Little Colorado River Dam Proposals

The Little Colorado River, which joins the mainstem Colorado River inside Grand Canyon National Park, is the wrong place to build dams.

A Phoenix-based company has applied for 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.

Public outcry from Grand Canyon advocates defeated the proposed Marble Canyon Dam in the 1960s. We can do it again. It's time we raise our voices to stop dams from altering the Little Colorado River forever.

Update: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission public comment period for these proposed dams closed on December 1, 2019. Please join our action alert network and we'll let you know when there's another opportunity to take action. Sign up ›

LCR dams - proposal maps

Project 1

Project 1 map

Salt Trail Canyon Pumped Storage Project

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 ›

Project 2

Little Colorado River Pumped Storage Project

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. More ›

LCR dams - Two proposals

Two proposals. Both terrible ideas.

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.

LCR dams - what's at risk

Jack Dykinga

What's at risk?

If built, these dams on the Little Colorado River would:

Threaten cultural and spiritual practices of the Grand Canyon's Native peoples
Industrialize the Hopi Salt Trail and other significant areas
Rob the desert river of its world famous milky-blue waters
Threaten the habitat of the endangered humpback chub

LCR dams - economic boon

The bottom line

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 approximately $3 billion in investment to stimulate jobs and growth. But it appears the company may not have yet consulted with the Navajo Nation, much less with other impacted tribes, about its plans.