Preserving Colorado River resources in the Grand Canyon
Posted by George J. Janczyn on February 9, 2010
It turns out that a high-flow experiment conducted by USGS to flush extra water from Glen Canyon Dam down the Colorado River in order to restore riverbanks and sandbars turned out to be a wash. Sandbar development occurred but once normal flows of clean water returned, so did the erosion.
Here’s what I think. Bring in one of those ocean sand-dredging machines to Glen Canyon Dam. Instead of pumping sediment out and dumping it somewhere, simply stir it up and let it flow out with the water being released. Voila! A year-round supply of sediment to maintain riverbanks and sandbars.
