Click the link to read the article on the AZCentral.com website (Shaun McKinnon). Click through for video and a photo gallery. Here’s an excerpt:
The Bureau of Reclamation opened the bypass tubes at Glen Canyon Dam early Monday and began three days of high water flows from Lake Powell to help improve environmental conditions on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. It’s the first such high-flow experiment at the dam since 2018 and the first during spring runoff season. The goal is to move accumulated sediment downstream and begin to rebuild beaches on the river that have eroded in recent years. The engineered flood mimics some of the river’s pre-dam flows, when snowmelt runoff from the mountains far upstream would raise water levels and redistribute sediment. Since Glen Canyon Dam’s completion in 1963, the water flowing into the Grand Canyon has carried less sediment, much of the river’s sand and other materials trapped behind the dam.
Releasing more water from Lake Powell won’t change the total amount of water that flows through the system this year, bureau officials said. The water will arrive at Lake Mead earlier than it would have otherwise and remain there until it’s needed downstream. Dam operators began raising water flows early Monday, first through the power plant turbines and then through bypass tubes on the side of the dam. By mid-morning, water gushed from the tubes into the river at the dam’s base, the start of a journey downstream through the Grand Canyon toward Lake Mead. The amount of water released will fluctuate over the three days, but the bureau said the high flows will peak at about 39,500 cubic feet per second, or as much as quadruple the average output from the dam. The water releases will return to normal operations by Thursday.