The lake here is the largest body of water in Arizona. I believe it is around 20 some odd miles long and perhaps a mile wide in parts. I’m guessing here. The lake sits in the Tonto Basin and is surrounded by mountain peaks. The altitude of the lake is around 2400’. It lays serene and placid most days, an impossibly blue hue reflecting the forever sky here in Arizona. It couldn’t be prettier and simultaneously, more dramatic.
In recent years Roosevelt lake has been like so many other impoundments and rivers in the West. The prolonged drought of the last ten years has had its effect on the available water. I’m told that 2 years ago the lake was at 35% capacity. Campers parked along its shore on broad sandy beaches. Boaters had to keep somewhat strict lanes to navigate the narrow channels. Catch counts among fishermen dropped as the reproductive cycle of the fish was affected heavily. The hatches had nowhere to hide and the larger fish feasted on the babies. Islands appeared throughout the lake where before there had been none. The vegetation surrounding the lake was stunted and dried up. The high desert here was no longer a high desert per se. It resembled the low deserts of southern Arizona around Quartzite and Yuma.
That trend changed for the better last year when the rains returned and the snow pack up in the mountains where the Salt River originates was very heavy. The lake level bounced back to somewhere around 50%. The desert bloomed again in the spring producing an abundance of growth. So much so that when the summer returned and the temperatures stretched well over 100 degrees the lush vegetation browned, dried, and turned into tinder ready for any spark to set the desert ablaze in wild fires. Well, that happened…
Here came the Summer monsoons. Lightening struck and the fires began. You can still see the burned cactus where the fires came precariously closer to the lake. But what those fires actually did was return the natural order of things to the Tonto Basin. Seeds that lay dormant for years were opened by the flames. Some of the invasive species that have taken over the landscape because they have no enemies here were burned down giving room, and more importantly, access to water.
This fall and winter rain has come and come often...very often for the desert. Heavy snow has fallen. The lake is now 86% of capacity and with the rains that are predicted for the next week the lake is predicted to arrive back at 100% of capacity. This has not happened for ten years here. Where Salt Cedars, Mesquite, and Creosote bushes filled in the vacant spots where the lake once was, the water has returned. This has created an enormous amount of cover for fish. They are feeding now in coves that are flooded, feasting on the bugs and critters that are caught there. More importantly, their spawn will have plenty of cover to grow up in. Fishing in years to come will be a bonanza. Coots and Grebes are having a heyday in the coves this year. There seemingly is no end to their numbers here right now. And, fishing has already improved. Yesterday I caught a largemouth bass of about 4 pounds. She was full of eggs. Back into the water she went. Those fry will produce many more her size in the years to come. This place is alive!
The flowers this year have been magnificent as well. The burn of last summer combined with the rains of this fall and winter have produced a bumper crop. Wild California Poppies are covering the hillsides burning a brilliant gold in the sun. Lupine contrast with a bright purple flower. The mountains and hills are as green as anyplace I’ve ever been. It’s hard to fathom that we are in a desert until you see the telltale Suguaro spread across the land. The washes and creeks have water in them. The Gallywampus bugs (as my mom you to call them) flit around crazily, banging into any available light at night, their spindly, long legs dangling like trailing strings and their translucent, gossamer wings flapping crazily. Birds are everywhere. Cactus wrens, Bald Eagles, Ospreys, Cardinals, Grackles, Ravens, Vermilion Flycatchers, Gila Woodpeckers, Red-Winged Blackbirds...they’re all here fat and happy.
The dry burning heat will return as it does every year. The burnt ground will crack open. The waters will recede. The birds will move on. The Rattlers and scorpions will reclaim their territory. That’s the way it is. But, right now, this desert is as abundant with life as anyplace you may go. All you have to do is...just add water.