Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024 | 2 a.m.
In the desert east of Death Valley, in the hottest and driest corner of the United States, lies a miracle in the form of water.
Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge is 24,000 acres of impressive springs, seeps and wetlands, home to 26 endemic species of fish, plants and invertebrates that live nowhere else on Earth. Twelve of these lifeforms are endangered or threatened with extinction, including the world’s most endangered fish, the Devils Hole pupfish.
Over 275 species of resident and migratory birds, along with several mammal species, also depend on this oasis for survival.
This valley is sacred to the Indigenous Nuwu and Newe peoples, and the region supports the livelihoods of 40,000 people. This striking refuge, a RAMSAR Wetland of International Importance, is under dire threat by proposed mining.
Survival in Ash Meadows has been ominously challenged before. In 1976, excessive groundwater pumping was curtailed by a Supreme Court decision, saving the Devils Hole pupfish from extinction. Then, in 1980, Ash Meadows was under immediate threat of likely total elimination by different water-depleting menace: the proposed development of a new metropolis on top of this desert oasis.
I worked with biologists to increase awareness of the urgency of this danger, and in 1984 Congress established Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, a decision that for the past 40 years has ensured that these lifeforms survive and thrive.
The modern threat is industrial mining operations, perilously close to the refuge boundary. Rover Metals, a Canadian company, has applied to drill 21 exploratory boreholes a few thousand feet from the northernmost life-sustaining water source, Fairbanks Spring.
Current and historical hydrologic studies, as well as past history of groundwater pumping, portend probable dire impacts to essential groundwater and surface spring flows on the refuge. Two endangered species of fish live in Fairbanks Spring and could disappear forever should drilling and mining operations be allowed to occur in this sensitive area.
These exploratory drilling actions are prerequisite to large-scale open pit mining, which would severely impact all lifeforms in the valley, including the human residents who depend on it for their survival.
A key first step in the current struggle is to establish a mineral withdrawal for land surrounding the refuge. A mineral withdrawal would prevent new mining claims from being filed in a defined area around the refuge as a means of better safeguarding cultural, biological and recreational resources in abundance at Ash Meadows.
To be clear, a mineral withdrawal would not save Ash Meadows from all harm, or even all mining projects already in development in the region. But a withdrawal would be a meaningful step toward broader permanent protection.
Local Amargosa Valley residents, as well as local and Nye County governing boards, have sent letters to members of Congress and the Department of the Interior in support of the mineral withdrawal. Future steps would involve crucial public input as the Bureau of Land Management considers Rover Metals’ mining proposal but continued public support is essential to successfully protecting this area.
You can help protect the “Galapagos of the Desert” by signing the petition for a mineral withdrawal and by signing up for further information as the mining proposal process continues. More information can be found at amargosaconservancy.org/news-blog/the-fight-to-save-ash-meadows.
Forty years ago, I thought, “We did it. We’re done. Ash Meadows is safe and will endure.” But so long as mining threatens groundwater in the region, the refuge remains at great peril. The work is not yet finished.
It’s very sobering, returning to the fray after 40 years. The lesson is that we need enduring effort, lasting commitment and constant vigilance. We need voices raised in defense of Ash Meadows once again.
This is an important issue, a crucial struggle. Visit the refuge to see for yourself the magic, the miracle of flowing springs, quiet seeps, swaths of wetlands, darting fish and so much more: the magic of water in the desert.
Barbara Kelley is a retired educator living in Bishop, Calif. Among many other educational and environmental pursuits, she played an instrumental part in the establishment of Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in the early 1980s.
