The Grand Canyon withstands time as one of the longest priorities for American Whitewater and remains a focal point of the Southern Rockies Program. We continue to seek out and support opportunities to protect the greater Grand Canyon landscape from mining and development. We work closely with the National Park Service and local partners to ensure that the permit system is fair, equitable, and affordable. We are engaged in basin-scale water governance for the long-term future of the Colorado River, including flow management in the Grand Canyon. Read below for a history of our engagement in this storied river.
A Brief History
1955: American Whitewater reports a descent of the Grand Canyon.
1957: American Whitewater reports early impacts of dam construction.
1958: American Whitewater reports a descent of the Grand Canyon and frustrations with dam building.
1964: American Whitewater mourns the loss of Glen Canyon, and say farewell in our Journal.
1974: American Whitewater and CWWA oppose inequities in the permitting system.
1977: American Whitewater advertises protest trip and issues surrounding the 1977 management plan.
1994: American Whitewater weighs in on the operation of Glen Canyon Dam.
1997: American Whitewater advocated for a more fair fee system.
1998: American Whitewater advocates for Wilderness Designation in the Grand Canyon’s backcountry.
2000: American Whitewater joined other groups in suing the National Park Service over their failure to act to develop a timely new management plan that considered paddling permits and Wilderness designation.
2001: Lawsuit parties reach settlement
2005: American Whitewater files comments on the draft plan
2006: New Management Plan released, lawsuit filed by other parties, new management begins.
2016: American Whitewater protests the Grand Canyon Escalade Project and it is successfully defeated.
2023: American Whitewater supports landscape-level protections of the Grand Canyon Rim through the new Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints National Monument. The Monument was established by presidential proclamation on August 8, 2023.
2024: American Whitewater opposes hydropower projects near Grand Canyon in the Little Colorado River watershed; projects are successfully halted.
2025: American Whitewater advocates for fair and transparent permit fees
2026: American Whitewater weighs in on long-term operations of Glen Canyon and Hoover Dams and flow management in Grand Canyon.