Protect Grand Canyon from New Dams Proposed Near the Confluence!

Two new pumped storage electric projects are proposed on the Little Colorado River.  Each pumped storage project consists of two reservoirs: water flows between the two to create hydroelectric power.

 

These two projects would create four new reservoirs in and above the Little Colorado River, flooding critically important cultural sites and destroying the most important stretch of habitat for the endangered humpback chub.

 

The first project would create a 2-mile long reservoir, flooding some of the most culturally significant portions of the canyon, burying Blue Spring under the reservoir, and destroying 80-90% of spawning habitat for the endangered humpback chub.  Read the application for the Navajo Nation Salt Trail Pumped Storage Project here.  Maps start after page 12.

The second project, directly upstream of the first, would create a 2.5-mile long reservoir, interfering with the Hopi Salt Trail and destroying riverine habitats. Read the second application here.   Maps start after page 12.

 

Please comment on both of these proposals to stop the destruction of the Little Colorado River!

Or go directly to the Federal Notice here and here to learn how to comment on each project individually!

 

What is wrong with these proposals?  Besides the loss of cultural sites and dooming the future of the endangered humpback chub, both of these projects are terribly short sighted in many other ways!

The upper reservoir would be subject to rapid infill of sediment from the Little Colorado River and the lower dam would quickly become covered in travertine (a rock precipitate that is dissolved in Blue Spring water and rapidly coats solid surfaces it contacts).  The reservoirs would be subject to the large flow fluctuations of this desert stream, meaning that there would be threats to infrastructure by floods, and threats to water supply during droughts.  The stream below the reservoirs would have altered temperature and sediment loads, making it less habitable to native fish.  The entire area, which is now extremely remote, quiet, and pristine, would become industrialized with dams, roads, and powerlines.  The Navajo Nation has not endorsed these projects; they are being proposed by Phoenix speculators.

 

Please take action now by visiting the link here.

Or go directly to the Federal Notice here and here to learn how to comment on each project individually!