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131-536: The Colorado River Storage Project is a United States Bureau of Reclamation project designed to oversee the development of the upper basin of the Colorado River . The project provides hydroelectric power , flood control and water storage for participating states along the upper portion of the Colorado River and its major tributaries. Since its inception in 1956, the project has grown to include

262-543: A cult following after its publication and established Glen Canyon Dam as a poster child of environmental destruction caused by dams. Abbey's book is discussed in Ecospeak: Rhetoric and Environmental Politics in America (1992) by Jimmie Killingsworth and Jacqueline Palmer, who write that Glen Canyon Dam became "the big symbol of all that blocked freedom in the interests of civilized progress." On March 21, 1981,

393-481: A strike because of a wage reduction due to the completion of public facilities at Page. In December 1959, wages were raised by $ 4 a day, quelling the strikers. Concrete placement started on June 16, 1960, and started at a sluggish but growing pace. In 1962 the workforce topped out at nearly 2,500 employees laboring on the dam. Construction would ultimately claim eighteen lives and injure numerous other workers, but contrary to popular myth, no workers were buried alive in

524-815: A Reclamation state until 1906, when Congress passed a law including it in the provisions of the Reclamation Act. From 1902 to 1907, Reclamation began about 30 projects in Western states. Then, in 1907, the Secretary of the Interior separated the Reclamation Service from the USGS and created an independent bureau within the Department of the Interior. Frederick Haynes Newell was appointed

655-619: A candle to Glen." Emboldened by Echo Park and desperate to prevent the Grand Canyon from reaching the same fate as Glen, Brower and the Sierra Club directed attention towards the proposed Bridge and Marble dams. The Sierra Club launched an extensive publicity campaign to sway public opinion against the plan; in response to the USBR's argument that new reservoirs would open up the Grand Canyon to recreational boaters as Lake Powell had,

786-417: A capacity equal to almost two years' annual flow of the Colorado River, engineers were aware that Lake Powell would be difficult to fill, but more problems were encountered than expected. The original plan was to fill Lake Powell to 3,490 feet (1,060 m) above sea level, the minimum level necessary to generate hydroelectric power by late 1964, after which water would be released down to Lake Mead , with only

917-534: A dam at Glen Canyon, regardless of the outcome of the Echo Park debate". [The Colorado River without dams] is useless to anyone  ... I've seen all the wild rivers I ever wanted to see. — Floyd Dominy , Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner, 1966 speech Floyd Dominy , commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, was a vital figure in pushing the project through Congress and convincing politicians to take

1048-712: A dam on the Colorado River at Glen Canyon, several dams on the Gunnison River and San Juan River , and a pair of dams to be built on the Green River , the Colorado's major upper tributary, at Echo Park and Split Mountain. The 1956 Colorado River Storage Project Act authorized the purposes of "regulating the flow of the Colorado River, storing water for beneficial consumptive use, providing for reclamation of arid and semi-arid lands, providing flood control, and generating hydropower." The proposal for Glen Canyon Dam

1179-686: A final five projects to the participants list: Four projects, the Fruitland Mesa, Savery-Pot Hook, San Miguel and West Divide Projects, were later found to be infeasible and removed from the list. Fruitland Mesa & Savery-Pot Hook Projects were cut by the United States Senate in the Public Works appropriations bill of July 1977. The four primary units of the Colorado River Storage Project have

1310-609: A full-page advertisement in the New York Times ran the slogan: "Should we also flood the Sistine Chapel so tourists can float nearer the ceiling?" Faced with public outcry, the Bureau abandoned its Grand Canyon dams, effectively terminating most of the Pacific Southwest Water Plan, in 1968. The coal-fired Navajo Generating Station was built near Page, to make up for the electric power that

1441-470: A haphazardly organized trailer park that grew with the workforce. During the construction of the Glen Canyon Bridge, the USBR also began planning a company town to house the workers. This resulted in the town of Page, Arizona , named for former Reclamation Commissioner John C. Page. By 1959, Page had a host of temporary buildings, electricity, and a small school serving workers' children. As

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1572-429: A level that has not been exceeded since. Just as it seemed inevitable that the dam would fail, inflows fell and the dam was saved. Upon inspection, it was found that cavitation had caused massive gouging damage to both spillways, carrying away thousands of tons of concrete, steel rebar and huge chunks of rock. Repairs to the spillways commenced as soon as possible and continued well into 1984. Air slots were installed at

1703-543: A major Reclamation Bureau dam led to subsequent strengthening of its dam-safety program to avoid similar problems. Even so, the failure of Teton Dam, the environmental movement, and the announcement of President Carter 's "hit list" on water projects profoundly affected the direction of Reclamation's programs and activities. Reclamation operates about 180 projects in the 17 western states. The total Reclamation investment for completed project facilities in September 1992

1834-530: A maximum output of 1,813 megawatts of hydroelectric power at any given time, comparable to a large coal-fired generating station such as the Navajo Generating Station . The Blue Mesa and Navajo Dams, built primarily to function for flood control purposes, have saved approximately $ 10 million in flood-related costs up to the year 1999. Additionally, the various units of the project have created significant recreational opportunities throughout

1965-666: A more serious problem. Construction of the Storage Project, and allowing the Upper Basin to develop its water supplies, would tip the whole Colorado River system toward a structural water deficit since the Colorado River's average flow is less than what was apportioned in the 1922 Compact. The USBR predicted that by 2030 the annual water supply for the Lower Basin would fall by twenty-five percent, to 5.62 million acre-feet (6.93 km ). To make up for this deficit,

2096-446: A move that alarmed environmentalists. The environmental organization Sierra Club , led by David Brower , was the most vocal opponent of Echo Park Dam, and fought a protracted battle against the Bureau of Reclamation, on the basis that "building the dam would not only destroy a unique wilderness area, but would set a terrible precedent for exploiting resources in America's national parks and monuments". The Bureau of Reclamation favored

2227-478: A name? We decide to call it Glen Canyon." In addition to its variegated rock formations, Glen Canyon supported a rich riparian zone habitat on the numerous low river terraces formed by the Colorado River, with as many as 316 bird species, 79 plant species and 34 kinds of mammals. In 1963, when construction on the dam was well underway, the Sierra Club published a book on Glen Canyon, The Place No One Knew , featuring photographs by Eliot Porter , and lamenting

