A Phoenix-based company has been issued preliminary permits for two proposed hydroelectric projects on Navajo Nation lands mere miles from the national park boundary. Both would flood a pristine section of the Little Colorado River Gorge, muddy its distinctive turquoise-blue waters, destroy areas sacred to Native peoples, and threaten the habitat of the already endangered humpback chub.
In June 2020, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission accepted a third application to dam Big Canyon, a tributary canyon adjacent to the Little Colorado River.
Public outcry from Grand Canyon advocates defeated the proposed Marble Canyon Dam in the 1960s. It's time we raise our voices again to stop dams from altering the Little Colorado River forever.
STATUS: Preliminary permit issued
This proposal is less than five miles from Grand Canyon National Park and includes two concrete arch dams, one across a canyon east of the Little Colorado River and another on the Little Colorado River itself. Details ›
STATUS: Preliminary permit issued
Less than a half mile from the boundary with Grand Canyon National Park, this project also includes two dams. It appears the project's lower reservoir would leave a Hopi sacred site underwater. Read more ›
STATUS: Application under consideration
Also on Navajo Nation land, this proposal includes four dams on and above Big Canyon, a tributary to the Little Colorado River. Developers say the Big Canyon project could replace their two prior proposals. Learn more ›
The confluence of the Colorado and Little Colorado rivers is sacred to many Native peoples in the region and awe-inspiring to all. These proposed dam projects, like the not-so-distant failed Escalade tramway, threaten to disrupt the spiritual and cultural practices of people who have called the Grand Canyon home since time immemorial. One of the projects (the Little Colorado River Pumped Storage Project), would flood a Hopi sacred site, a place where the Hopi people believe they emerged into this world.
"This whole region … is culturally important. There are various shrines located in this area that Hopi people still visit to this day.” — Lyle Balenquah
Fly over the Little Colorado River as Lyle Balenquah — archaeologist, river and hiking guide, and member of the Hopi Tribe — and William LongReed — citizen of the Navajo Nation Bodaway/Gap Chapter — explain the cultural and spiritual significance of the area.
In May 2020, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued preliminary permits for the Salt Trail Canyon and Little Colorado River projects. These permits are not final approvals but grant the company exclusive rights for three years to study the feasibility of its proposed projects, and apply for final licenses (no other hydropower developer can file a competing license in that window). In July 2021, the developer asked to surrender permits for the Little Colorado River and Salt Trail Canyon projects, but continues to pursue the Big Canyon protect.
In March 2020, Pumped Hydro Storage submitted a third application to study the feasibility of building another set of dams in Big Canyon, a tributary to the Little Colorado River just upstream of the other proposed projects. The Big Canyon Pumped Storage project would use concrete arch and earthen dams to create four reservoirs, one of which would flood the bottom of the canyon. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission accepted the application on June 2, 2020.
If built, these dams on the Little Colorado River would:
From mines, to tourist developments, to proposed dams, profiteers have been trying to make a buck off the canyon since the 1800s. The company behind these proposed hydroelectric projects claims they'd be an economic boon to Navajo and Arizona economies, bringing billions in investment to stimulate jobs and growth. But the Navajo Nation, on whose lands the projects would be built, and other tribes with cultural ties to the area, strongly oppose the dams.
Long-term efforts strive to center Indigenous perspectives in park management and interpretation.
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A hydroelectric dam project in Big Canyon, a dry tributary of the Little Colorado River, would require pumping billions of gallons of groundwater.
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