After years of advocacy by Native communities, tribes, the Grand Canyon Trust, and others, in 2022, the federal government cancelled preliminary permits it had issued to a Phoenix-based company for two proposed hydroelectric projects on Navajo Nation lands mere miles from the national park boundary. Both would have flooded a pristine section of the Little Colorado River Gorge, muddied its distinctive turquoise-blue waters, destroyed areas sacred to Native peoples, and threatened the habitat of the already endangered humpback chub.
However, a third application to dam Big Canyon, a nearby tributary canyon adjacent to the Little Colorado River, is still pending.
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: Canceled
This proposal was fewer than five miles from Grand Canyon National Park and included two concrete arch dams, one across a canyon east of the Little Colorado River and another on the Little Colorado River itself. Details ›
STATUS: Canceled
Less than a half mile from the boundary with Grand Canyon National Park, this project also included two dams. It appeared that the project's lower reservoir would leave a Hopi sacred site underwater. Read more ›
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 have flooded 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 granted the company exclusive rights for three years to study the feasibility of its proposed projects, and to apply for final licenses (no other hydropower developer could 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. In December 2022, FERC cancelled the permits. However, the developer continues to pursue the Big Canyon Dam project.
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.
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