Bowl of Tears, one of Colorado's most isolated and pristine water sources
Photo by Andy

HOLY CROSS WATER

The Holy Cross Wilderness is in trouble. It has always been in trouble since its creation. I don’t know about the wilderness areas in other states, but this has got to be the most litigated wilderness in the nation. The issue is over the most valuable resource any wilderness has: water. Holy Cross has lots of water.

Holy Cross Water Defense Fund Pamphlet Article
Photo by Aaron Johnson

After years of urging from a friend, I finally got around to visiting Holy Cross in 1985. I learned soon after that it was in trouble. Plans to divert the water from the Cross Creek areas threatened to change the wilderness, if not destroy it altogether. Repeated “panic” trips followed during 1986. I sat down and cried when I first visited Patricia Lake. It was so beautiful! How could anyone even think of draining the lake? What madness!

A pamphlet I had picked up at the local mountaineering store explained it. The cities of Colorado Springs and Aurora had water rights in the area before it became a wilderness. Part one of their Homestake water diversion project was completed in the 60s. They were already taking water out of the area when Congress passed the Wilderness Act in 1980. To avoid any problems, Congress made provisions that wilderness areas that had special circumstances to consider might be exceptions to how wilderness policy was applied. The cities felt Holy Cross was such an exception when they proposed the beginning of the construction of Homestake Phase 2, which would entail boring under Halo Ridge and Holy Cross itself to drain water from the Cross Creek drainages.

Known as the “me” decade, the 80s were rife with greed and power schemes. Big business prospered, and industry seemed to march all over the environment. A raised awareness in environmental protection caused a wave of concern over how the environment was being treated, particularly in Colorado where an economic boom was beginning. Too many questions were unanswered about how the Homestake project would affect the wilderness. How would the wildlife be affected? What about needed water downstream for farmers and other users on the western slope? What about flow capacities on the already taxed Colorado River?

By the time the Holy Cross debate was in full swing, I was involved. My girlfriend, Amanda Burns, had convinced me to return to recording music, an activity I thought I was done with. I agreed to return to the studio, provided the music had a purpose. Since music is the ultimate communicator, I felt it was worth a shot. I needed an effective means to raise awareness about the Holy Cross situation. Doing so would hopefully help protect Holy Cross, but also help raise the awareness of what mankind would ultimately do to the planet if we were allowed to continue on our present course.

The recording was called Electric Wilderness, a collection of instrumentals that lasted about an hour. At the time, making CD copies was an expensive proposition, so I settled on cassette tapes (CDs were produced in 1995). With the help of fellow climber, musician and artist Mike Kloepfer, the handsome cassette package was completed and I distributed the product onto the market myself. This resulted in trips all over Colorado, doing interviews on television and radio. Of all the music projects I have been involved with, Electric Wilderness reached the most people in the shortest amount of time, and remains my most successful project to date in terms of sales.

Electric Wilderness Cover Art Photo
35mm slide photograph by Amanda Burns, scanned from a print

But what kind of a trip report is this?- you ask. I’m actually reporting on a number of special trips to the Holy Cross Wilderness. On one trip, I met a camera crew from a Denver television station at the Half Moon trailhead. There by a stream with guitar in hand, I did an interview about the Holy Cross situation and what I was doing about it. We then went to the Cross Creek trailhead and met Dr. Warren Hern, a controversial figure in Boulder, Colorado. No stranger to ruffling feathers, Warren was the leader and founder of the Holy Cross Defense Fund. About a mile up that gorgeous trail, the camera was set and in typical flamboyant Warren Hern style, an interview was delivered in front of the mountain itself that seemed to make the earth tremble. “You’re going to bore under the mountain and take the water out of this beautiful place?” Warren would bark. “The hell I say!” This man was a force to be reckoned with, and he was used to having enemies surround him. But it was at that moment I knew we stood a chance of winning the battle, and perhaps even the war. The efforts of a few could still make a difference.

