When Is Dry Desert a Navigable River? | The Institute for Creation Research

When Is Dry Desert a Navigable River?

Should a desert’s dryland arroyo that goes a year or more without any rainfall be called a “wetland” or a “navigable river”?1

Consider the baffling case of Ocie and Carey Mills, a father-son pair sentenced to $10,500 in fines and 21 months of jail time because they doubted that their tree-bearing dryland lots qualified as a navigable river.

This case presents the disturbing implications of the expansive jurisdiction which has been assumed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers under the Clean Water Act. In a reversal of terms that is worthy of Alice in Wonderland, the regulatory hydra, which emerged from the Clean Water Act, mandates…that a landowner who places clean fill dirt on a plot of subdivided dry land may be imprisoned for the statutory felony offense of “discharging pollutants into the navigable waters of the United States.”1

In other words, in the Alice in Wonderland world of federal politics, dry land such as a rain-deprived desert arroyo or a wooded lot can be jurisdictionally deemed a “navigable river” regulated by the U.S. Army if that dry land can be topographically linked to a navigable river or an ocean coast.1,2

Politicians are not alone in using disorienting and deceptive terminology. In fact, manipulating, mystifying mumbo-jumbo is a typical trick of the trade for evolutionists.3 Consider these perplexing, loaded terms with distorted definitions that distract more than inform.

Natural Selection. This Darwinian phrase presupposes an agent who “selects” something or someone. But there’s no selection unless a true selector considers relevant information against comparative values (i.e., better or worse options) and then consciously chooses (i.e., selects) an option.3 But inanimate geophysical environments can’t prefer, favor, or select anything.

Prokaryotic vs. Eukaryotic Cells. Eukaryotic means “true nucleus,” and prokaryotic denotes “before” a nucleus. This terminology implies that primordial bacteria and viruses evolved their nucleic acids before any proper cell nuclei evolved, whereas eukaryotic cells (e.g., mammal cells, plant cells) evolved late enough to have developed a proper nuclei inside their cells.

Flying fox (fruit bat)

Cambrian Explosion. Evolutionists recognize that some of the earliest geologic sediments contain fossils of all kinds of life, so they assume that all major biodiversity categories of life forms phylogenetically “exploded” from a common-ancestry family tree.

This clashes with events of the creation week, when Christ created a pristine “forest” of different created kinds of ancestral life forms. Instead of fully developed creatures inexplicably appearing on a “tree of life” with no trace of evolutionary ancestors, these created kinds all show up as fossils within the earliest Flood-burial zone of Cambrian sediments.4

Homology and Convergence. Evolutionists say that forelimbs of humans and animals (e.g., birds, bats, bobcats, bears) are similar in form and function because they all trace back to a universally common phylogenetic ancestor. This supposedly “homologous” common ancestry, plus later imagined independently converging traits, are invoked to explain why humans and animals have comparable body parts and traits.5

But evolutionists ignore the purposeful wisdom of the Creator, who designed humans and animals to share the same planet (Isaiah 45:18; Psalm 104) and use the same air, water, and food for proteins, carbohydrates, salts, etc. They have a common Designer—not a common ancestor.

Don’t be swayed by the implied assumptions baked into evolutionist vocabulary! No semantic shenanigans can erase the clearly seen evidence the Creator placed into His creation (Romans 1:20).

References

  1. United States v. Mills. 817 F.Supp. 1546, 1548 (N.D. Fla. 1993). Emphasis in original.
  2. Johnson, J. J. S. and W. L. Logan III. 1994. How an Uncodified Appropriations Act has Partially Cured a Constitutional Problem about How Wetlands are Defined for Federal Regulatory Purposes. Temple Environmental & Technology Journal. 13 (173): 174–192. See also Johnson, J. J. S. Do You Really Have a Jaguar? Creation Science Update. Posted on ICR.org April 5, 2020.
  3. Johnson, J. J. S. 2011. Bait and Switch: A Trick Used by Both Anglerfish and Evolutionists. Acts & Facts. 41 (1): 10–11.
  4. Tomkins, J. P. 2021. The Fossils Still Say No: The Origin of Vertebrates. Acts & Facts. 50 (1): 10–12.
  5. “What appear as homologous or convergent traits are actually rapid, repeatable, and tightly regulated solutions for a range of conditions to which animals are exposed.” Staff writer. 2023. The Myths of Darwinian Homology and Convergence. Acts & Facts. 52 (5): 19. See also Guliuzza, R. J. 2017. Major Evolutionary Blunders: Convergent Evolution Is a Seductive Intellectual Swindle. Acts & Facts. 46 (3): 17–19.

Stage image: Dry arroyo in Las Cruces, New Mexico
Stage image credit: Copyright © All2humanuk, public domain. Used in accordance with federal copyright (fair use doctrine) law. Usage by ICR does not imply endorsement of copyright holder.

* Dr. Johnson is the associate professor of apologetics and chief academic officer at the Institute for Creation Research.

Cite this article: James J. S. Johnson, J.D., Th.D. 2025. When Is Dry Desert a Navigable River?. Acts & Facts. 54 (2), 21.

The Latest
CREATION PODCAST
Defending the Faith with a Rocket Scientist | Creation.Live Podcast:...
How do engineering principles, biological complexity, and a solid understanding of apologetics work together to further the cause of Christ? Why...

NEWS
Aerobic and Anaerobic Hot Spring Bacteria
God designed a domain of prokaryotes called Archaea that thrive in harsh and extreme environments. In 1969, two microbiologists, Thomas Brock and Hudson...

CREATION PODCAST
The Soulless Hominid Theory: A Fatal Flaw in Old Earth Creationism...
Welcome to the second episode in a series called “The Failures of Old Earth Creationism.” Many Christians attempt to fit...

NEWS
Humpback Whale Calls Echo Creation
There is nothing simple about the system of communication called language, whether animal or human.1 Human language is a very sophisticated...

NEWS
Mary Parker, Creation Ministry Partner of Dr. Gary Parker, Is...
Mary Parker, the wife and co-laborer of Dr. Gary Parker, went home to be with her Lord on March 20, 2025. Dr. Parker was a popular and effective...

NEWS
Plants Rely on Quantum Mechanics
Scientists will probably never fully understand photosynthesis as additional research uncovers even more fascinating mysteries.1,2 ICR’s...

NEWS
Martian Polar Ice Cap ''Surprisingly Young''?
A team of German planetary scientists has concluded that a three-kilometer-thick northern polar ice cap on Mars has a “surprisingly young”...

NEWS
''Blood Worm Moon'' Total Lunar Eclipse 2025
Barring cloud cover, about 75% of the country saw the total lunar eclipse, aka the “Blood Worm Moon.” Texas had good weather conditions...

NEWS
Jupiter: The Mighty Guardian of Earth
NASA’s Juno spacecraft recently unveiled breathtaking images of Jupiter during its 66th flyby of the colossal planet. Juno has been exploring...

CREATION PODCAST
Glacial Archives: Mysteries Hidden Beneath the Ice | The Creation...
Welcome to the first episode in a series called “The Failures of Old Earth Creationism.” Many Christians attempt to fit old earth...