2358-471: A national campaign to rescue the park. As part of a compromise, the proposed dam was stricken from the project and replaced with another dam in Glen Canyon , Arizona. Brower, who had not personally visited Glen Canyon prior to the compromise, later lamented the deal, describing it as "the worst mistake of his career" and "'the biggest sin I ever committed'". A revised, and slightly pared down, version of

2489-436: A pro-dam stance, and to assuage rising public concerns. Dominy realized that the USBR had considerable political clout in Western states, due to the economic contributions of its water projects. Reisner wrote that "Dominy cultivated Congress as if he were tending prize-winning orchids  ... If some Senator was causing him trouble, money for his project could disappear mighty fast." With the necessary political support secured,

2620-562: A shortage in the Lower Basin. The Upper Basin has released 107% of its obligation from Lake Powell since 2000; therefore, falling levels in Lake Mead are a result of water overuse and waste in the Lower Basin states – a "structural deficit". There are also arguments for storing water in Powell: Lake Mead, with its much lower elevation and hotter climate, has a considerably greater evaporation rate than Lake Powell. In addition,

2751-555: A significant overall gain or loss in volume), Lake Powell lost a total of 368,000 acre-feet (0.454 km ) to evaporation and only 8,000 acre-feet (0.0099 km ) to leakage. During the El Niño winter of 1982–1983 , the Bureau of Reclamation predicted an average runoff for the Colorado River basin based on snowpack measurements in the Rocky Mountains. Snowfall during April and May was exceptionally heavy; this combined with

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2882-663: A single man with a three-dollar shovel into that canyon. It was one thing to submit a low-ball bid, but it was quite another to pay for the privilege of breaking the company's back. —Russell Martin, A Story That Stands Like A Dam (1990) With the Colorado River safely diverted around the canyon, construction could begin on the actual concrete arch dam. The contract was given to the Merritt-Chapman & Scott Corporation for an "astoundingly low" $ 107,955,552, about $ 30 million less than USBR's own estimate. Then, right before construction began, about 750 workers organized

3013-507: A sudden rise in temperatures and unusual rainstorms in June to produce major flooding across the western United States. With Lake Powell nearly full, the USBR did not have enough time to draw down the reservoir to accommodate extra runoff. By mid-June, water was pouring into Lake Powell at over 120,000 cubic feet per second (3,400 m /s). Even with the power plant and river outlet works running at full capacity, Lake Powell continued to rise to

3144-471: A victory for the American environmental movement, but it only happened in exchange for a dam upstream at Flaming Gorge , and increasing the size of the proposed dam at Glen Canyon to replace the storage that would have been provided by Echo Park. A common misconception is that the environmentalists were given a choice between damming Echo Park and damming Glen Canyon, but the USBR "had always planned to build

3275-403: Is low. Exactly how much of this water has potential to return to the reservoir, and how much "disappears" into the ground, is subject to debate. The Bureau of Reclamation projected that once Lake Powell filled, the total bank storage would stabilize at approximately 6 million acre-feet (7.4 km ), and henceforth would fluctuate depending on water levels in the reservoir. The actual loss

3406-666: Is to "manage, develop, and protect water and related resources in an environmentally and economically sound manner in the interest of the American public". In redirecting its programs and responsibilities, Reclamation substantially reduced its staff levels and budgets but remains a significant federal agency in the West. On October 1, 2017, the Hoover Dam Police Department was closed and the National Park Service took over law enforcement duties for

3537-575: The Colorado River Compact to officially allocate the flow of the Colorado River and its tributaries. Each half of the Colorado River Basin – the Upper Basin, comprising Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming – and the Lower Basin, with California and Nevada – was allotted 7.5 million acre-feet (9.3 km ) of water annually, and Treaty relating to the utilization of waters of the Colorado and Tijuana Rivers and of

3668-515: The Colorado River Delta created sandbars and beaches along the river's course and throughout its canyons. These floods have been replaced with metered releases of cold, sediment-free water which has led to the erosion of sandbars in the Grand Canyon that are crucial for wildlife and has altered the food web within the river with natural species being displaced by invasive species. Attempts to simulate natural flood cycles were started in

3799-559: The Glen Canyon National Recreation Area . In addition to its flooding of the scenic Glen Canyon, the dam's economic justification was questioned by some critics. It became "a catalyst for the modern environmental movement," and was one of the last dams of its size to be built in the United States. The dam has been criticized for the large evaporative losses from Lake Powell and its impact on

3930-470: The Gunnison River in Colorado. It is the only unit in the project to be made up of more than one dam or reservoir. The Aspinall Unit was originally named the Curecanti Unit, but was renamed for former congressman Wayne N. Aspinall in 1980. Aspinall had been a strong proponent of water reclamation projects in Colorado and the western US in general, and was seen as a key opponent to David Brower in

4061-519: The Hoover Dam (completed in 1936) which was located in the Black Canyon . By the 1950s, due to rapid population growth in the seven U.S. and two Mexican states comprising the Colorado River Basin, the Bureau of Reclamation deemed the construction of additional reservoirs necessary. The Glen Canyon Dam remains a central issue for modern environmentalist movements. Beginning in the late 1990s,

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4192-595: The Morrow Point Reservoir , putting it in the center of the Aspinall Unit. Completed in 1968, Morrow Point is the largest and most productive of the Aspinall dams. Morrow Point has a generating capacity of 173,334 kilowatts, making it the second most productive dam in the entire Colorado River Storage Project system. It provides about 60% of the Aspinall Unit's generating capacity. Additionally,

4323-480: The National Park Service to document and recover artifacts of historical cultures along the river. These went to University of Utah historian C. Gregory Crampton and anthropologist Jesse Jennings, and to the Museum of Northern Arizona . Crampton subsequently wrote several books and articles on his findings. The Museum of Northern Arizona funded an expedition by William Miller and Helmut Abt , in coordination with

