Billions of gallons of water will pour into the Grand Canyon and eventually into Lake Mead. The Bureau of Reclamation is planning a massive water release by opening the flood gates at the Glen Canyon Dam at Lake Powell starting Wednesday. The release will create a springtime flood along the Colorado River, like ones that occurred before the dam was built. The bureau says it will improve the ecology and recreation in the Grand Canyon. But some believe the flood could harm sensitive areas.
The Glen Canyon Dam is upstream from Hoover Dam. Water that leaves that dam flows through the Grand Canyon and then ultimately ends up in Lake Mead before reaching the Hoover Dam. Wednesday morning, the Bureau of Reclamation plans to open up the dam to send a massive amount of water flooding into the Grand Canyon. It will come out of four massive jet tubes, which bypass the dam’s hydroelectric plant. The hope is to mimic natural floods which occurred before this dam was completed in the 1960’s, scouring miles of river banks in the depths of the Grand Canyon. To give an idea of how much water is being released during that time, the total amount of water released will amount to about 2/3 of what Nevada is entitled to draw from the Colorado River over an entire year.
I hope they give the river rafters a “heads up”.
SURFS UP…
And this wont work to well..
as the sediment that has deposited in the basin, will just BUILD UP LOWER in the river, below, and ABove Hoover..Maybe even FILL Lake mead with CRAP, that should be DREDGED out…
Las Vegas is probrably planning on some big water park casino and they plan to use (WASTE) a lot more water than they already do.
My theory is they’re emptying out the lakes in anticipation of record snow melt. Their stated reason sounds more eco-friendly.
But,
All its going to do is FLUSH the sediment DOWN the river, and FILL up the lake..
#4: All its going to do is FLUSH the sediment DOWN the river, and FILL up the lake..
Of course. Then there’ll be a nice big dredging contract for Halliburton…
Man screws up alot of environmental conditions. I think this is a reasonable attempt. We were stupid enough to not allow wildfires to do their job, and we’re stupid enough to not allow water to do its work. This is close to letting mother nature do her work.
My memory is failing me here, but I recall reading about this technique several years ago. Seems like it was even tried, someplace. And it worked beautifully. Gaaa, I wish I could remember the details.
“But some believe the flood could harm sensitive areas”
Nut jobs. Like it hasn’t been doing this every spring (before the dam) for thousands of years.
Details:
http://www.sltrib.com/News/ci_8472432