Flash floods in the Grand Canyon late last month killed two people and forced the evacuation of dozens of others. Heavy rains led to the flooding at the bottom of the canyon, including at Phantom Ranch.
The events were shocking, but perhaps not surprising to everyone — especially after the Dragon Bravo Fire burned through the canyon’s North Rim last summer.
With The Show to explain is journalist Annette McGivney, who’s reported extensively from and about the Grand Canyon over the years.
Full conversation
MARK BRODIE: Good morning.
ANNETTE MCGIVNEY: Yes, hello.
MARK BRODIE: So what is the relationship between the Dragon Bravo Fire on the North Rim last year and the flash floods that we saw just a few weeks ago?
ANNETTE MCGIVNEY: Well, there have been flash floods obviously since the beginning of the Grand Canyon, but the difference that happened with this recent flood is the Dragon Bravo Fire magnified the intensity of the flow of the water and also increased the amount of debris that came down through Bright Angel Canyon.
MARK BRODIE: So without the vegetation there to sort of slow it down, it was really just kind of going down unimpeded?
ANNETTE MCGIVNEY: Right, yeah. Not only did the vegetation wasn’t there to slow things down, but it also increased the amount of actual hazards in the drainage itself that hit structures and people.
MARK BRODIE: Was there any thought of doing things differently this tourism season at the Grand Canyon given that and given the other impacts from the fire?
ANNETTE MCGIVNEY: Yes. Well, so one thing is that there was a lot of debate around whether the North Kaibab Trail should be opened at all during this summer tourism season. And that was a debate within the Park Service among the staff members.
And that was ultimately ... business interests, the desires of visitors overruled some of the safety concerns that would have made it — people couldn’t have done the rim-to-rim hikes and that type of thing. And so they ultimately decided to open the trail and hope that things wouldn’t happen, but it actually did. The flood did happen that they feared.
MARK BRODIE: Well, I mean, was there anything put in place? Like we heard about an alert system that was supposed to have told people when there was a danger of potential flooding. Was that put in place and, if so, did it work?
ANNETTE MCGIVNEY: Right. As far as I know — I’ve talked to people within the park — it’s unclear. It does not seem that a real-time warning system was in place. There are some flood gauges to manage flow. There was a kind of alert system about like National Weather Service forecasts and that type of thing. But it does not seem that there was an actual real-time predictor system that could have told people, “... There’s a flood headed your way. Get out. You’ve got a few minutes.” It does not seem that that was in place, but I don’t know that for sure. And I have talked to current and former people with the park, and it just has not been clear about that. And certainly none of the visitors that were rescued have said that they were using such a system.
MARK BRODIE: That would be potentially telling. So let’s go back to what you were talking about, sort of the debate between — and it’s not as black and white as it’s going to sound — the debate between safety and business. Because obviously there are companies and businesses that rely on Grand Canyon tourism to stay afloat. Do you have any insight into what some of those conversations were like between folks who were saying, “OK, look, this isn’t quite ready to go, maybe we should limit access or just close these particular areas altogether,” and those who were saying, “No, look, we need the business to be coming in here”?
ANNETTE MCGIVNEY: Right. Yeah, there was a debate going on. Obviously ... I guess the pressures to keep the trail open won out. But I did talk to Mark Nabel, who retired from the park a year and a half ago. He was the manager of the Geosciences Program, very familiar with things going on in the park. I talked to him on Saturday, and he said — and this is in addition to some other staff members — that there were the safety people, the science people were hoping that the North Kaibab Trail would stay closed. But he said that it’s not necessarily the management at Grand Canyon National Park that had the ultimate say in that decision, that there was a lot of pressure coming from Washington, from the Department of the Interior, and also from a bipartisan push from Arizona’s congressional delegation. Mark Kelly and Eli Crane both sponsored legislation and a push to support regional businesses by opening the North Kaibab Trail so that all that rim-to-rim and tourism traffic could return.
So there was political pressure, and there was also pressure coming from the higher levels of the agency to make it seem like everything at the National Park Service, our national parks, is fine despite major budget cuts on staffing and that type of thing. Which would not have prevented the flood at all, but if the North Kaibab Trail would have been closed, people would not have died on that trail.
MARK BRODIE: Well, so given what’s happened, is there a sense that maybe now that trail will be closed, or there will be other measures put into place to make sure this doesn’t happen again?
ANNETTE MCGIVNEY: Yeah. Well, it absolutely is closed for the rest of the season right now. I mean, there’s two issues with the trail. One is the first several miles of that trail were burned in the Dragon Bravo Fire, so the stability of the trail itself was compromised. They tried to shore it up before they opened the trail, but the landscape has changed as a result of the fire.
And then also there’s the issue of flash floods during monsoon season, which are intensified from the fire. So there’s two issues with that trail, and it is closed for the rest of this season, I assume. I mean, certainly during monsoon season. And I guess they’re doing assessments about what to do, but the landscape — Mark Nabel, the geosciences manager, said, you know, the landscape has changed as a result of the fire. So the trail may need some massive rebuilding in order to stabilize it. And then there’s still the issue of how the Dragon Bravo Fire impacts floods in the coming years.
MARK BRODIE: Right. Interesting. All right, that is journalist Annette McGivney. Annette, thanks as always for your insights. I appreciate it.
ANNETTE MCGIVNEY: Of course. Thank you, Mark.
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Trucks began delivering about 200,000 gallons of water each day to the Grand Canyon’s South Rim. The deliveries come more than a month after the devastating floods that damaged the Transcanyon Waterline, which supplies water from the canyon to the rest of the park. -
Last summer, the Grand Canyon’s North Rim suffered catastrophic damage from the Dragon Bravo Fire. Now, park officials are seeking public input on their long-term recovery plans for the area. -
An Arizona tour company is suing the federal government, arguing that the higher fees being imposed on international travelers at national parks are unlawful and bad for business. -
The Grand Canyon National Park Service launched a new website on Monday for residents to stay informed on community recovery efforts following deadly flash floods in August. -
Grand Canyon National Park is dealing with ongoing recovery efforts from recent flash floods and a destroyed water pipeline, as well as the 20-25 Dragon Bravo Fire.
