BajaNomad - Mulege River Diversion/Dam Work

Mulege River Diversion/Dam Work

motoged - 6-13-2014 at 10:40 AM

Nomads,
Any updates on the dam/diversion work on the river west of town?

willyAirstream - 6-15-2014 at 05:52 AM

The work continues with very large equipment and many workers. Huge drainage areas are being carved out and banked with earth. This is the entire valley , out to the base of the mountains. Everyone is hoping this diversion will be successful, but as the Indians used to say, Mulege, large mouth, small Ahole.
Keep your fingers crossed for this project.

micah202 - 6-15-2014 at 08:41 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by willyAirstream
...... Mulege, large mouth, small Ahole.
Keep your fingers crossed for this project.

...I have trouble seeing how such a project can work---as you say,,,there's a pretty narrow channel in the area of the bridge--to make any difference,,water would need to be diverted -before- that point --not sure how that can be done,,IIRC there isn't many options!

...if I'm correct in thinking there isn't another place to divert the HUGE flow that can happen----I'd be VERY concerned that the 'solution' could create a bigger problem.

,,,,,,no joke,,,not exaggerating.

edit--okayy,,re-reading your post,,I see they're adding .........''Huge drainage areas are being carved out and banked with earth. This is the entire valley , out to the base of the mountains''......... but I wouldn't want to be on the riverfront for the next 'event' in any case!!.

Would love to see a shot of the works from the air

Robinhood - 6-15-2014 at 08:42 AM

Any pilots leaving/arriving at the Serenidad with a recorder?

No doubt this will help and I am glad some big money is being directed towards it.

Thanks for the update Wiley.

willyAirstream - 6-15-2014 at 08:48 AM

Yeah, i was going to mention, fotos from an airplane would be great. No way does a still foto from the roads show the intensity of the project. Anyone?

chuckie - 6-16-2014 at 05:11 AM

Where will all this water end up? In the valley by CREAAD? It would seem as if it doesn't go at least that far it will come back into town from the north?

Hook - 6-16-2014 at 06:28 AM

In theory, it should help. But theories have a way of failing in the face of practicum in Mexico.

Chuckie's question is really important............are they just creating TWO areas prone to flooding with this project? Have the engineers figured out just how much drainage is needed to accommodate this?

This summer is looking like a good (make that BAD) testing scenario. I hope another John or Jimena dont wash away all the incomplete work. They may have less than a month to stabilize what they have done.

willyAirstream - 6-16-2014 at 06:54 AM

`diversion` is not the best term as the water can not be diverted from the valley as it is all uphill in all directions. I`m guessing the idea is to slow the flow by making the river beds wide and hoping the water is absorbed. Rumor is that it was engineered in Mexico City with out any imput from Mulege.
Pics later today.

chuckie - 6-16-2014 at 07:10 AM

that was the concept I heard discussed earlier...A series of containment checks to slow down the flow...one of the engineers in town was concerned that it would just build a bigger "head" of water...Anyone who has ever seen that wall of water, just a few feet below the hiway bridge (I have) is going to be skeptical....I hope it works...looks like "D" is warming up in the bullpen...

MulegeAL - 6-16-2014 at 08:53 AM

Hi Chuckie!

The way this is supposed to work is that floodwaters will be held behind the downstream-side berm created by digging the new drainage channel. Most of the material from the channel is piled high to the downstream side. This berm/channel runs across the entire open end of the valley from the rocky point just west of the cement plant/gavel quarry to the rocky point to the southwest, a considerable distance. The valley floor immediately behind the berm/channel will flood a few meters deep for some distance west/south/north.

This water is then metered out of the retainment area down the new channel and through town. The idea is to keep the retained water outflow below a certain volume per minute so the waters don't raise the river level enough to cause significant flood damage. This requires some sort of flow control barrier/device in the channel near the north east end where the water enters the new channel going towards town. I don't know what that metered flow volume is, that has a lot to do with how much the river through town rises during a flood event.

This is all doable, but I don't know how long to finish all work. I was told 3 months work for the dozer drivers. After that, it needs some estuario dredging and flow control device construction (concreto work) for the system to work in my opinion. The flow control would be approx where ice house road crosses the new channel, so I was told.

"Islands" of large Cordone remain in the channel, very interesting to ride through at low light angle! I believe these remain because mex environmental rules don't allow them to be dozed down and they are too big to move. The silt bases of these islands will erode quickly and the big cordones will fall in the channel, creating a debris problema/blockage. Can't say for sure how that will work out.

I visited with the foreman and bulldozer drivers, drank some beers with them at the little rodeo we had, made some new friends, rode the entire length of the channel on bike and quad. I hiked up the rocky NE point above the worksite to see the entire project too.

Will it work? I think it will help for sure. The up-valley work is a major piece of the overall solution. The river channel needs work/dredging for this to function. The silt load from a flood is going to drop out some where, hopefully mostly behind the berm before it heads to town. I don't know what to say about all the burnt palmas, if the velocities through the oasis are low they won't turn into torpedoes!

Would I use this info to base a choice on housing in M? No, there is nothing certain about all this, buying in floodplains will always entail risk. Floods are gonna happen. I've been through 3 or 4 and expect a 5th at some point, and my strategy for living in the green green palms includes that contingency. Some habitated areas of M are very low and will always be at risk for flood damage, in my opinion. But it is a big step in the right direction.

