Dam Fools

Why federal water management is all wet--and why environmentalists are right to question it.

James V. DeLong from the April 1998 issue

(Page 5 of 5)

Thus, from the standpoint of cold costs and benefits, leaving aside environmental impact, David Brower's contention that the construction of Glen Canyon was a mistake is not at all outlandish. It looks true. At the least, given the history of the era, it seems fair to demand that the dam's proponents justify the original decision more convincingly than they have done so far.

A third defense of Glen Canyon is that it generates power that would have to be replaced. This is a valid point, and one of the costs of Brower's proposal would be the cost of replacing Glen Canyon's 1 million kilowatts of electricity.

But the principal defense of the dam may be the most important: recreation. People love Lake Powell. The lake has 2.5 million visitors a year, pumps $400 million into the local economy, serves as permanent home to 2,000 private boats, and draws 400,000 visiting boaters. The desert state of Arizona has more registered boats per capita than any other state in the union. The federal government could always buy out those who have invested in facilities on Lake Powell, but there is no way it could compensate a couple of million angry recreationists.

Other arguments can get complicated. In an interesting inversion, defenders of the dam say that the destruction of the canyon is irrevocable. Even if the lake were drained, water has leached out the colorful oxides in the rock, and it would take millennia for them to come back.

Defenders also make several environmental arguments: The existence of Lake Powell has changed the ecological balance and created homes for animal species that would become endangered if the lake disappeared. They also argue that the dam enhances appreciation of nature by enabling people to boat to natural wonders that would otherwise remain inaccessible to all but the most hardened hikers.

People quarrel over other such issues as evaporation and seepage. Big uncertainties surround silt. The Colorado is a silty river, and the dam traps it. What effect would releasing it have on the Grand Canyon, and on Hoover Dam down the river? How long will it be before Lake Powell silts up? What is the expected life of the reservoir, the dam, and the power plant, and should we invest in keeping them going?

No clear answer on Glen Canyon emerges from the current conflict. No answer emerges even on how to approach making the decision. But if you think like a lawyer, you have to say that the enviros have made enough of an initial showing so that the inquiry should go further, and, given the history of obfuscation of the big dam era, that is all they should have to do at this point.

So take the proposal seriously, and let the debate begin.