4454-563: The Reclamation Act , Secretary of the Interior Ethan Allen Hitchcock established the U.S. Reclamation Service within the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The new Reclamation Service studied potential water development projects in each western state with federal lands. Revenue from sale of federal lands was the initial source of the program's funding. Because Texas had no federal lands, it did not become

4585-499: The San Juan River near Farmington, New Mexico . The dam was completed in 1963, and was actually the first of the units in the project to be completed. Unlike the subsequent dams, Navajo Dam did not have any power generating capacity when built. A small plant with a capacity of 32 MW was installed in 1983 in conjunction with the city of Farmington to generate local power. The Aspinall Unit consists of 3 dams and reservoirs on

4716-717: The Sierra Club and other organizations renewed the call to dismantle the dam and drain Lake Powell in Lower Glen Canyon. Glen Canyon and Lake Powell are managed by the Department of the Interior within Glen Canyon National Recreation Area . Since first filling to capacity in 1980, Lake Powell water levels have fluctuated greatly depending on water demand and annual runoff. The operation of Glen Canyon Dam helps ensure an equitable distribution of water between

4847-528: The "virtual faucets" of a Colorado River dam "to be built in what amounted to hostile territory." With the Glen Canyon site out of the question, the initial need for a reservoir was realized in 1936 with the completion of Hoover Dam in Black Canyon, storing 32 million acre-feet (39 km ) in the mammoth reservoir of Lake Mead . It was not able to weather the worst floods or droughts, and

4978-492: The 1960s and earlier drew to an end. Reclamation wrote that "The arid West essentially has been reclaimed. The major rivers have been harnessed and facilities are in place or are being completed to meet the most pressing current water demands and those of the immediate future". Emphasis in Reclamation programs shifted from construction to operation and maintenance of existing facilities. Reclamation's redefined official mission

5109-437: The 2000s but have thus far failed to restore the natural environment in the canyon. The project has changed the topography of the river with the heavy loads of silt trapped behind the dams deposited in the upper reaches of the reservoirs. These silt loads have filled up the inundated canyons and are now coming to the surface as the water levels in the reservoirs drop. The creation of large reservoirs and irrigation systems along

5240-437: The 2000–2004 Colorado River drought, when the basin experienced its lowest five-year runoff on record, Lake Mead would likely have gone dry and the Lower Basin experienced massive cuts, were it not for releases from Lake Powell. Lake Powell and Lake Mead are currently operated under an "equalization" policy that governs releases from Glen Canyon Dam. In order to maintain hydropower generation at both Glen Canyon and Hoover Dams,

5371-673: The Bureau of Reclamation and other federal agencies delivered a report with proposed projects to the United States Congress in 1950. Among the proposed projects was a dam to be constructed on the Green River in Echo Park , in Dinosaur National Monument in Colorado. The proposal for Echo Park Dam created controversy and sparked the ire of Sierra Club director David Brower , who embarked on

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5502-617: The CRSP but are not considered a part of the project itself. Eleven projects were included as participating projects in the 1956 legislation. These projects include: Wyoming's Eden Project was authorized independently in 1949. It was tied to the Colorado River Storage Project by the terms of its own authorization. An amendment to the legislation in 1962 added two projects to the participants list: A 1964 amendment added three more projects: The Colorado River Basin Project Act in 1968 added

5633-674: The Colorado River Delta anymore due to usage and evaporative loss within the Project. This has reduced the size of the estuary at the mouth of the river from 3,000 square miles to fewer than 250 square miles. Invasive species have become dominant in the Delta and the loss of this habitat has had wider implications for marine life in the Gulf of California. United States Bureau of Reclamation On June 17, 1902, in accordance with

5764-538: The Colorado River Storage Project was authorized in April 1956, and groundbreaking of Glen Canyon Dam began in October of the same year. David Brower visited Glen Canyon shortly after the decision to build the dam, and "realized once he arrived that this was not a place for a reservoir". Glen Canyon's springs, side canyons, and intricately sculpted rock formations were home to such features as Music Temple and Cathedral in

5895-399: The Colorado River basin and government officials was that a high dam had to be built on the Colorado to control floods and provide carry-over water storage for times of drought. Possible locations for this dam were debated for years, and the Bureau of Reclamation's first study for a dam at Glen Canyon was made in 1924, in addition to studies for locations at Black and Boulder Canyons lower on

6026-546: The Colorado River basin. The Colorado River Storage Project is made up of four separate units, spread along the upper Colorado basin and its major tributaries. Also included are several participating projects located throughout the system. As a whole, the system provides a storage capacity of approximately 34,000,000 acre-feet (42 km) of water. This capacity is released to meet the Colorado River Compact's delivery requirements during periods of low flow in

6157-529: The Colorado, below Grand Canyon. These studies found that the lower Colorado sites had stronger foundation rock which might result in less reservoir seepage. The Glen Canyon site was so remote that delivering supplies and transporting workers there would be infeasible at the time. The first Glen Canyon proposal lay upstream of the Lee's Ferry dividing line, and would be considered the Upper Basin's water. With its substantial Congressional clout, California refused to allow

6288-655: The Desert, a giant cave-like natural amphitheater with a waterfall at its center. The Colorado River flowed gently across the bottom of the canyon, in sharp contrast to the roaring rapids upstream in Cataract Canyon and downstream in the Grand Canyon. After his groundbreaking 1869 expedition , John Wesley Powell had named Glen Canyon for its characteristics: "So we have a curious ensemble of wonderful features – carved walls, royal arches, glens, alcove gulches, mounds and monuments. From which of these features shall we select

6419-399: The Echo Park site over Glen Canyon, because its narrow canyons and high elevation (more than 5,000 feet (1,500 m), as compared to 3,700 feet (1,100 m) at Glen Canyon) would lead to less evaporation. It said that building Echo Park Dam and a "low" Glen Canyon Dam would save 165 thousand acre-feet (0.204 km ) of water per year over a "high" Glen Canyon Dam (which was ultimately