Go have a beer without me Chuckie! I'm outta here for a 5 day KTM ride in NE OR, Hells canyon!

willyAirstream - 6-16-2014 at 09:14 AM

Here is some pics from yesterday showing what Al has mentioned. This is parallel and south of ice house road, just across from Tienda Paola. This is the typical width of the new channels which go out 20 - 30 miles ! in the valley. It is all loose silt, hopefully it will be compacted. Still fotos do not show the scale of this project. It is huge.

chuckie - 6-16-2014 at 09:20 AM

Al and Richard, Thanks...I guess we'll just have to wait and see...Al, I'll do the beer thing...any excuse...

chuckie - 6-16-2014 at 09:32 AM

Reading over this again....I wonder if there was actually a plan? Or are these ditches/channels just being scraped out randomly... :?:

willyAirstream - 6-16-2014 at 09:51 AM

I saw a drawing on a napkin

motoged - 6-16-2014 at 10:08 AM

Richard and Al,
Thanks for the update.....at least they are working on it !!!

Al, Rattlesnake Canyon south of Clarkston-Lewistin on the way to Enterprise is a nice twisty section, as it is from Cambridge down to Oxbow....HAppy riding.

Richard, keep that red beast going :saint:

willyAirstream - 6-16-2014 at 10:13 AM

Ged, it is amazing where the beast can go. The course for the san bruno - mulege race has it all, steep climbs, rock fields, moon dust, narrow over grown single track etc. I don't know how you guys do it on motos. Al you would love this course too.

micah202 - 6-16-2014 at 11:00 AM

.
...I just hope that whatever containment is big enough to hold whatever flow comes--if one of those containments was breached...things could be MUCH worse! :wow:

...it seems likely the test will happen this year.....be safe everyone!

[Edited on 6-16-2014 by micah202]

Kgryfon - 6-16-2014 at 03:33 PM

Thanks for the update.

mtnpop - 6-18-2014 at 07:08 AM

The engineers that we talked with also pointed out another problem in the valley..
Even tho is looks sandy and is really dusty out there, that only is only inches deep... then it is hardpack almost like concrete... so when the water comes down there is no leeching or soaking up of the water kinda like peein on a flat rock.... Part of the digging of the canals it is also believed that this will allow more of the water to leech away during rains etc.. breaks up the crust and opens the pores so to speak...
maybe this will help maybe it will not help...
sounds like a good idea but no one knows until the water comes.
Just one of many things we of Mulege have been told.... So we just keep on livin the life we are dealt... Still better than whats been happening NOB
the last couple of years.....
Glass half full not glass half empty..... attitude....

chuckie - 6-18-2014 at 07:13 AM

Ross, aint that the truth....

micah202 - 6-19-2014 at 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by mtnpop
Glass half full not glass half empty..... attitude....

...if you see rain coming,,keep the glass empty.....could put some of the water in it!

mulegemichael - 6-19-2014 at 07:19 PM

i have also heard a rumor that the boleo mine north of mulege needs water and that they are, in part, financing this diversion project in the hope that they might get fresh water to use in their project...that's a long stretch of the imagination to think that they can pump this incredible volume of water 40+ miles north but that's the rumor...anyone?...anyone?...bueller?

willyAirstream - 6-19-2014 at 07:53 PM

you have been talking to a diver? yep, pump it all out in 20 minutes!

David K - 6-20-2014 at 07:08 AM

Water is usually pumped a short distance to a high point, then gravity does all the work from there.

Gulliver - 6-20-2014 at 09:47 AM

Mulege's water comes from the same place as the floods. Just comes a lot slower though the ground. If the diversion scheme works, it seems like it might help with the long term flow to the wells and the estuary. Like give the water a bit more time to soak in.

If the Boleo project gets it's hands on the water, I think it is likely that the ground water in and around Mulege might be adversely affected. Scenario being that Mulege dries up and blows away after which the mine is exhausted and the whole area goes to hell.

I wonder what the world would be like if humans were looking a bit further into the future?

Selah

motoged - 6-20-2014 at 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Gulliver
.....I wonder what the world would be like if humans were looking a bit further into the future?...

Great question.....I sometimes see the human race as a virus....or, as a parasite that has not the grace to enter into a symbiotic relationship with its host.....

"There are three types of symbiosis: mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism. Mutalism is symbiosis in which both organisms benefit. Commensalism is symbiosis in which one organism benefits and the other is not harmed or helped. Parasitism is symbiosis in which one organism benefits and the other is harmed."

micah202 - 6-20-2014 at 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by motoged

Quote:

Originally posted by Gulliver
.....I wonder what the world would be like if humans were looking a bit further into the future?...

...yeh,,I've long appreciated the indigenous perspective of considering any decision 7 generations into the future.

,,,,as far as I'm concerned,,,,cities are to the planet what cancer can be to the human body ...symbiosis indeed!

.

motoged - 6-20-2014 at 12:33 PM

Enjoy it while it lasts.....

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/technology-video/video-study-says-earth-on-brink-of-mass-extinction-event/article19235299/