When was glen canyon dammed

Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner John C. During Construction the town served as a temporary camp for all the dam workers, but today it is a bustling support community for the Navajo Generating Station and Lake Powell. Bass, Call No. Sediment is rapidly accumulating behind the reservoir, which will render the whole project useless in about years. Downstream, the river ecosystems have dramatically changed, too. The floods are gone, most of the sediment normally transported downriver is gone, beaches are eroding and disappearing, the river water is colder, fish populations are changing, and non-native species are invading.

The radical environmental group Earth First! Supporters and opponents continue to debate today whether Lake Powell should be drained. The story of Glen Canyon Dam reflects the larger story of how we inhabit the land, what we value, and how we negotiate between opposing dreams and desires. Glen Canyon Dam. References: Farmer, Jared. Glen Canyon Dammed.

Tucson, Arizona: UP of Arizona, Martin, Russell. Pearson, Byron. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, Reisner, Marc. New York: Penguin Books, Generic filters. Sites and Stories. Beyond Park Boundaries. South Rim. Filmmaker Taylor Graham and his team embark on a mission by kayak to document Arizona's submerged Glen Canyon.

On their mile paddle, they set out to see the how water management challenges in the Colorado River Basin played out along the river. Along the trip, which they undertook as part of a National Geographic Society-supported project, they spoke with activists, archeologists, scientists, government officials, and members of the Navajo Nation, all of whom weighed in on the far-reaching effects of the dam that flooded Glen Canyon and created Lake Powell.

We look for work that affirms National Geographic's belief in the power of science, exploration, and storytelling to change the world. To submit a film for consideration, please email sfs natgeo. The filmmakers created the content presented, and the opinions expressed are their own, not those of National Geographic Partners.

When and why did Glen Canyon first capture your imagination? Photograph by Scottyboipdx Weber, Your Shot. Share Tweet Email. Read This Next Wild parakeets have taken a liking to London. Animals Wild Cities Wild parakeets have taken a liking to London Love them or hate them, there's no denying their growing numbers have added an explosion of color to the city's streets. India bets its energy future on solar—in ways both small and big. Environment Planet Possible India bets its energy future on solar—in ways both small and big Grassroots efforts are bringing solar panels to rural villages without electricity, while massive solar arrays are being built across the country.

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It would allow water to flow more naturally through Glen Canyon Dam, helping to heal Grand Canyon ecosystems. It would also permanently lower Lake Powell, exposing many more portions of Glen Canyon that have been flooded under the reservoir and allowing their recovery. A few years ago, this kind of fundamental change seemed impossible.

Today, as the pressure on the Colorado River system grows, policy makers and water managers are open to new ideas that they never would have considered before. The public is becoming aware of the problems and recognizing the need for positive change. If we act soon, we can ensure a sustainable water supply and heal much of the damage to Colorado River ecosystems.

Lake Powell: Unnecessary for Water Delivery The original goal of Glen Canyon Dam was water security; that is, water storage to ensure delivery to the Lower Basin and protection of the water dowry of the Upper Basin states. The water lost is Upper Basin water: Glen Canyon Dam actually makes it more difficult to fulfill the delivery requirement of 8.

All Dams are Temporary — Sedimentation Because dams are built to store water, they also store the sediment that all rivers carry. Built in , Glen Canyon Dam is feet high and has steadily been filling with the equivalent of 30, dump truck loads of sediment every single day— million tons of sediment annually.

Arsenic, lead, selenium, boron, and mercury from upstream sources are currently trapped in the sediments of the reservoir, rather than flowing harmlessly to the sea, as they did prior to the dam. According to a design report from , the , cfs number was 1. In other words, the spillways were built to handle 70 percent more water than had ever been seen before on the Colorado. Engineers opened the left gate and began releasing 10, cfs, enough to fill backyard swimming pools every minute, but still only a fraction of capacity.

Three days later, they doubled the flow to 20, cfs and planned to open the gates even more. But early the next morning, on June 6, engineers began to hear strange rumbling noises from somewhere deep in the dam works. Still, the noises were troubling enough for technicians to call Gamble at home in the middle of the night. As the sun came up, Gamble stood on a platform above the spillway, which for two days had been sending an elegant arc of white water into the river below.

But in the early morning light, Gamble could see large chunks of something — probably rocks or chunks of concrete the size of office chairs — being ejected into the river.

A team of experts arrived that afternoon. What they would find would make the decision to save money by using the original diversion tunnels seem penny-wise and pound foolish. To inspect the spillway, he had to be winched down the degree incline in a wheeled cage-like buggy that was tethered by steel cable. Everything looked normal as he followed the contours of the massive tunnel. As he descended, though, he found a small hole in the lining of the spillway that had been gouged out by water.

Several feet past that hole was another hole, larger than the first, and beyond that one was another that was still larger. Before he entered the tunnel, Burgi had a hunch about what was happening. His observations confirmed it. Before he left the tunnel, he looked above the first hole and found a quarter-inch bump in the concrete that he described in a later report as a calcite deposit. Just as water carved mile-deep canyons along the course of the Colorado River, so it gouged huge chunks out of the left spillway, although through a different process and one that took days instead of eons.

Cavitation occurs when water flowing down a smooth surface encounters a bump or rough spot. As it flows over that bump, a vacuum is created. When the vacuum breaks, it sends shockwaves into that surface.

As the water continued to cascade over it, the hole grew, scoured by loose sand, gravel and concrete. That hole in effect became a second bump in the concrete and spawned its own cycle of cavitation destruction. And that, in turn, created an even larger hole and more cavitation further down the tunnel.

With each hole, a new larger hole was gouged further down the tunnel. The rumbling noises that were heard coming from deep within the damworks were the sounds of water jackhammering progressively gargantuan holes inside the spillway and sending massive chunks of concrete hurtling through the tunnel, the very same projectiles that Gamble had seen shooting into the river.

If water topped the spillway gates, it could result in an uncontrolled flood downriver with potentially devastating consequences. In order to keep the water from topping the massive spillway gates, they would extend the tops of the gates.

With plywood. One set of crews was dispatched to round up all the angle iron they could find, and another was sent to round up all the 4-foot-byfoot sheets of marine-grade plywood they could find. Welders used the angle iron to form frames for the plywood sheets, which were then bolted into place. It took less than a day. The new 4-foot-high flashboards leaked at the seams, but they were enough to hold the water back.

They also bought the bureau precious time. Late spring rains had accelerated the runoff even more, the lake level was still rising, and weather forecasters were predicting even more rain in the mountains. By June 8, they were out of options.