6550-736: The Gunnison River upstream of the Morrow Point Dam forming the Blue Mesa Reservoir , making it the first dam the river passes through. The dam was completed in 1966 and has an electric generating capacity of 86,400 kilowatts, or about 30% of the Aspinall Unit's generating capacity. The Morrow Point Dam impounds the Gunnison River downstream from the Blue Mesa Dam but upstream of the Crystal Dam, forming

6681-473: The Hoover Dam. The Hoover Dam Police Department existed for more than 80 years. Reclamation commissioners that have had a strong impact and molding of the Bureau have included Elwood Mead , Michael W. Straus , and Floyd Dominy , with the latter two being public-power boosters who ran the Bureau during its heyday. Mead guided the bureau during the development, planning, and construction of the Hoover Dam,

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6812-401: The Morrow Point Dam is the first thin-arch concrete dam to be built in the Colorado River Storage Project system. The Crystal Dam impounds the Gunnison River about 6 miles (10 km) downstream from the Morrow Point Dam, making it the final dam in the Aspinall Unit. Completed in 1976, it is the last dam in both the Aspinall Unit and the Colorado River Storage Project to be completed, marking

6943-556: The Navajo Nation, to investigate historical artifacts. They discovered a petroglyph in the upper part of the canyon depicting the appearance of the Crab Nebula in 1054. In 1956, work began on the two diversion tunnels that would carry the Colorado River around the dam site during construction. Each of the tunnels was 41 feet (12 m) in diameter, with a combined capacity of 200,000 cubic feet per second (5,700 m /s);

7074-474: The Navajo people. The environmental lobby wanted the Bureau of Reclamation to keep Lake Powell at or below a level of 3,600 feet (1,100 m), to prevent it from intruding into the monument. The Bureau of Reclamation proposed to build a barrier dam and pump system in order to keep water out of the monument. With the potential damage that would be caused to the remote environment, "the cure would be far worse than

7205-619: The Pacific Northwest there was a lot of suspicion that the Pacific Southwest Water Plan was merely a smokescreen for a much larger plan, long a gleam in the Colorado Basin's eye, to tap the Columbia River ." ... Echo Park was a pure indulgence in the most austere of deserts. In autumn, its groves of cottonwood and yellowing willow gave it a New England air. In the spring, the swollen Green [River] would flood

7336-534: The Rio Grande was signed in 1944 allocating 1.5 million acre-feet (1.9 km ) to Mexico. The third lower basin state, Arizona, did not ratify the Compact until 1944 because it was concerned that California might seek to appropriate a portion of its share before it could be put to use. The total, 16.5 million acre-feet (20.4 km ), was based on only thirty years of streamflow records starting in

7467-621: The USBR incorporated these proposals with the "Pacific Southwest Water Plan" on January 21, 1964, in which power sales from Glen, Marble and Bridge (often called "cash register dams") would be used to fund a diversion of water from the wetter Pacific Northwest to the Colorado Basin. In addition to the proposed diversion of the Trinity River in Northern California, Marc Reisner wrote in Cadillac Desert that "in

7598-635: The United States Bureau of Reclamation. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on November 16, 2017. Burman is the first woman to ever lead the Bureau of Reclamation. David Murillo was serving as the acting commissioner of the bureau. Burman resigned on January 20 after the inauguration of the Biden Administration . The current Commissioner is Camille Calimlim Touton , the first Filipino American to head

7729-407: The United States' first multiple-purpose dam. John W. Keys , the 16th Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation who served from July 2001 to April 2006, was killed two years after his retirement on May 30, 2008, when the airplane he was piloting crashed in Canyonlands National Park , Utah . On June 26, 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Brenda Burman to serve as the Commissioner of

7860-406: The Upper Basin states risked a "call" on the Colorado River during drought years: they would be forced to use less water in order to keep the river flowing to Lake Mead and California, the state with the most senior water rights. To provide water for the Upper Basin and ensure delivery to the Lower Basin, the Bureau of Reclamation proposed the Colorado River Storage Project , which would consist of

7991-420: The West, it is said, water flows uphill towards money." In a 2011 interview, Floyd Dominy , the Reclamation Commissioner who had spearheaded the Colorado River Storage Project, maintained USBR's stance on the benefits of the dam project. Although Lake Powell loses water to evaporation and leakage, it continues to serve an important function capturing runoff during wet years, as "insurance" for droughts. During

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8122-426: The agency was renamed the "Bureau of Reclamation". In 1924, however, in the face of increasing settler unrest and financial woes, the "Fact Finder's Report" spotlighted major problematic issues; the Fact Finders Act in late 1924 sought to resolve some of these problems. In 1928 Congress authorized the Boulder Canyon ( Hoover Dam ) Project, and large appropriations began, for the first time, to flow to Reclamation from

8253-417: The agency. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on November 4, 2021. Glen Canyon Dam Glen Canyon Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the southwestern United States , located on the Colorado River in northern Arizona , near the city of Page . The 710-foot-high (220 m) dam was built by the Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) from 1956 to 1966 and forms Lake Powell , one of

8384-402: The bottom of each spillway to break up and absorb the shock of the bubbles formed by cavitation. In 1984, the Colorado River basin produced even more runoff than 1983, peaking at 148,000 cubic feet per second (4,200 m /s) in early June. This time, the USBR had drawn down the reservoir enough that it absorbed most of the early high flows. Nevertheless, Lake Powell rapidly approached the top of

8515-402: The canyon bottom and leave lush meadows as it went. Echo Park was probably the most beautiful canyon flat in all of Utah, part of Dinosaur National Monument. It was also an ideal site for a dam. — Marc Reisner , Cadillac Desert (1986) The Echo Park dam would be inside the federally protected Dinosaur National Monument and would submerge 110 miles (180 km) of scenic canyons –

8646-486: The canyon to the other. A road link was urgently needed, in order to safely accommodate workers and heavy construction equipment. The contract for building the bridge was awarded to Peter Kiewit Sons and the Judson Pacific Murphy Co. for $ 4 million and construction began in late 1956, reaching completion on August 11, 1957. When finished, the steel arch Glen Canyon Bridge was itself a marvel of engineering: at 1,271 feet (387 m) long and rising 700 feet (210 m) above

