Middleton Stream Teamers knew Kerry Mackin, former director of the Ipswich River Watershed Association, was visiting Arizona, site of world infamous water projects. We asked this lady with river savvy eyes and ears to write an article for the Water Closet. She kindly obliged with the following.
Salt River Project near Phoenix has built 6 dams to impound the Salt and Verde Rivers leaving them dry for miles downstream.
Kerry Mackin Photo
Water Closet for 10-25-13 Southwest Water
I was in Arizona this past August – something I would not recommend, as it was 113°F in the shade! Folks in the southwest are fond of saying, “but it’s a dry heat.” Right. It is definitely dry, as the area averages only 8” of rain a year, and so far this year has only received 3.7”. http://average-rainfall.weatherdb.com/l/27/Phoenix-Arizona
The dryness is apparent in the riverbeds near Phoenix. The Salt River Project (SRP), major water supplier, has built 6 dams to impound the Salt and VerdeRivers, leaving them dry for miles downstream. The SRP also taps groundwater with 255 high-capacity wells. It delivers half of Phoenix’s water via 1300 miles of canals, which lose a lot of water in transmission. Dry riverbeds are now the norm in Arizona.
Havasu Falls on the Colorado River, AZ
Internet Google Photo
So, of course, water is a big deal, and water conservation is state-of-the-art, right? Yes and no. Phoenix and other Arizona cities are taking action to control water demand, in part by innovative programs such as using treated wastewater for golf course irrigation and recharge. There are many (many!) new subdivisions and commercial developments that use native landscaping – a step in the right direction. But the use of the rivers is the opposite of “sustainable.” Growth represents new water demand that offsets the savings they are achieving, and even if it uses treated wastewater, irrigating golf courses represents a net loss of water in an ultra-dry region. Some places that you’d think would be water conscious are not really; for example, at a Phoenix school that I visited, sprinklers come on regularly all day, watering ornamental plants and lawn as well as athletic fields. There are more than 200 golf courses in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Scottsdale’s “greenway” is lush, but at what cost to the rivers?
The trip reminded me of the excellent book Water Follies, written by University of Arizona law professor Robert Glennon. He focuses on groundwater pumping and has several case studies from Arizona (as well as including the IpswichRiver). He says, “In Arizona, groundwater pumping has dried up or degraded 90% of the state’s once perennial desert streams, rivers, and riparian habitats.”
- On the Santa CruzRiver, which supplies water to Tucson, “…groundwater pumping has lowered the water table, drained the river of its flow, killed the cottonwood, willow and mesquite trees, and driven much of the wildlife elsewhere.” By 2000, groundwater pumping from the Santa CruzRiver’s groundwater source was more than double its annual recharge rate.
- The SanPedroRiver is a Globally Important Bird Area and one of The Nature Conservancy’s “Last Great Places.” The river and riparian forest and wetlands support 390 bird species, 83 species of mammals and 47 species of amphibians and reptiles, including federally-endangered species. Explosive growth in this watershed, with groundwater pumping to meet demand, now threaten the San Pedro ecosystem.
- In northern Arizona, a pristine ancient aquifer lies under Hopi and Navajo land. In one of the most insane uses of precious water anywhere in the country, water from this aquifer was used to transport coal to a power plant via the Black Mesa coal slurry pipeline. This project threatened springs and the water supplies that native people in this region have relied on for many generations. Native people need the jobs from the coal operation, but many fought to stop using water to transport the coal, arguing to use rail or trucks instead. The mine was shut down in 2005 and the issue of reopening the mine is winding through the courts.
Just south of the Grand Canyon, plans to pump groundwater to serve a large development threatened critical springs, including Havasu, Hermit and Indian Garden Springs. To avoid pumping groundwater (and an environmental battle), plans evolved to divert water from the Colorado River and transport it for hundreds of miles and uphill almost 7000 ft. Really, I’m not kidding – that’s what was proposed. It got even more complex, with plans to transport water from the Colorado River to Phoenix to recharge aquifers there, earning water “credits.” In 2000, the estimated cost per acre-foot was $20,000, as compared to $13.50 paid for Colorado River water used for irrigation in California. (An acre foot is the amount of water that would flood one acre to a depth of one foot – about 325,000 gallons.) The developer was on board with that. (It was still much cheaper than bottled water!)
