Tensions Rise With Plan to Flood Grand Canyon : NPR
The Colorado River is about to run wild through the Grand Canyon again — at least a couple of times a year.
For almost five decades, the Glen Canyon Dam on the mighty Colorado in northern Arizona has caused many of the beaches downriver to slowly erode. Many have disappeared altogether.
The Interior Department hopes to change that. Earlier this year, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar approved a series of simulated floods that will release huge amounts of water and sediment from the Glen Canyon Dam.
The floods, or “high flows,” are part of an effort to restore the environment downstream — both for wildlife and for tourists.