8777-514: The city grew, it gathered additional features, including numerous stores, a hospital, and even a jeweler. It was intended to serve a maximum population of eight thousand, accounting for the workers' families; the peak workforce would eventually exceed 2,500 in the busiest phases of construction. The engineer in charge of the project would be Lem F. Wylie , who had worked on Hoover Dam and had previously designed six other USBR dams. Prior to and during construction, three separate grants were issued by

8908-422: The closest paved road, U.S. Route 89 – a new road had to be constructed, branching off from US 89 north of Flagstaff, Arizona , and running through the dam site to its terminus at Kanab, Utah . Because of the isolated location, acquiring the land at the dam and reservoir sites was not particularly difficult, but there were a few disputes with ranchers and miners in the area (many of the Navajo Nation ). Much of

9039-455: The concrete. Cement needed to make concrete for the dam came from the Phoenix Cement Company plant constructed for the purpose in Clarkdale , south of Flagstaff . A huge concrete plant capable of putting out 1,450 tons per hour was installed, and a pair of cableways with movable towers (with capacities of 50 and 25 tons respectively) spanned the canyon, carrying the 12-cubic-yard (9.2 m ) concrete buckets to their final destinations on

9170-455: The contract for the diversion tunnels in 1956. Transporting workers and equipment to the bottom of the canyon was extremely difficult. Initially, transport was done by barge from Wahweap Creek, but the fast current of the Colorado River could be dangerous. After a barge capsized, spilling tons of machinery into the river, a much safer cable-car system was installed. During excavation, the rock frequently broke apart or "slabbed" and collapsed into

9301-426: The dam in the beginning, later recanted his opinion and admitted that he had regretted supporting the project. Recent calls for the draining of Lake Powell and the restoration of Glen Canyon by environmental groups such as Sierra Club have resulted in the founding of several advocacy groups for the cause such as Living Rivers and Friends of Glen Canyon, as well as opposition groups such as Friends of Lake Powell. Given

9432-480: The dam was topped out. Work on the power plant and spillways began directly after the dam wall was complete. The spillway tunnels were excavated around both abutments of the dam, dropping steeply from their control gates on Lake Powell to merge with the lower ends of the diversion tunnels. This measure saved cost, but introduced a weak point where the two tunnels intersected. The upper ends of the diversion tunnels were then sealed with solid concrete. The first electricity

9563-505: The disease." The proposal was fought over and litigated for years until it was permanently shelved in 1973. Glen Canyon Dam became the subject of influential literature, including Edward Abbey 's novel The Monkey Wrench Gang (1975), which tells the story of a fictional group of environmentalists fighting against industrial developers in the American Southwest, their ultimate target being Glen Canyon Dam. The novel gained

9694-576: The diversion tunnels. On October 15, 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower pressed a button on his desk in Washington, D.C. , sending a telegraph signal that set off the first blast of dynamite at the portal of the right diversion tunnel. Drilling the tunnels through the porous Navajo sandstone abutting the dam site posed major problems for the excavation crews of the Mountain States Construction Company, which won

9825-402: The ecology of the Grand Canyon, which lies downstream; environmental groups continue to advocate for the dam's removal. Water managers and utilities state that the dam is a major source of renewable energy and provides a buffer for severe droughts. The Colorado River is the single largest source of water in the southwestern United States and northwest Mexico; before massive dam projects tamed

9956-533: The excess stored in Lake Powell. The spring runoff in 1963 was the lowest on record in ten years. By the beginning of 1964, Lake Powell had barely reached half the target level, and Lake Mead had seen a sharp decline. In March, Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall ordered the filling halted and extra releases made to Lake Mead, to the consternation of the Upper Basin states. In May, Udall changed his mind yet again to lower releases, gambling that

10087-399: The face of public scrutiny, and wishing to avoid more questions about the Colorado River Storage Project as a whole, the Bureau of Reclamation dropped the Echo Park proposal in 1954. Even as construction began on the other dams, the drama of the Echo Park debate had shifted the American public's perception on big government projects and their environmental consequences. Echo Park was considered

10218-456: The fight to enact the Colorado River Storage Project. Brower was known to have fought regularly with Aspinall, going so far as to state that he had seen "dream after dream dashed on the stony continents of Wayne Aspinall". As a whole, the Aspinall Unit has a generating capacity of about 290 megawatts, or about 17% of the entire Colorado River Storage Project, making it the second most productive unit after Glen Canyon. The Blue Mesa Dam impounds

10349-533: The final completion of the system as a whole. Crystal Dam forms the Crystal Reservoir and has the smallest capacity of the hydroelectric dams in the system, providing some 31,500 kilowatts capacity, or just over 1% of the Aspinall Unit's capacity. A number of water management projects in various locations of the upper Colorado River basin are considered participating projects in the Colorado River Storage Project. These projects are financially related to

10480-711: The first director of the new bureau. Beginning with the third person to take over the direction of Reclamation in 1923, David W. Davis, the title was changed from Director to Commissioner. In the early years, many projects encountered problems: lands or soils included in projects were unsuitable for irrigation ; land speculation sometimes resulted in poor settlement patterns; proposed repayment schedules could not be met by irrigators who had high land-preparation and facilities-construction costs; settlers were inexperienced in irrigation farming; waterlogging of irrigable lands required expensive drainage projects; and projects were built in areas which could only grow low-value crops. In 1923

10611-465: The general funds of the United States. The authorization came only after a hard-fought debate about the pros and cons of public power versus private power. The heyday of Reclamation construction of water facilities occurred during the Depression and the 35 years after World War II . From 1941 to 1947, Civilian Public Service labor was used to carry on projects otherwise interrupted by

10742-569: The highest arch bridge in the world. It currently serves as one of only two bridges to cross the Colorado River between Lake Mead and Lake Powell, carrying the majority of the traffic between northern Arizona and southern Utah. The Flaming Gorge Unit consists of the Flaming Gorge Dam and the Flaming Gorge Reservoir , and the dam's powerplant. The dam impounds the Green River near Dutch John, Utah . Portions of

10873-475: The importance of the unit to the project as well as its impact as a tourist destination to the region, restoration efforts face significant opposition and there currently exist no plans to cease operations at Glen Canyon. Not directly a part of the project but built as a direct result of it, the Glen Canyon Dam Bridge was constructed over the river in 1959. At the time of its completion it was

