Only fanatics would argue that the dams are bad. Only fanatics would argue that we should go back to the way it was before. It would eliminate some of the most fertile farmland in the country, and necessitate the relocation of millions of people."

"The Colorado River is the only large river in the southwest. We have a choice. We can let it run wild, flooding and eroding the landscape, then dumping into the ocean, without harnessing any benefit for man, or, we can completely control it, use it for drinking water, electricity, farming, and recreation for the citizens of the southwestern United States and Mexico."

The crowd cheered, interrupting the President's speech. Grant saw that even the two Democrats on the stand clapped, although not as enthusiastically as the Republicans next to them. He wondered how the President had swayed them to his side. What about the environmentalists? Why weren't the Democrats siding with them? The President held out his hands and waited for the applause to subside.

"So, my friends in the House and the Senate will send me a bill to rebuild the Glen Canyon Dam." He turned and motioned into the dark red rock canyon where the dam had been only a few months before. "And we will restore Lake Powell."

The crowd clapped and cheered enthusiastically again, forcing the President to wait. Grant knew why the press conference was a private event and the environmentalists were not allowed past security. There would have been booing. There would have been people rushing the stage. Under the right circumstances, Grant knew that the environmentalists would kill the president if they could, for what he had just said.