Grand Canyon Manmade Flood Planned

According to Wikipedia.com, six million years of rain, ice, erosion, and the Colorado River are responsible for the wondrous one mile deep and over 200 mile long steep sided gorge called The Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon has been a holy site, a settling place, a reservation site, and a geological wonder that contains in itself the knowledge of almost two billions years of the history of the Earth.

According to the National Park Service, The Grand Canyon is home to over 200 birds, over 80 mammals, over 40 reptiles, 9 amphibian, and 17 species of fish that are native and endangered. All of these species are facing extinction or at least a endangered title due to the lack of spring flooding that is natures way of flushing The Grand Canyon and helping to stabilize and rebuild the habitat. So what is making these species so unstable?

The answer to that question is The Glen Canyon Dam that was constructed in 1966 that was built to hold water and create hydroelectric power for the upcoming human population in Phoenix, Arizona. The construction of The Glen Canyon Dam has forcefully transformed The Grand Canyon into a cooler and strictly controlled environment has pressed the ecosystem to the edge of existence. Ecosystems are normally prone to change, change that takes decades to fully complete; but no ecosystem is prepared for an abrupt manmade forced stop of their needed water to nourish The Grand Canyon's beaches and contribute to the existence of hundreds of species.

Frommer.com, a site dedicated to The Grand Canyon National Park, states that there has been a 45% loss in the beaches along the Colorado River since The Glen Canyon Dam had been constructed, as well as a large shortage of sand. So since the human species is responsible for the devastation of nature's way, what are we human's doing to assist Mother Nature in returning to its normal state?

If the U.S. Department of the Interior approves it, there will be a third manmade flood. Several scientists believe that a controlled flood would result in redistributing the sand to the beaches of The Grand Canyon as well as assist in the first steps to restoring the damaged ecosystem. In the last 12 years there have been three manmade floods, the third taking place March 5, 2008; states Science Daily.

Scientists told Science Daily that the first attempt in doing this was in 1996 and the results were not as planned. Seems as though the forced flood placed sand on beaches that didn't need the sand. However, the fake floods of 1996 and 2004 did teach the scientists just how important sand is. Both floods were a failure to replicate the actual doings of Mother Nature. These attempts stirred a lot of controversy in regards to other scientists proposing the reality that maybe a few million blasts of water ever few years isn't enough to fix the damage, Mother Nature needs to take its own course, one where a dam was never involved in.

For us non-scientific humans, it makes the most sense to restore the ecosystem correctly. A manmade flood every few years isn't going to do anything for the ecosystem. Humans destroyed the ecosystem to obtain a bunch of water to create a luxury for the human population without considering its long term repercussions. The Grand Canyon's ecosystem needs constant natural attention in order to save what has been severely damaged. Many of this type of feeling is shared by scientists as well.

The Grand Canyon's Colorado River, like I had stated before is being used to create electricity for the Phoenix area, however as I look at www.mapquest.com, Phoenix, Arizona is over 350 miles away from The Grand Canyon. The last time I had checked, there were many other rivers, some a lot closer to Phoenix, as well as the very popular wind and solar energy that is becoming more and more environmental friendly and is developing quickly in Arizona.

For over six million years The Grand Canyon has been taking care of itself quite well, until we caused its demise. Another thought pattern, since humans seem to be fixed on money, with this in mind, it would save everyone a lot of time and money if we found a way to let nature take care of itself then to spend tons of money and time every few years to release millions of tons of water into The Grand Canyon for an effort that needs constant attention naturally then a few spurts of fake inconsistent attempts.

In conclusion, we need to think long term instead of short term when it comes to our environment, no matter where we are; we have to remember that the environment is letting us live here. The ecosystems and environment was here first and given the chance, they will regain their proper territory.