11004-451: The lakes must be kept at approximately the same level. By spreading out the water, evaporation is greatly increased. Since the year 2000, Lake Mead has steadily declined toward the critical level at which a shortage would be declared for the Lower Basin states. A plan called "Fill Mead First", which would drain Lake Powell in order to refill Lake Mead, has gained traction in recent years. Glen Canyon Dam would remain in place (as total removal of

11135-448: The land acquired for the dam was through an exchange with the Navajo, in which the tribe ceded Manson Mesa south of the dam site for a similar-sized chunk of land near Aneth, Utah , which the Navajo had long coveted. In the early stages of construction, the only way to cross Glen Canyon was a suspension footbridge made of chicken wire and metal grates. Vehicles had to make a 225-mile (362 km) journey in order to get from one side of

11266-475: The largest man-made reservoirs in the U.S. with a capacity of more than 25 million acre-feet (31 km ). The dam is named for Glen Canyon , a series of deep sandstone gorges now flooded by the reservoir; Lake Powell is named for John Wesley Powell , who in 1869 led the first expedition to traverse the Colorado River's Grand Canyon by boat. A dam in Glen Canyon was studied as early as 1924, but these plans were initially dropped in favor of

11397-499: The late 1890s. It was believed to represent the annual flow as measured at Lee's Ferry, Arizona (the official dividing point of the upper and lower basins), 16 miles (26 km) downstream of present-day Glen Canyon Dam. As it turned out, the early 20th century was one of the wettest periods in the last 800 years. The dependable natural flow past Lees Ferry is now believed to be about 13.5 to 14.6 million acre-feet (16.7 to 18.0 km ). The general consensus among inhabitants of

11528-422: The loss of the canyon before most of the American public had a chance to visit, or were even aware of its existence. Though little known to most Americans before Porter's book, Glen Canyon had been visited by a handful of hikers and boaters (such as Powell's expedition), and some had even been interviewed by Brower. As said to Brower by writer Wallace Stegner , who had been to the canyon in 1947, "Echo doesn't hold

11659-545: The lower Colorado River states, California and Nevada . As a stipulation of that compact, the upper basin states were required to ensure an annual flow of no less than 7,500,000 acre-feet (9.3 km) be delivered to the lower basin states. However, the annual flow of the Colorado River at Lee's Ferry in Arizona, the established dividing point, was extremely erratic, ranging from 4,000,000 acre-feet (4.9 km) to 22,000,000 acre-feet (27 km). This led to an inability of

11790-547: The lower portion of the river. During droughts, there was too little water available for irrigation . In 1904, the Colorado River was accidentally redirected after it damaged a canal gate in Mexico, causing the river to flood part of California's Imperial Valley and create the Salton Sea . After this catastrophe, California and Arizona began to call for a dam to control the tempestuous river. In 1922, six U.S. states signed

11921-538: The magnitude of 1983. Long after the Glen Canyon Dam was built and continuing to the present day, controversy remains between supporters of dam removal and those who believe it should be left in place. One of the earliest debates regarding the dam was its impact on Rainbow Bridge National Monument , whose 290-foot (88 m) high natural arch is the highest in North America, and is a sacred site to

12052-404: The main reasons for this slow rise, in addition to the need to meet obligations to the Lower Basin, was the leakage of vast amounts of water into the porous Navajo Sandstone aquifer. Between 1963 and 1969, as much as 655,000 acre-feet (0.808 km ) leaked into the reservoir banks each year. Conversely, some of this "bank storage" flows back into the reservoir as springs and seeps when Lake Powell

12183-507: The narrow lower reaches of Glen Canyon shortly upstream of Lee's Ferry. The site originally favored by the USBR was just 4 miles (6.4 km) upstream, but the final decision was to build the dam 16.5 miles (26.6 km) upstream because of stronger foundation rock and easier access to gravel deposits on Wahweap Creek . Because the dam site lay in a remote, rugged area of the Colorado Plateau – more than 30 miles (48 km) from

12314-505: The otherwise arid southwest regions. The project has changed the ecosystem in the Colorado River, including in Grand Canyon National Park . Glen Canyon Dam in particular has been the subject of much environmental criticism. Water trapped behind the dams cools and drops its sediment load in the reservoirs. Natural floods of warm sediment-rich water flowing down the Colorado River, through the Grand Canyon, and on to

12445-476: The overall generating capacity of the project. In spite of its importance to the system, the Glen Canyon Unit has also been the source of controversy even before it began operating in 1964. Sierra Club director David Brower, who was partially responsible for the location of the dam as part of a compromise, later regretted the decision. Former Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater , who was a proponent of

12576-530: The participation of several related water management projects throughout the river's basin. The project's original scope, and primary focus, are the upper Colorado River itself, the Green River , the San Juan River , and the Gunnison River . Participating states are Arizona , Utah , New Mexico , Colorado and Wyoming . Attempts at managing the water supply in the upper Colorado River basin were first recorded in 1854 at Fort Supply in Wyoming, when water

12707-498: The plan was passed into law by Congress in 1956. The legislation called for the construction of dams , reservoirs and related works at Curecanti in Colorado, Flaming Gorge in Wyoming, Navajo in New Mexico and Glen Canyon in Arizona. All but the Navajo project were to include power generation capabilities; the Navajo project was intended as flood control only. Also included in the legislation were several related projects in

12838-427: The point where the spillways had to be opened. Other than a brief test in 1980, this was the only time the spillways had ever been used. At the beginning of June, dam operators opened the gates on the left spillway, sending 10,000 cubic feet per second (280 m /s), less than one-tenth of capacity, down the tunnel into the river below. After a few days, the entire dam suddenly began to shake violently. The spillway

12969-409: The political forces that resulted in Glen Canyon and hundreds of other dams being built in the 1960s and 1970s. Many of these projects had dubious economic justifications and hidden environmental costs, but the government agencies that built them – namely the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – were more interested in maintaining their size and influence. Reisner writes that "in