The Colorado River is the best-known example of a river that is so severely over-allocated that it no longer flows to the sea. Here are links to several articles on this topic: http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/17/all-rivers-do-not-run-to-the-sea/?_r=0
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/The-Colorado-River-Runs-Dry.html
http://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/2011/07/15/137821595/why-the-colorado-river-stopped-flowing
The Colorado River has not reached the sea since 1998 and ends in a cracked and desolate expanse of barren mud flats.
New York Times Photo for Peter McBride
Because the Colorado flows through 7 states, crosses the border into Mexico, and involves extensive federal and Native American lands, water rights there are extremely complex. They have been the subject of many disputes and changing agreements. Here is a summary of the “Law of the River.” http://www.azwater.gov/AzDWR/StateWidePlanning/CRM/LawoftheRiver.htm
In a nutshell: the Colorado River is greatly over-allocated and in most years, there is little or no water in the river as it reaches the sea. The river supplies water to more than 36 million people in 7 states and Mexico, including 22 Native American tribes, and supports 11 national parks, 7 national wildlife refuges and 4 million acres of farmland. More than 16.5 million acre-feet are allocated, yet the total average annual flow of the river is only 13.5 million acre-feet.
From the NYTimes: “…the Colorado River has not reached the sea since 1998 but ends rather in a cracked and desolate expanse of barren mud flats and abandoned boats.”
Filmmaker and photographer Peter McBride, who has worked to raise public awareness about the Colorado River, also points out the impacts on Mexicans in the delta region, which has shrunk drastically: “Mr. McBride noted that not many people live in the delta region, and that those who do are mostly poor Mexican farmers. ‘If the river ended in San Diego, I guarantee it wouldn’t run dry,’ he said.
He joined writer Jonathan Waterman (good name!), who paddled 1450 miles of the Colorado, but they had to walk the last 70 miles in Mexico because the river was dry.
From the Smithsonian article: “The river has become a perfect symbol of what happens when we ask too much of a limited resource: it disappears.”
Now add historic drought. In the past few years, water levels in some of the large Colorado River reservoirs have dropped more than 130 feet, and some experts believe that the reservoirs will never be filled again. Is this the new norm? Climate change models indicate a reduction in flow of 5-20% in the next 40 years, according to Brad Udall of the University of Colorado. Here is more information on impacts of the drought. http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2013/aug/16/more-water-being-choked-drought-stricken-lake-mead/
In this age when there is a lot of talk about “sustainability,” the undeniable reality is that the Colorado River cannot sustain all the demands placed on it.
Final thoughts: Although the Ipswich River is much smaller, and our water laws are different, the same is true here. Perhaps Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) decided to use the Colorado River as its model of “sustainable water management” (a misnomer if ever there was one). I say this because, if their proposed “safe yield” were removed continuously from our rivers, as the law specifies, every river in Massachusetts would run dry for months each year and become “severely degraded.” For those like the IpswichRiver that are already “severely degraded” – by the state’s own criteria – there is no requirement to restore them to health.
For those who are interested in reading Water Follies, the IpswichRiver is one of the case studies. The book was published in 2002, before IRWA undertook litigation that found that MassDEP was in violation of the Water Management Act by allocating water without determining the river’s capacity, or “safe yield.” After those court victories, the state began its misnamed “Sustainable Water Management Initiative.” In the end, MassDEP failed to honor its commitment, to IRWA and the court, that “safe yield includes “ecological health of river systems.”
Water Follies is available here: http://www.amazon.com/Water-Follies-Groundwater-Pumping-Americas/dp/1559634006 Members can borrow it from the IRWA library.
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All throughout time, we can see how we have been slowly conditioned to come to this point where we are on the verge of a cashless society. Did you know that Jesus foretold of this event almost 2,000 years ago?
In the last book of the Bible, Revelation 13:16-18, it states,
“He (the false prophet who deceives many by his miracles–Revelation 19:20) causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.”
Speaking to the last generation, this could only be speaking of a cashless society. Why’s that? Revelation 13:17 says that we cannot buy or sell unless we receive the mark of the beast. If physical money was still in use, we could buy or sell with one another without receiving the mark. This would contradict scripture that states we need the mark to buy or sell!
These verses could not be referring to something purely spiritual as scripture references two physical locations (our right hand or forehead) stating the mark will be on one “OR” the other. If this mark was purely spiritual, it would indicate both places, or one–not one OR the other!
