The public has no right to know who might be in the flood path should Glen Canyon or Hoover Dam fail. Using national security risks as their trump card, the Bureau of Reclamation was able to convince Judge Tena Campbell to deny Living Rivers’ appeal for their inundation maps, effectively ending the 18 month effort to obtain this information.
If Glen Canyon Dam fails an estimated 500-foot wall of water would race through the narrow parts of the Grand Canyon toward Hoover Dam. Even if Hoover Dam withstood the initial impact of the flood, a waterfall over the top would last 11 days and would destroy the water delivery infrastructure and communities downstream.
"The funny thing about all this, is that some of this information is already in circulation, we had just hoped to obtain it through official channels," says Living Rivers’ executive director, Owen Lammers.
Until the trial the Bureau's arguments for withholding the information had nothing to do with national security. They now claim this information is exempt from disclosure based on things like arrest procedures, or the design of the President's limousine; something that aids criminals in completing a crime. This is certainly not the case with inundation maps.
Since the 9/11 political scene, the government is using national security as a means to keep information from environmental groups. Living Rivers has been told that this case is being used to equip federal attorneys in fighting Freedom of Information requests. In this political climate Living Rivers does not feel it likely that an appeal would overturn the verdict and is not pursuing the matter further.
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District Court's Opinion
