Archaeological sites in Grand Canyon National Park along the Colorado River are eroding owing to six decades of Glen Canyon Dam operations

Sankey, Joel B.; East, Amy E.; Fairley, Helen C.; Caster, Joshua; Dierker, Jennifer L.; Brennan, Ellen R.; Pilkington, Lonnie H.; Bransky, Nathaniel D.; Kasprak, Alan

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.118036

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Returning to Glen Canyon Dam, one example involves archaeological sites lying far above the active floodplain. A recent 50‐year synthesis of conditions at 362 archaeological sites downstream of the dam and above the post‐dam high water line found that erosion risk has increased at most sites since the 1970s (Sankey et al., 2023). Elevated risk of site erosion from gullying processes (rainfall runoff from hillslopes along the river‐corridor margins) results from decreased wind‐blown sand supply from sandbars along the river corridor that now lack natural sources of sand from sediment‐rich floods.…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Elevated risk of site erosion from gullying processes (rainfall runoff from hillslopes along the river‐corridor margins) results from decreased wind‐blown sand supply from sandbars along the river corridor that now lack natural sources of sand from sediment‐rich floods. Thus, the modified river conditions from Glen Canyon Dam operations have reduced supplies of sand that cover and protect cultural artifacts and refill gullies (Sankey & Draut, 2014; Sankey et al., 2023). These cascading effects of river regulation on landscapes, ecosystems (Draut, 2012), and irreplaceable cultural resources in Grand Canyon even above the high water line were not foreseen 60 years ago and took longer to become apparent than the more directly impacted declines of fluvial sandbars and native fish (Topping et al., 2000; Van Haverbeke et al., 2013).…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

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A Watershed Moment for Western U.S. Dams

East,

Grant

2023

Water Resources Research

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The summer of 2023 is a notable time for water‐resource management in the western United States: Glen Canyon Dam, on the Colorado River, turns 60 years old while the largest dam‐removal project in history is beginning on the Klamath River. This commentary discusses these events in the context of a changing paradigm for dam and reservoir management in this region. Since the era of large dam building began to wane six decades ago, new challenges have arisen for dam and reservoir management owing to climate change, population increase, reservoir sedimentation, declining safety of aging dams, and more environmentally focused management objectives. Today we also better understand dams' benefits, costs, and environmental impacts, including some that were unforeseen and took decades to become apparent. Where dams have become unsafe, obsolete (e.g., due to excessive reservoir sedimentation), and uneconomical beyond saving, dam removal has become common. The science and practice of dam removal are accelerating rapidly, and some long‐term physical and biological response studies are now available. Removal of four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River will be a larger and more complex project than any previous dam removal. The imminency of this project reflects a very different situation for dam and reservoir management than 60 years ago. Looking forward, dam and reservoir management in the western United States and worldwide will require continued collaboration and innovative thinking to meet a wide range of objectives and to manage water resources sustainably for future generations.

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Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

A Watershed Moment for Western U.S. Dams

East,

Grant

2023

Water Resources Research

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Landscape‐Scale Modeling to Forecast Fluvial‐Aeolian Sediment Connectivity in River Valleys

Kasprak,

Sankey,

Caster

2024

Geophysical Research Letters

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Sedimentary landforms on Earth and other planetary bodies are built through scour, transport, and deposition of sediment. Sediment connectivity refers to the hypothesis that pathways of sediment transport do not occur in isolation, but rather are mechanistically linked. In dryland river systems, one such example of sediment connectivity is the transport of fluvially deposited sediment by wind. However, predictive tools that can forecast fluvial‐aeolian sediment connectivity at meaningful scales are rare. Here we develop a suite of models for quantifying the availability of river‐sourced sediment for aeolian transport as a function of river flow, wind regime, and land cover across 168 km of the Colorado River in Grand Canyon, USA. We compare and validate these models using topographic changes observed over 10 years in a coupled river sandbar‐aeolian dunefield setting. The models provide a path forward for directly linking fluvial hydrology with the management and understanding of aeolian landscapes.

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Archaeological sites in Grand Canyon National Park along the Colorado River are eroding owing to six decades of Glen Canyon Dam operations

Cited by 2 publications

References 28 publications

A Watershed Moment for Western U.S. Dams

A Watershed Moment for Western U.S. Dams

Landscape‐Scale Modeling to Forecast Fluvial‐Aeolian Sediment Connectivity in River Valleys

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