Joint agency group has plan to improve the river

Few issues stick out more prominently in Arizona than those regarding water.

Monsoons, droughts and quality are just a few of the more talked about ones right now. Also included on that list are economic benefits.

The Little Colorado River running to the east of Winslow may not look like a recreation paradise, but with proper planning could become a big draw for tourists and the outdoor types and that could be a boon for the local economy.

However, economic benefits are just one of many goals for the LCR Multi-Objective Management group, or the aptly acronymed MOM.

The group is the surrogate parent of the river and plans to develop it for multi-use endeavors including general quality of life improvements, minimizing the damage caused by flooding, invasive species control and reversal of some of the damage mankind has already done.

Members of LCR watershed group took a tour of the river’s banks from Clear Creek to Homolovi State Park last Friday.

The group consists of local, state and federal agencies including Arnold Taylor, manager of Natural Resources; Karen Berggren, Homolovi Park Ranger; Darlene Tuel, Bureau of Reclamation; Kayla Eckert and Jeanine Divis, Army Corps of Engineers; Larry Winn McKinley Soil & Water Conservation District; Robert Sejkora and Joanne Roberts, Arizona State Parks; John Fortune, Arizona Department of Water Resources; Brent Brown, Arizona Governor’s Office; Sharon Masek Lopez, Hopi Tribe; Karen Slade, Resource Conservation & Development; Spike Simmons, City of Holbrook; Richard Remington; and Winslow Mayor Jim Boles with Gabe Martinez serving as a tour guide.

Their aims are noble for sure, but they have their work cut out for them.

Mother Nature proves again and again, despite mankind’s interference, that she alone controls the river. Mormons gave up trying to hold back the river after just five years and abandoned Brigham City.

Current levees are no more successful. They are only designed to give those living in the flood plains a running start, not to save homes.

However, should MOM succeed, they would have found a new format for living with the forces of nature rather than struggling with them.

And that’s something we would all benefit from.

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