Grand Canyon's man-made and damaging "flood"

The Los Angeles Times reports today on the first of several Grand Canyon "flushings." The flushing is a series of controlled water surges or floods recommended by Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne. Grand Canyon national park officials criticize the controlled flooding as favoring hydroelectric power producers and not helping to "clean" the canyon's river bottom as promoted:

"Grand Canyon National Park Supt. Steve Martin said he was given a day to formulate comments to a cursory environmental assessment of the project. In those comments, he wrote that statements by the Bureau of Reclamation used to justify the flows' timing were "unsubstantiated." Far from restoring crucial sand banks and other areas, the flows could destroy habitat, Martin said."

Mr. Kempthorne was heavily criticized by the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) when given the job of Secretary of the Interior in 2006:

"Kempthorne became governor of Idaho in 1998. During his first four and a half years in office, the state's air got dirtier, more rivers were polluted, fewer polluters were inspected, and toxic emissions increased, according to a Knight Ridder analysis of Idaho pollution data from Environmental Protection Agency and state records. Kempthorne cut the state's environmental services budget three times in two years."

Read the full story: Plan to 'flush' Grand Canyon stirs concerns