UPDATE
Sep 3, 2024 6:03 PM CDT
Pipeline repairs at Grand Canyon National Park are holding and officials plan to lift the suspension of overnight lodging on the South Rim on Thursday, a week after hotels had to begin turning away visitors during one of the park's busiest times of the year. Four significant breaks in the 12.5 mile-long Transcanyon Waterline had caused the famous tourist destination to shut down overnight hotel stays beginning on Aug. 29. Park spokesperson Joell Baird said Tuesday that the pipeline was successfully repaired late last week and no new breaks have occurred following re-pressurization and regular water flow, the AP reports. Baird said she didn't know the cost of the pipeline repair or how much the park may have lost in overnight reservations during the Labor Day holiday weekend.
Aug 29, 2024 5:15 PM CDT
Tourists staying at Grand Canyon National Park began moving to accommodations outside the park Thursday after water pipeline failures forced the sudden shutdown of overnight hotel stays during one of the busiest times of the year. Water restrictions will run throughout the Labor Day holiday, when hotels are near or at capacity. It's an unprecedented outcome, the AP reports, even for a pipeline with a long history of frequent failures. Since July 8, the park has faced challenges with its water supply, and no water currently is being pumped to either the canyon's south or north rims, officials said.
The 12.5-mile Transcanyon Waterline, originally built in the 1960s, supplies potable water for facilities on the South Rim and inner canyon. Park officials say it has exceeded its expected lifespan. Since 2010, more than 85 major breaks have disrupted water delivery, but none has forced what park officials call Stage 4 water restrictions. That is, until four recent significant breaks. Under these water restrictions, visitors won't be able to stay overnight starting Thursday, including at El Tovar, Bright Angel Lodge, Maswik Lodge, and Phantom Ranch. At Yavapai Lodge, about 970 reservations for the weekend were canceled. Hotels located outside the park in Tusayan will not be impacted, and the park will remain open during the day, per the AP.
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Mark and Vicky Williams of London arrived at the park on Wednesday with their 15-month-old son and had planned to stay until Sunday. "We've had to rebook somewhere in Tusayan, which is good, but it's not as good," Mark Williams said. While the park isn't entirely closed, any perception that it is could negatively impact the cities and towns where tourists sleep, shop, and dine on their way to the canyon. Complicating restoration efforts, the breaks occurred in a narrow part of the canyon known as "the box," an area susceptible to rock fall and higher temperatures this time of the year. A photo released by park officials shows a funnel of water spewing from the pipe and across the slim canyon. "It's definitely a challenging place to be and have a pipeline break on you," a park spokesperson said.
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