This is where it comes together. It is incredible how accurate the Bible is concerning the implantable RFID microchip. These are notes from a man named Carl Sanders who worked with a team of engineers to help develop this RFID chip:
“Carl Sanders sat in seventeen New World Order meetings with heads-of-state officials such as Henry Kissinger and Bob Gates of the C.I.A. to discuss plans on how to bring about this one-world system. The government commissioned Carl Sanders to design a microchip for identifying and controlling the peoples of the world—a microchip that could be inserted under the skin with a hypodermic needle (a quick, convenient method that would be gradually accepted by society).
Carl Sanders, with a team of engineers behind him, with U.S. grant monies supplied by tax dollars, took on this project and designed a microchip that is powered by a lithium battery, rechargeable through the temperature changes in our skin. Without the knowledge of the Bible (Brother Sanders was not a Christian at the time), these engineers spent one-and-a-half-million dollars doing research on the best and most convenient place to have the microchip inserted.
Guess what? These researchers found that the forehead and the back of the hand (the two places the Bible says the mark will go) are not just the most convenient places, but are also the only viable places for rapid, consistent temperature changes in the skin to recharge the lithium battery. The microchip is approximately seven millimeters in length, .75 millimeters in diameter, about the size of a grain of rice. It is capable of storing pages upon pages of information about you. All your general history, work history, criminal record, health history, and financial data can be stored on this chip.
Brother Sanders believes that this microchip, which he regretfully helped design, is the “mark” spoken about in Revelation 13:16–18. The original Greek word for “mark” is “charagma,” which means a “scratch or etching.” It is also interesting to note that the number 666 is actually a word in the original Greek. The word is “chi xi stigma,” with the last part, “stigma,” also meaning “to stick or prick.” Carl believes this is referring to a hypodermic needle when they poke into the skin to inject the microchip.”
Mr. Sanders asked a doctor what would happen if the lithium contained within the RFID microchip leaked into the body. The doctor replied by saying a terrible sore would appear in that location. This is what the book of Revelation says:
“And the first (angel) went, and poured out his vial on the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore on the men which had the mark of the beast, and on them which worshipped his image” (Revelation 16:2).
You can read more about it here–and to also understand the mystery behind the number 666: https://2RUTH.ORG
The third angel’s warning in Revelation 14:9-11 states,
“Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, ‘If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.'”
Great hope is in our midst, and is coming in a mighty way–the greatest revival for Jesus in the history of the world where we will see the most souls come to Him of all tribes, tongues, nations, and peoples (Rev. 7:9-10); for we have this promise in God’s Word in the midst of these dark times:
“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years (not literal–rather a spiritual label for time spent in eternity); and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while (when the Antichrist and false prophet will rise up and God will test the world).” (Revelation 20:1-3)
“The coming of the lawless one (the Antichrist) is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12)”
Who is Barack Obama, and why is he still around?
So what’s in the name? The meaning of someone’s name can say a lot about a person. God throughout history has given names to people that have a specific meaning tied to their lives. How about the name Barack Obama? Let us take a look at what may be hiding beneath the surface.
Jesus states in Luke 10:18, “…I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.”
The Hebrew Strongs word (H1299) for “lightning”: “bârâq” (baw-rawk)
In Isaiah chapter 14, verse 14, we read about Lucifer (Satan) saying in his heart:
“I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.”
In the verses in Isaiah that refer directly to Lucifer, several times it mentions him falling from the heights or the heavens. The Hebrew word for the heights or heavens used here is Hebrew Strongs 1116: “bamah”–Pronounced (bam-maw’)
In Hebrew, the letter “Waw” or “Vav” is often transliterated as a “U” or “O,” and it is primarily used as a conjunction to join concepts together. So to join in Hebrew poetry the concept of lightning (Baraq) and a high place like heaven or the heights of heaven (Bam-Maw), the letter “U” or “O” would be used. So, Baraq “O” Bam-Maw or Baraq “U” Bam-Maw in Hebrew poetry similar to the style written in Isaiah, would translate literally to “Lightning from the heights.” The word “Satan” in Hebrew is a direct translation, therefore “Satan.”
So when Jesus told His disciples in Luke 10:18 that He saw Satan fall as lightning from heaven, if this were to be stated by a Jewish Rabbi today influenced by the poetry in the book of Isaiah, he would say these words in Hebrew–the words of Jesus in Luke 10:18 as, and I saw Satan as Baraq O Bam-Maw.
