HOLIDAYMAKERS have been left stranded over the Labor Day weekend after breaks in the Grand Canyon’s water pipes forced hotels to shut down overnight stays.
Visitors have not been allowed to stay in the national park overnight since Thursday.
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Issues with the water supply have meant that accommodation in the park during one of the busiest times of the year may not be able to reopen until next week, Fox affiliate KSWB-TV reported.
Park officials were forced to take unprecedented action due to the breaks in the Canyon’s only water pipeline earlier this week.
There have been issues with the park’s water supply since the start of July and various levels of water restrictions have been in place all summer.
But after the recent breaks, water is currently not being pumped to the south or north rims of the national park.
Read more on the Grand Canyon
And these recent water restrictions – known as “Stage 4” restrictions – are what caused the sudden shutdown of overnight hotel stays.
In one of the busiest periods of the year, the hotel shutdown has affected several businesses in the park.
Almost 1,000 reservations for the weekend at Yavapai Lodge were canceled, according to spokesperson Glen White.
Visitors Sharon Ellison and Fred Jernigan spent four days hiking and camping across the Grand Canyon this week and when they emerged at the South Rim on Thursday, they were dismayed to discover that they were without overnight accommodation.
Their plans to relax in a hotel after their hiking adventures were ruined.
The pair, from North Carolina, have not showered since last Sunday but seemed fairly optimistic about the news.
“After coming up rim to rim, we can roll with the punches,” Ellison said.
Hotels outside the park, however, in the nearby town of Tusayan have remained open.
What’s more, the North Rim’s Grand Canyon Lodge is also still open.
While overnight accommodation is currently closed, the national park is still open in the day and visitors have the option to camp.
Barbara Bager was visiting from Fontana, California to celebrate the first anniversary of her husband’s death and ended up camping in the park
“We can roll with the punches.”
Sharon Ellison
According to Bager, a voice in her head told her to bring her sleeping bag and other camping gear, despite never having camped in the national park with her husband when he was alive.
“So I did all of that and, when I got here, I was prepared to camp out and with no reason why,” she explained.
“Except that’s just the way it worked.”
Park officials hope to repair the pipeline and welcome back overnight guests on the South Rim as soon as possible.
Restoration efforts, however, reportedly won’t be easy.
The aluminum pipe isn’t insulated and sits above the ground near hiking trails in some areas – potential rock slides and extreme heat pose a risk to repair works.
“Here, to be exposed to the elements, that brings in a whole new level of complexity,” said Darren Olson, the chair of the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Committee on America’s Infrastructure.
TRANSCANYON WATERLINE
The Transcanyon Waterline is 12.5 miles long and was originally built in the 1960s.
It supplies drinking water to facilities on the South Rim and inner canyon.
But officials say the waterline has exceeded its lifespan.
Over 85 major breaks have disrupted water delivery in the park since 2010.
None, however, have forced “Stage 4” water restrictions to be implemented until the recent significant breaks.
According to park officials, the damage occurred in an area that is highly susceptible to rock fall and dangerous heat.
“You’re having to put in a water main providing services that we all take for granted, but you’re providing it in locations where, really mother nature wasn’t meant to have fresh water delivered there,” Olson said.
“It makes it a challenge.”
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