13100-511: The power necessary to pump water to where it was needed in central Arizona. In 1963, Arizona's congressional delegation proposed these dams as part of the Central Arizona Project to accomplish these goals. The state of California opposed the project, as it would eliminate the "surplus" water in the Colorado (really the Upper Basin's yet unused supplies) it had gotten accustomed to using. The Bureau of Reclamation recognized

13231-559: The power to save the place did not. I was within a few feet of his desk in Washington that day and witnessed how the forces long at work had their way. So a steel gate dropped, choking off the flow of the canyon's carotid artery, and from that moment the canyon's life force ebbed quickly. A huge reservoir, absolutely not needed in this century, almost certainly not needed in the next, and conceivably never to be needed at all, began to fill." Construction continued and on September 13, 1963,

13362-468: The radical environmental group Earth First! staged an anti-dam protest by unfurling a 300-foot (91 m) tapered black sheet of plastic down the face of the dam, making it appear as if a gigantic crack had appeared in the structure – a direct re-enactment of a scene from Abbey's book. Authorities were unable to find the individuals responsible. In his comprehensive history of western water development, Cadillac Desert (1986), Marc Reisner criticized

13493-550: The reservoir spill over into Southern Wyoming near the city of Green River. Completed in 1964, the dam provides water storage and hydroelectric generation, as well as flood control on the Green River, the primary tributary to the Colorado. The powerplant in the dam has a capacity of 153 megawatts or about 8.5% of the entire system. The Navajo Unit consists of the Navajo Dam and the Navajo Lake reservoir. The dam impounds

13624-469: The right-side tunnel was 2,740 feet (840 m) long and the left 2,900 feet (880 m). The right tunnel would be used for carrying the Colorado's normal flow around the dam site, while the left tunnel, 33 feet (10 m) above the water, would only be used during floods. The lower reaches of the tunnels would later be used to form the lower ends of the dam's spillways. About 182,000 cubic yards (139,000 m ) of material would have to be excavated from

13755-418: The river as part of the project has increased the surface area of the Colorado River and the length of time the water is held in the basin which in turn increases the amount of water lost to evaporation. Some estimates indicate that 8.5 million acre feet of water is being lost each year, equivalent to the average amount of water released from Lake Powell to Lake Mead. Water from the Colorado River rarely reaches

13886-509: The river in the 20th century, its flow was far from dependable. Annual discharge from the Colorado River and its tributaries ranges from 4 to 22 million acre-feet (4.9 to 27.1 km ), and 10-year averages may fluctuate as much as 1 million acre-feet (1.2 km ). Flooding, and the river's enormous silt or sediment load, created problems for settlements in the Lower Colorado River Valley and navigation on

14017-402: The river, it was the highest bridge of its kind in the United States and one of the highest in the world. The bridge soon became a major tourist attraction. The March 1959 issue of LIFE reported that "motorists [were] driving miles out of their way just to be thrilled by its dizzying height." Workers moved to the dam site beginning in the mid-late 1950s; the construction camp started out as

14148-416: The spillway gates and construction efforts were subsequently focused on the left spillway in order to get it in operation in time. On August 12, the left spillway gates were opened, releasing water at a rate of 50,000 cubic feet per second (1,400 m /s). The spillway was undamaged, proving the worth of the re-engineering and suggesting that Glen Canyon Dam will also be able to hold against future floods with

14279-477: The spring runoff would be enough to raise Powell to minimum power pool by autumn, by which time power releases could begin, to prevent Lake Mead from falling below its minimum power pool. That gamble paid off, with Lake Powell barely inching over the 3,490-foot (1,060 m) mark on August 16, 1964. It took more than 17 years for Lake Powell to finally reach its full elevation of 3,700 feet (1,100 m) above sea level, which it crossed on June 22, 1980. One of

14410-750: The states of the Upper Colorado River Basin ( Colorado , Wyoming , and most of New Mexico and Utah ) and the Lower Basin ( California , Nevada and most of Arizona ). During years of drought, Glen Canyon guarantees a water delivery to the Lower Basin states, without the need for rationing in the Upper Basin. In wet years, it captures extra runoff for future use. The dam is also a major source of hydroelectricity , averaging over 4 billion kilowatt hours per year. The long and winding Lake Powell, known for its scenic beauty and recreational opportunities including houseboating , fishing and water skiing , attracts millions of tourists each year to

14541-509: The steadily rising crest of the dam. The concrete was poured into modular 7.5-foot (2.3 m) high wooden blocks or "forms", the largest measuring up to 60 feet (18 m) by 210 feet (64 m); more than 3,000 of these blocks made up the main structure of the dam. Once the concrete cured, the wooden scaffolding was removed and shifted upwards to accommodate the next load of concrete. As more efficient methods of concrete pouring were installed, including conveyors and remotely controlled buckets,

14672-416: The structure would be prohibitively expensive), but would only store water in wet seasons when runoff exceeds the capacity of Lake Mead to hold it. Much of the opposition to this plan is along political lines: Lake Powell is legally considered the Upper Basin's water, and Lake Mead belongs to the Lower Basin. The Friends of Lake Powell have called this an attempt to steal water from the Upper Basin, to avoid

14803-400: The system. While the dam is located near Page in northern Arizona, the majority of Lake Powell resides in southern Utah. With a total storage capacity of 27,000,000 acre-feet (33 km) of water in Lake Powell, the Glen Canyon Unit accounts for over 64% of the system's overall water storage capacity. The 1,296 megawatt capacity of the dam's hydroelectric generators accounts for almost 75% of

14934-562: The system. Additionally, three of the units provide hydroelectric power to major markets in the southwest. Lee's Ferry in Arizona serves as the southern boundary point for the project, which encompasses the Colorado River upstream from this point and all tributaries. The Glen Canyon Unit, which consists of the Glen Canyon Dam , Lake Powell and the Glen Canyon Powerplant, is the largest and most important unit of

15065-482: The tunnels, and metal bolts had to be drilled into the rock to secure it. The largest such event, on August 5, 1958, sent 5,200 cubic yards (4,000 m ) crashing down onto the upper portal of the left diversion tunnel. Material dug out of the tunnels and the dam abutments on the canyon walls was used to build the two cofferdams to divert the Colorado River, which were complete in February 1960. The upper cofferdam

