Conservationists list Colorado in Grand Canyon top endangered river
Apr 7, 2015, 1:37 PM | Updated: 1:38 pm
PHOENIX — A new report released by a conservation nonprofit listed the Grand Canyon portion of the Colorado River as the most endangered river in the country.
American Rivers put that stretch of the Colorado River at the top based on a proposed project of 2 million-square-feet on the east rim of the canyon and possible large-scale construction in Tusayan.
The organization wrote on its website:
Unless the Department of the Interior acts to stop these threats, one of our nation’s greatest natural treasures will be scarred forever.
The first project would include a tram that could carry 10,000 people a day to the bottom of the canyon — at the juncture of the Colorado and Little Colorado rivers — a restaurant and gift shop.
Tusayan, which lies just outside the south entrance to Grand Canyon National Park, would get a spa, hotels, and sites for for over 2,000 houses.
The Colorado River supplies water to more than 35 million people.
The report also listed active and inactive uranium mines as another threat to clean water.
The report came just days after the Natural Resources Conservation Service said the Colorado snowpack that feeds the river is at half of normal.
KTAR’s Jim Cross contributed to this report.
