Sen. Mark Kelly along with the rest of Arizona’s Democratic congressional delegation are asking Congress for additional funding to help Grand Canyon National Park recover from a series of disasters in the past year.
On Aug. 29 a flash flood tore through Bright Angel Creek. It killed three hikers and destroyed park infrastructure including part of the Transcanyon Waterline. The pipeline supplies water to the heavily visited South Rim, which remains under stage four water restrictions. Officials also temporarily suspended overnight lodging on the South Rim amid the water shortage. Late last week, the park said water service could be restored by Nov. 16.
In addition, last year the White Sage and Dragon Bravo fires burned more than 200,000 acres on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and on the adjacent Kaibab National Forest. The wildfires together cost more than $155 million to suppress and forced the closure of large areas of the park, which heavily impacted local businesses and the region’s tourist economy.
Estimates for rebuilding the historic Grand Canyon Lodge, which was destroyed by Dragon Bravo, have exceeded half-a-billion dollars and could take between 5 and 10 years.
Kelly, along with Sen. Ruben Gallego and Representatives Yassamin Ansari, Greg Stanton and Adelita Grijalva, say recovery needs for the disasters “cannot be adequately addressed through existing National Park Service resources.”
They’re requesting that Congress step in to pay for repairs to damaged infrastructure and to restore visitor access and address continued hazards caused by the wildfires and flooding.
“Grand Canyon National Park is one of our nation’s greatest treasures, and over the last few years, it has suffered incredibly,” wrote the elected officials in a letter to congressional appropriations leaders obtained exclusively by KNAU. “Restoring this national treasure after successive disasters will require a sustained federal commitment that reflects its importance to Arizona and the nation. The communities of northern Arizona, the millions of Americans who visit the Grand Canyon every year, and future generations should not bear the consequences of an incomplete recovery because the resources were not available when they were needed.”
The lawmakers said additional assessments are still needed to determine the full scope and cost of last month’s flooding. They did not specify how much total funding they believe is necessary for the disasters. But they said it’s clear the final figure for a full recovery at the Grand Canyon will be “substantial.”
“The Dragon Bravo Fire severely damaged several North Rim watersheds resulting in increased risks for flash flooding and debris flows during heavy rainfall,” they wrote. “The August 29 flooding is evidence that the consequences of these disasters can compound over time, creating new threats to infrastructure, visitor safety, and recovery efforts. A year after the fires, these same communities are being asked to recover from another major disaster before the last recovery is complete.”
The request comes as Congress is still considering the bipartisan North Rim Restoration Act, which was sponsored by Kelly in the Senate and Republican Rep. Eli Crane in the U.S. House. It’s designed to speed up the rebuilding process on the North Rim after the 145,000-acre Dragon Bravo Fire destroyed the iconic Grand Canyon Lodge and other buildings and infrastructure in the park.
Businesses in nearby communities like Jacob Lake, Fredonia, Page and elsewhere depend on the seasonal North Rim tourism and have urged lawmakers over the past year to fast-track recovery efforts after the wildfire.