The names of both of Obama’s daughters are Malia and Natasha. If we write those names backward (the devil does things backwards) we would get “ailam ahsatan”. If we remove the letters that spell “Alah” (the false god of Islam being Allah), we get “I am Satan”. Coincidence? I do not believe so!
Obama’s campaign logo when he ran as President in 2008 was a sun over the horizon in the west, with the landscape as the flag of the United States. In Islam, they have their own messiah that they are awaiting called the 12th Imam, or the Mahdi (the Antichrist of the Bible), and one prophecy concerning this man’s appearance is the sun rising in the west.
“Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people— saying with a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.'” (Revelation 14:6-7)
Why have the words of Jesus in His Gospel accounts regarding His death, burial, and resurrection, been translated into over 3,000 languages, and nothing comes close (the Quran about 110 languages)? Because the same Spirit of God (YHVH) who created all people likewise transcends all people; therefore the power of His Word is not limited by people; while all other religions are man-made, therefore they tend to primarily stay within their own culture. The same God who speaks to all people through His creation of the heavens and earth that draws all people around the world likewise has sent His Word to the ends of the earth so that we may come to personally know Him to be saved in spirit and in truth through His Son Jesus Christ.
Jesus stands alone among the other religions that say to rightly weigh the scales of good and evil and to make sure you have done more good than bad in this life. Is this how we conduct ourselves justly in a court of law? Bearing the image of God, is this how we project this image into reality?
Our good works cannot save us. If we step before a judge, being guilty of a crime, the judge will not judge us by the good we have done, but rather by the crimes we have committed. If we as fallen humanity, created in God’s image, pose this type of justice, how much more a perfect, righteous, and Holy God?
God has brought down His moral laws through the 10 commandments given to Moses at Mt. Siani. These laws were not given so we may be justified, but rather that we may see the need for a savior. They are the mirror of God’s character of what He has written in our hearts, with our conscious bearing witness that we know that it is wrong to steal, lie, dishonor our parents, murder, and so forth.
We can try and follow the moral laws of the 10 commandments, but we will never catch up to them to be justified before a Holy God. That same word of the law given to Moses became flesh about 2,000 years ago in the body of Jesus Christ. He came to be our justification by fulfilling the law, living a sinless perfect life that only God could fulfill.
The gap between us and the law can never be reconciled by our own merit, but the arm of Jesus is stretched out by the grace and mercy of God. And if we are to grab on, through faith in Him, He will pull us up being the one to justify us. As in the court of law, if someone steps in and pays our fine, even though we are guilty, the judge can do what is legal and just and let us go free. That is what Jesus did almost 2,000 years ago on the cross. It was a legal transaction being fulfilled in the spiritual realm by the shedding of His blood with His last word’s on the cross crying out, “It is finished!” (John 19:30).
For God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 18:23). This is why in Isaiah chapter 53, where it speaks of the coming Messiah and His soul being a sacrifice for our sins, why it says it pleased God to crush His only begotten Son.
This is because the wrath that we deserve was justified by being poured out upon His Son. If that wrath was poured out on us, we would all perish to hell forever. God created a way of escape by pouring it out on His Son whose soul could not be left in Hades but was raised and seated at the right hand of God in power.
So now when we put on the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 13:14), where God no longer sees the person who deserves His wrath, but rather the glorious image of His perfect Son dwelling in us, justifying us as if we received the wrath we deserve, making a way of escape from the curse of death; now being conformed into the image of the heavenly man walking in a new nature, and no longer in the image of the fallen man Adam.
Now what we must do is repent and put our trust and faith in the savior, confessing and forsaking our sins, and to receive His Holy Spirit that we may be born again (for Jesus says we must be born again to see and enter the Kingdom of God in John chapter 3). This is not just head knowledge of believing in Jesus, but rather receiving His words, taking them to heart, so that we may truly be transformed into the image of God. Where we no longer live to practice sin, but rather turn from our sins and practice righteousness through faith in Him in obedience to His Word by reading the Bible.
Our works cannot save us, but they can condemn us; it is not that we earn our way into everlasting life, but that we obey our Lord Jesus Christ:
Jesus says,
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ (Matthew 7:21-23)
“And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.” (Hebrews 5:9)
“Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.’
Then He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ And He said to me, ‘Write, for these words are true and faithful.’
And He said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.'” (Revelation 21:1-8)