In early October, Arizona Senator John Kyl attempted, unsuccessfully, to secure Congressional authorization for the construction of a major pumping plant and pipeline from the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park. The water would principally be used to slurry coal from the Black Mesa coal mine on the Navajo and Hopi reservations to the Mojave Generating Station coal-fired powerplant near Laughlin, Nevada. Coal is presently being slurried from the mine with groundwater from the two reservations. This, however, is significantly depleting the drinking water resources for the Hopi tribe, which desires an alternative water source or mechanism to be used to transport the coal. While Kyl did not succeed during this session of Congress, the concept remains alive and well, as the Bureau of Reclamation told Living Rivers Currents that it was preparing a feasibility study for such a pipeline.
The proposed site of extraction, Jackass Canyon, lies eight miles below Lee’s Ferry, where Grand Canyon river runners begin their expeditions. The facility would pump nearly 3,000 gallons per minute from the river, up 1,000 feet, and then eighty miles across the Navajo Reservation to the Black Mesa coal mine.
California condors can often be found perched on both sides of the Colorado River at its confluence with Jackass Canyon. Over the past decade public and private efforts have aggressively worked to maintain a successful reintroduction program for this endangered species. Jackass Canyon also contains one of the few sets of dinosaur tracks known to exist in Grand Canyon National Park. Despite these potential impacts, Senator Kyl's proposed legislation would have exempted this project from environmental review as required by the National Environmental Protection Act.
