Grand Canyon

Bob Martin, who manages hydropower at Glen Canyon Dam, shows the effects of cavitation on a decommissioned turbine. When air pockets enter hydroelectric equipment, they cause structural damage. Water managers have scrambled to keep Lake Powell's water levels above the hydropower intake, an effort to stave off cavitation.

A plumbing issue at this Lake Powell dam could cause big trouble for Western water

Alex Hager

Damage inside Glen Canyon Dam could mean problems with the "river outlet works," a set of small tubes near the bottom of the dam that were originally intended to release excess water when the reservoir is nearing full capacity. The dam allows water to pass through to the Colorado River and Grand Canyon.

A bird perches upon towering mud banks left behind by a shrinking Lake Powell on July 5, 2022. A new proposal for managing the Colorado River and its reservoirs is encouraging states to include environmental protections as they draw up water sharing plans.

Science & Environment

This new proposal for Colorado River sharing prioritizes the environment

Alex Hager

A coalition of environmental groups has proposed a set of new rules for managing the Colorado River amid heated negotiations about how to share the water supply, which is shrinking due to climate changed.

Workers talk at the Energy Fuels Inc. uranium Pinyon Plain Mine Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024, near Tusayan, Ariz. The largest uranium producer in the United States is ramping up work just south of Grand Canyon National Park on a long-contested project that largely has sat dormant since the 1980s.

Science & Environment

As prices soar, uranium is being mined within 10 miles of the Grand Canyon

Associated Press

The ore extracted from the Pinyon Plain Mine will be transported to Energy Fuels’ mill in White Mesa, Utah — the only such mill in the U.S.

Gov. Spencer Cox speaks during the PBS Utah Governor's Monthly News Conference at the Eccles Broadcast Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023.

Politics & Government

Only ‘in a fairy tale’ do national monuments protect the land as intended, says Gov. Cox

Saige Miller

During his monthly news conference with reporters, Gov. Cox addressed his feelings toward the recent Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni monument designation and shared his thoughts on the upcoming election.

President Joe Biden smiles after signing a proclamation designating the Baaj Nwaavjo I'Tah Kukveni National Monument at the Red Butte Airfield Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023, in Tusayan, Ariz.

Politics & Government

Utah criticizes Biden’s new national monument near the Grand Canyon

Martha Harris

Visiting Arizona on Tuesday, President Joe Biden signed a proclamation establishing the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument.

Tourists visit the South Rim of the Grand Canyon on November 1, 2022. The portion of the Colorado River which runs through the canyon is receiving a boost of water designed to rebuild beaches and sandbars.

Science & Environment

An extra boost of water is flowing into Grand Canyon after a wet winter

Alex Hager

The Bureau of Reclamation is releasing a "high-flow experiment" from Glen Canyon Dam after forecasts showed a boost to Lake Powell.

FILE - A buoy sits high and dry on cracked earth previously under the waters of Lake Mead at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area near Boulder City, Nev., on June 28, 2022. Living with less water in the U.S. Southwest is the focus for a conference starting Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022, in Las Vegas, about the drought-stricken and overpromised Colorado River.

Science & Environment

More questions than answers at Colorado River water meetings

Associated Press

More questions than answers are surfacing at a conference in Las Vegas about what to do about projected shortages of Colorado River water relied upon by seven U.S. states, Native American tribes and Mexico.

Sandbars in the Grand Canyon are vital for habitat and camping spots. Photo taken in the Grand Canyon in October 2021.

Science & Environment

Back-to-back dry years threaten Grand Canyon beach restoration

Melissa Sevigny

The region’s rapid warming and drying trend is a threat to the environment in one of the world’s most recognizable wonders: the Grand Canyon.

The place where the Colorado and Little Colorado rivers meet on the floor of the Grand Canyon is known as the Confluence. Many see it as holy ground; others see it as an opportunity for economic development.

Science & Environment

Raft trips hit hard by the Grand Canyon’s largest recorded norovirus outbreak, CDC reports

Luke Runyon

This past spring, Grand Canyon National Park became the site of an extended norovirus outbreak, with more than 200 cases of gastrointestinal illness among rafters and backpackers.

Wood chips and stumps scattered in foreground while a piece of heavy machinery removes trees in the background.

News Briefs

AM Brief: Reducing fire risk in Iron County & Indigenous communities opioid crisis

KUER News

The latest Utah news for Wednesday morning, April 6, 2022

Ian McCammon, the writer's spouse, rows the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon National Park, here amidst ancient Vishnu schist in May. The trip offers a window into deep time and recent history. The needs of recreational boaters, wildlife, the canyon ecology and water users is part of an ongoing conversation that has been made more contentious because of drought, water shortages and global warming.

Science & Environment

From A Raft In The Grand Canyon, The West's Shifting Water Woes Come Into View

Judy Fahys

The Colorado River through the Grand Canyon National Park holds lessons for managing an essential and diminishing resource in a rapidly warming climate.

Scientists have been studying the Colorado River, shown here from above Deer Creek Falls, for nearly four decades to understand the environmental impacts of the Glen Canyon Dam on a water source used by around 40 million people in seven states.

News

Humpback Chub 'Alien Abductions' Help Frame the Future of the Colorado River

Judy Fahys

Charismatic is hardly the best word to describe the humpback chub, a fish with a frowny eel face jammed onto a sportfish body in a way that suggests...