Man-Made Flood to help restore Grand Canyon Shorelines

Grand Canyon-bound travelers expecting to wade or float the scenic Colorado River this March may be in for a bit of a surprise, and a wet one at that. River authorities are planning a man-made flood for sometime in March, releasing a wall of water from the Glen Canyon dam that will raise the water [...]

Grand Canyon-bound travelers expecting to wade or float the scenic Colorado River this March may be in for a bit of a surprise, and a wet one at that. River authorities are planning a man-made flood for sometime in March, releasing a wall of water from the Glen Canyon dam that will raise the water flow by 41,000 cubic feet per second (5x its normal rate) for a full 3 days. The question is: “why”?

Essentially, authorities are aiming to simulate a flood in order to flush out non-native fish while helping to restore the structure of the river’s beaches with the new silt. Native fish like the humpback chub rely on the beaches for breeding grounds, beaches that have been constantly eroding since the Glen Canyon Dam was built in 1963. It seems counter-intuitive, but the rush of water released from the dam will actually restore beaches, not wash them away.

Environmental groups argue that this kind of flooding exercise should be done regularly to help maintain the beaches.

Grand Canyon National Park is one of the United States’ oldest national parks and is located in Arizona. The park covers 1,902 square miles, with most visitors arriving on Arizona Highway 64.

All park accommodations are operated by the Xanterra corporation, with the park headquarters located at Grand Canyon Village, a short distance from the South Entrance, being also the center of the most popular viewpoints. Some thirty miles of the South Rim are accessible by road.

A much smaller venue for tourists is found on the North Rim, accessed by Arizona Highway 67. There is no connection by road between the two, except via the Navajo Bridge, entailing a five-hour drive. The rest of the Grand Canyon is extremely rugged and remote, although many places are accessible by pack trail and backcountry roads.

The area around the Grand Canyon became a national monument on January 11, 1908 and was designated national park on February 26, 1919. The creation of the park was an early success of the environmental conservation movement; its National Park status may have helped thwart proposals to dam the Colorado River within its boundaries.

The Grand Canyon itself, including its extensive system of tributary canyons, is valued for the spectacular combination of large size, depth, and the exposed layering of colorful rocks dating back to Precambrian times. It was created through the incision of the Colorado River and its tributaries after the Colorado Plateau was uplifted and the Colorado River system developed along its present path.