Flooding the grand canyon on March 6, 2008
United States federal officials flushed billion of gallons of water into the Grand Canyon on Wednesday, in an experimental effort to distribute sediment throughout the river and restore the ecosystem to a more natural state.
The water was released from two pipes in the Glen Canyon Dam, which blocks the Colorado River and creates the artificial reservoir Lake Powell. At a rate of more than 300,000 gallons of water per second, the flood could fill up the 102-story Empire State Building in 20 minutes, said Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne.
This gives you a glimpse of
what nature has been doing for millions of years,
cutting through and creating this magnificent canyon,"
Kempthorne said after pulling the lever that released
the water. The flood will continue for 60 hours, during
which time the flow of water from the dam is expected to
increase by four or five times.
After the dam was built in 1963, the seasonal floods
that would spread sediment throughout the river were
halted. This sediment was necessary for creating
sandbars and beaches, which served as wildlife habitats.
As a result, two fish species have become extinct, and
two others have become endangered, including the
humpback chub. Although the water level will only rise a
few feet after the flood, officials are hoping it will
be enough to restore eroded sandbars downstream.
Scientists will be conducting studies on how the
flooding affects the native species and their habitats.
"Our ultimate purpose is to learn whether or not this is
a viable strategy for creating sandbars and habitats for
native fish," said John Hamill, chief of the Grand
Canyon Monitoring and Research Center.