Read Wet Desert: Tracking Down a Terrorist on the Colorado River Online
Authors: Gary Hansen
"Isn't that expensive?" asked Phil.
"It's the biggest reverse osmosis desalination plant in the world. I think I heard that the
"So
"I don't think happy would be the right word. They know they're at the end of the line. I'm sure they'd like to have a lot more. But they're probably happy that what they do get is guaranteed, both in quantity and quality. At least that's something."
"So could this be some pissed-off Mexicans? Could they be our bombers?" Phil didn't sound very convinced.
"I don't think so. Remember that both of our bombers were white, and had credentials," Grant pointed out.
"What about an American group that's sympathetic to the Mexicans?"
Grant shook his head. "I can't imagine a group of Americans being sympathetic enough to blow the Glen Canyon Dam for
Phil stood abruptly. "Then what have we got?" He walked around his chair, and leaned on it from behind.
"Motive?"
He let the word hang in the air. "What's the motive here? Do we have any idea? How about objective? We don't even know that." He paced over to the wall and stared at it for a second, finally returning.
"
What's next? Can we at least figure that out?"
Grant shrugged. "Well, we don't know for sure. But like I said this morning, all the other aqueducts and dams downstream have to be considered targets."
Phil motioned his hand at Grant. "I forwarded your National Guard idea, but I haven't heard back yet. However, my superiors liked it. The FBI is trying to set up a conference call with
Grant didn't believe
"What about boat accident data?" Grant asked. "You were going to try to find out how many people had been hurt in boating accidents on the lakes."
Phil scratched his head. "There were thousands of accidents on the two lakes, plus a ton more where car accidents involved trailered boats. It's going to take a long time for my people to filter the lists. Anyway, now that he's blown the aqueduct, I'm not sure this guy is after boaters."
They were interrupted by a knock on the door. Fred poked his head in. "Sorry to interrupt, but you asked for updates." He waited for objections before proceeding. "The employee parking lot is underwater and the level will be higher than the original concrete dam in a few minutes."
Grant smiled at Fred and nodded. "Thanks, Fred. I'll be out in a while."
Fred withdrew and shut the door. There was no doubt that Fred was restless, but Grant thought it was more than that. In addition to the fear and anticipation, Grant sensed that Fred was just plain excited, glad to be there, to be a part of it. His face had shown it at the spillways, just like his voice now. The funny thing was, to a lesser extent, Grant felt the same way.
Phil took a long swig on his coffee mug. "If you need to go, don't let me stop you. But if you have a minute, I need more info from you dam guys." He smiled. "No pun intended, of course."
Grant nodded.
"I need to know what's going to happen today. Where's all this water going to end up? When will it hit? Damage estimates, etc." He pointed casually at Grant. "Are you going to hang around here all day, at
Grant considered the question. "I have an assistant here with me from
under
500,000 cubic feet per second going downstream."
Phil looked confused so Grant clarified. "That's almost fifty times normal for the lower Colorado River, basically twice the flow of
Phil frowned. "You said you don't expect to lose any major dams. What does that mean? Does that mean some small ones are going to fail?"
Grant nodded. "By far, the two biggest are Davis and Parker, which hold back
"Approximately how many hours will the flood last? How soon will you be able to get people in to access the damage and make repairs?"
Grant stared at Phil. "It's not hours, Phil,
it's
months. It'll be almost two months before
Phil's jaw dropped and he walked over and sat down. "Two months of
"Two months of
"I had no idea." Phil looked around, then back at Grant. "What about
"Well, before it gets to
"What about downstream from Morales?
Any more dams?"
Grant shrugged. "No, that's it."
"And your girl's list shows timelines for all these dams?"
"Yeah, she did a good job. She wrote a crude model for the whole thing. It lists estimated times for each reservoir to fill, and water travel times between dams."
Phil stood. "All right, we have a lot of phone calls to make. Hopefully we'll get some National Guard personnel to help us."
Grant got the distinct impression that the interview was over. He walked toward the door of the small conference room. "I'll send Shauna up with your info." He heard Phil respond that he appreciated it as he walked out the door.
* * *
7:20 a.m. -
The skinny man took the exit. The truck needed gas. After blowing up the aqueduct, he had continued west and skirted the south side of Joshua Tree National Park, then joined I-10, which passed by Palm Springs and all the windmills. The exit put him in
Back when he planned this day, he wanted to follow the
After starting the gas pump, he fished through his glove box and found the address of his next destination. A map had been printed from his computer. Days before, after calling numerous persons advertising on recycler.com, an online classified advertising company in Southern California, the skinny man had found the vehicle he was looking for. A deal had been made. Now all he needed to do was show up on the guy's doorstep before noon. The seller was expecting him.
When the tank was full, he looked at his watch. He saw a few fast food restaurants just down the street and decided he had time for breakfast.
* * *
7:30 a.m. -
Grant and Fred had climbed to the top of phase one of Hoover-Two. They walked carefully along the sandbags. Where they walked, it was only ten feet wide. Looking north over the lake, the employee parking lot was gone, covered with water. A slight breeze blew down
For the last hour or so, the construction of the dike had transitioned from phase one to phase two. The ten-foot-high dike was finished and stretched from the cliffs on the
Over the noise of the trucks and men, one could still hear the rumbling sound of the two spillways. By referencing off the concrete handrails on the top of the dam, Grant could approximate that the water level had risen about two feet above the concrete, meaning that two feet of water would be flowing over the top of Hoover if the sand bag dike wasn't there. So far, the dike was doing what it was supposed to do, a very satisfying feeling.
Fred seemed to read his mind. "This place would look a little different with a small waterfall stretching all the way across the dam, wouldn't it?"
Grant laughed. "I wouldn't mind a small one; it's a fifteen or twenty footer that I don't want to see."
Grant turned to Shauna who had just joined them on the dike. "How are we doing on water levels?"
She adjusted her glasses. "The rate at which the water is rising has started to slow slightly, even though the floods entering the lake are still peaking. That's mostly due to increased flood area of the landscape upstream as the water rises."
Fred laughed out loud.
"In English?"
Shauna looked uncomfortable. "What that means, Mr. Grainger, is that the higher
flood,
therefore the rate the water is rising in the lake is decreasing."
Fred, still laughing, struggled to talk. "I thought I understood, Miss Kingsly. I just wanted to see if you could say it in simpler terms."
Grant and Fred both laughed again.
Shauna smiled in spite of being the object of their joke. Grant didn't want to upset her, even if she did have a vocabulary problem. She had been invaluable on this trip, and her estimates had been near perfect.
"Are the levels still within our projections?" Grant asked.
She nodded. "Yes. In fact, I've reduced my projection for maximum depth from
"That's great. I'll take all the 'halves' you can give me," said Grant. "By the way, did you get that table of downstream stuff to the FBI guys?"
She nodded.
"Yeah."
"Thanks." Grant considered the information. "What about time? Have you changed when you expect
"No. I monitored the reports of peak flood stages as they moved through the Grand Canyon last night, and I actually expect peak flows to be entering the other end of