Present day Lake Cahuilla (located in La Quinta, California) is a remnant of an ancient ocean that once covered a large portion of what is now the Coachella Valley and surrounding areas. This lake historically experienced ebbs and flows, dictated by snowmelt waters fed by the Colorado river. The Cahuilla are the people indigenous to this region, and were the first to document this ebb and flow. The lake once provided much abundance for the them when full. It did also dry up from time to time, redirecting the Cahuilla to the canyons to find more terrestrial sources of sustenance, such as bighorn sheep, juniper, and yucca, but the water always returned. Tales of this have been passed down through the Cahuilla’s rich oral tradition.
When I was a child growing up in the Coachella Valley I would often have vivid dreams about being in a massive turquoise lake surrounded by mountains that looked like the ones I grew up encompassed by that rose up from the valley floor. But I didn’t know that this landscape ever existed, and thought that it wasn’t possible for there to be such an abundant source of water in the middle of the desert.
I have even painted this image several times from my dream memories. Now that I know the history of this area, I often wonder if I was experiencing that ancient landscape in the dream world. Present day Lake Cahuilla’s water level is extremely low and no longer connected to the historical sources that fed it. It breaks my heart to think that this valley will never be as abundant in water as it used to be.
Present day Lake Cahuilla, shot on 35mm film
Colonization has been a major contributing factor to the current water issues. Because so many people migrated here due to this conquest, engineers began building dams and canals to irrigate water away from the Colorado river to support the growing population and its water needs. Climate change has only served to exacerbate this issue.
When I was a kid water was much more abundant in this valley, many of the oases had water at the surface and rainfall happened more frequently and in greater abundance in surrounding areas which then drained down into the valley and fed the water table. Now when I go back to the canyons and oases I played in as a child the landscape is much more barren. There used to be a much greater diversity and population of plants on the valley floor, but now you only see them when hiking up the mountains into higher elevations. Seeing the landscape change and dry up is very painful for me to experience and I can’t even imagine how it feels for the Cahuilla people whose ancestral lands these are.
Scobie at Lake Cahuilla, shot on 35mm film
Another huge water related problem in the valley are golf courses. They use a ton of water to support the non-native grass and water features found on a typical golf course. Not to mention that many of these golf courses impinge on the mountains and other natural spaces, making it impossible for people to experience that natural space without trespassing on “private property”, particularly in La Quinta and Palm Springs. Present day Lake Cahuilla is also now “private property”. You can hike pretty close to it, but technically are trespassing if you get too close to the shore without paying a fee to the campground that is now there.
To me this is sickening and should not be allowed to happen. I think people have an inherent right to experience these mountains and all natural spaces, unless a particular site is closed off for spiritual reasons dictated by the Indigenous people of that area.
Having private property restrict our access to recreate in these wild spaces is extremely upsetting. If it were up to me, all of the golf courses that are in these areas would be shut down and converted into community spaces or affordable housing and not be private property, so that people can reach the mountains and enjoy their beauty. Golf courses that are not in these areas would be allowed to remain, but they would have to change their landscaping to more environmentally friendly and less water intensive plants and features.
When people talk about Land Back these after often the kinds of things that are wrapped up in that. It’s more than just giving the land back, it’s also about having these original stewards manage the land because they know best how best to care for it and it’s resources. By doing this we we can be shown how to live in harmony with nature rather than blindly exploiting it for our selfish purposes.
A drained pool at the Lake Cahuilla campground, shot on 35mm film
Another huge reason Scobie and I travel this way is because we want to experience the beauty of the earth while we still can. In only the short time we’ve been alive we have both already witnessed so much change in the nature surrounding the areas we both grew up in, and we know it will only get worse. Nothing in this life is guaranteed, so we want to spend as much time in nature as possible while we still have the chance to.
At the time of writing this blog post we are camped along the shores of the Colorado river experiencing its beauty for my first time. That snowmelt is no joke because the water is super cold, but also very refreshing and beautiful to swim in.
Thanks for reading this rant and my idealistic thoughts about how I think the world should be. Let me know your thoughts if you are so inclined.
All my love,
-Della
p.s. below is the video that goes with this blog post if you’re interested in seeing some shots of current day Lake Cahuilla :)