More radio and TV interviews followed during 1990. I was on the road and very busy, doing interviews in Boulder (KBCO), Fort Collins, Crested Butte, Vail and Avon. Electric Wilderness sold close to 1,000 copies. After recording and some travel expenses were deducted, I presented a check representing the profit from the venture to the Defense Fund for $2100. What was more important was the visibility Electric Wilderness had generated. Donations to the Defense Fund were up, and people were fired up about saving Holy Cross.

In 1996, the cities were denied access to the Holy Cross water. The appeals to higher courts followed. Be sure to visit the links in the LINKS section if you are interested in the details. To be brief, local control of the water was deemed overriding to outside control. Eagle County had taken up the cause as well, rightly concerned for its interests in the Holy Cross water situation. Many scientific and environmental questions remained unanswered then as they do now. Time and appeals went by, with the Defense Fund spending thousands and the cities spending millions in the ongoing debate.

Soon it became financially impractical to pursue Homestake Phase 2. The cities started looking at cheaper options, and the heat on Holy Cross began to fade. Water swaps, increasing reservoir capacities, and aquifers, including one under Holy Cross, are now the options the cities are investigating. Vigilance remains over Holy Cross, and studies continue. The cities claim that they can still remove the water if they have to because the means and location of the removal points have not been specified, but less expensive options are currently being considered.

The 1990s were a time of tremendous development for Colorado. With the turn of the century came the drought, and the cities are once again squeezed for water resources. My theory in the 90s was that if there’s no water, you can’t have more people. Though naïve, it was a reasonable theory. But the cities kept building anyway. The 90s were Colorado’s wettest year ever on record. The cities assumed water would always be abundant. Even in the drought, the building expansion continues, although at a reduced rate. The cities will find their water, and take it from who and where ever they must if it becomes necessary. So the vigil over Holy Cross continues.

How could this situation possibly have a bearing on SummitPost members and visitors? Consider your favorite spot for climbing, or a place where you go to enjoy peace, solitude, nature-the way it was intended to be. Now in a blink, the water is gone. The trees are torn down. The wild life is gone. What happens to your favorite spot then? What happens to the economy nearby that is supported by it?

Are there inholdings in the wilderness? Holy Cross had some. A developer was building a huge house in the wilderness. Since roads aren’t allowed, a helicopter was flying the materials in. (Helicopters aren’t really allowed either). To remedy the situation, a very expensive swap (for us taxpayers) for land near Telluride was conducted with the developer. Had this been allowed to continue, what would the affect on the wilderness be? How would other wilderness areas be affected?

Do your research. Look into the special circumstances behind your favorite spot. Be aware of what’s going on. If you give a damn enough about it, get involved.

Holy Cross and Patricia Lake
Photo by Aaron Johnson

"In wildness is the preservation of the world." Henry Thoreau

From the notes on Electric Wilderness (1990):

“As a native who fell in love with the Rocky Mountains at an early age, I’ve always been compelled to express my feelings for this awesome land in my music. Unfortunately, the future of wilderness here in Colorado, as well as the rest of the world, is uncertain. Colorado’s Holy Cross Wilderness is presently threatened by a water diversion proposal that would severely alter its wilderness character and ecosystem. Allowing such compromises in any remaining wild area sets a precedent, which ultimately carries a terrifying if not fatal cost. If we lose the wilderness, we lose our need for challenge, to excel and explore, to love and cherish. We lose our opportunity to learn about our world and ourselves. But more importantly, we endanger our future. As the human spirit must be nurtured in a variety of ways, such as music, so must our wilderness and planet be cared for. If we and our children are to prosper, we must first survive the wrath of ourselves. Failure to do so will result in more than just a wilderness lost.”

For more information on the Holy Cross Wilderness Defense Fund (no direct link found) or Electric Wilderness (now available on CD), contact Aaron Johnson through email or through this site.

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