15196-507: The upper basin states to meet the minimum delivery requirements to the lower states in dry years, and a loss of significant surpluses in wet years. In order to regulate the flow of the Colorado and ensure compliance with the compact, a study was undertaken that determined a series of dams and reservoirs on the river and its tributaries would be necessary. A joint effort between the Upper Colorado River Commission,

15327-399: The version to be built). While studying the figures, Brower discovered that the difference should be no more than 19 thousand acre-feet (0.023 km ). Although it is unclear whether the discrepancy was due to a miscalculation or intentional manipulation, Brower said "it would be a great mistake [to rely on the Bureau's figures] when they cannot add, subtract, multiply and divide." In

15458-451: The war effort. The last major authorization for construction projects occurred in the late 1960s, while a parallel evolution and development of the American environmental movement began to result in strong opposition to water development projects. Even the 1976 failure of Teton Dam as it filled for the first time did not diminish Reclamation's strong international reputation in water development circles. However, this first and only failure of

15589-447: The workforce gradually decreased. By late 1962, concrete was being poured into the dam at a rate of 8,000 cubic yards (6,100 m ) per day even as the workforce was scaled down to about 1,500. At the beginning of 1963, the dam was high enough to begin impounding water; huge steel gates were closed over the right diversion tunnel on January 21, and Lake Powell began to rise. A minimal flow of 1,000 cubic feet per second (28 m /s)

15720-508: Was 13.4 million acre-feet (16.5 km ), twice the initial prediction, but river flow data indicates that further leakage after 1980 has been negligible. According to a 2013 study by hydrologist Thomas Myers for the Glen Canyon Institute , the reservoir continues to lose about 380,000 acre-feet (0.47 km ) each year due to leakage. According to USBR data for water year 2015 (a year when Lake Powell did not experience

15851-513: Was 168 feet (51 m) high, and it alone could store several million acre-feet of water to protect the dam site from flooding in the event that inflows exceeded the capacity of the diversion tunnels. On February 11, 1959, the right diversion tunnel was completed and began to carry the flow of the Colorado. The left tunnel was finished over three months later on May 19, 1959, slightly behind schedule. It looked as if they [Merritt-Chapman & Scott] were going to start losing money before they dropped

15982-648: Was about $ 11 billion. Reclamation projects provide agricultural, household, and industrial water to about one‑third of the population of the American West. About 5% of the land area of the West is irrigated, and Reclamation provides water to about one-fifth of that area, some 9,120,000 acres (37,000 km ) in 1992. Reclamation is a major American generator of electricity . As of 2007 , Reclamation had 58 power plants on‑line and generated 125,000 GJ of electricity. From 1988 to 1994, Reclamation underwent major reorganization as construction on projects authorized in

16113-411: Was allowed through the dam, to prevent the Colorado River from drying up completely. On that day, David Brower confronted President John F. Kennedy in a last-ditch effort to delay Glen Canyon's inundation. Brower later said of that exchange: "On January 2, 1963, the last day on which the execution of one of the planet's greatest scenic antiquities could yet have been spared, the man who theoretically had

16244-405: Was closed down for inspections and workers discovered that the flow of water was causing cavitation – the explosive collapse of vacuum pockets in water moving at high speed – which was damaging the concrete lining and eroding the rock spillway tunnels from the upper ends of the diversion tunnels, which connect to the bottom of the reservoir. This was rapidly being destroyed by the cavitation and it

16375-424: Was diverted from Blacks Fork to irrigate local lands. Subsequent diversions of the waters in the Colorado basin led to preliminary investigations of means to develop the system as early as 1902 when the Bureau of Reclamation, then known as the Reclamation Service, was established. Serious consideration for the project began when the Colorado River Compact was signed in 1922 by the participating states, as well as

16506-443: Was exhausted; discharges through the left spillway reached 32,000 cubic feet per second (910 m /s), and the right spillway was opened to 15,000 cubic feet per second (420 m /s). At Lee's Ferry, the Colorado River peaked at 97,300 cubic feet per second (2,760 m /s), which was and still is the highest water flow recorded there since the dam was built. On July 14, Lake Powell reached 3,708.34 feet (1,130.30 m) elevation,

16637-462: Was feared that a connection would be made to the bottom of Lake Powell, compromising the dam's foundation and causing the dam to fail. Meanwhile, snow continued melting in the Rockies and Lake Powell continued to rise rapidly. To delay having to use the spillways, the USBR installed plywood flashboards (later replaced by steel) atop the gates to increase the lake level. Even this additional capacity

16768-403: Was filling with sediment at a rate that would render it useless in a few hundred years. But most importantly, Hoover only controlled the lower portion of the river. The Upper Basin states, whose rivers remained undammed, had no way to ensure they could fulfill their delivery obligation to the Lower Basin states while retaining enough water for their own use. Without storage reservoirs of their own,

16899-410: Was generated on September 4, 1964, with the power sent into the regional electric grid through a pair of long-distance transmission lines as far as Phoenix, Arizona and Farmington, New Mexico . It took two more years to complete all remaining aspects of the project. On September 22, 1966 Lady Bird Johnson gave the official dedication speech for Glen Canyon Dam, before a crowd of 3,000 people. With

17030-475: Was lost with the cancellation of the dam project. The Sierra Club lost its IRS tax-exempt status a day after the advertisement was released due to its disruptive political activities. The group's membership more than doubled in the next three years, many of them citizens unhappy with the IRS's apparent overreach. As early as 1947, the Bureau of Reclamation had begun investigating two potential sites, both located in

17161-557: Was most vocally supported by the state of Arizona, which wished to get Colorado River water to Phoenix and Tucson , located hundreds of miles away from the Colorado in the center of the state. Glen Canyon Dam would regulate river flow between Lee's Ferry and Lake Mead, where the Colorado drops some 1,200 feet (370 m), allowing the future construction of two additional hydroelectric dams, at Marble Canyon and Bridge Canyon . These two dams would be partially inside Grand Canyon National Park . Glen, Marble and Bridge together would provide

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