Grand Canyon waterpipe breaks, shutting down hotels for holiday weekend


Grand Canyon hotels were forced to shut down ahead of the busy Labor Day weekend because a half-century-old pipeline that brings water to the region ruptured, park officials said Wednesday.

A “series of four significant breaks in the 12 ½ mile-long Transcanyon Waterline that supplies water from the canyon for use in the park” has resulted in no potable water “being pumped to either the South or North Rim,” the National Park Service said in a statement.

Grand Canyon National Park pipeline
Water shoots out of a pipeline that broke along the North Kaibab Trail at Grand Canyon National Park, Ariz., on Aug. 20.National Park Service via AP

The El Tovar Hotel, Bright Angel Lodge, Maswik Lodge, Phantom Ranch, Yavapai Lodge and Trailer Village RV Park were all forced to turn away customers staying Thursday night.

Hotels outside the park in nearby Tusayan were still operating, officials said.

Camping will still be permitted with working faucets in bathrooms — though spigot “access at campgrounds on the South Rim will be turned off,” officials said.

And no fires will be allowed on the South Rim and inner canyon areas, which includes prohibitions on all wood burning and charcoal fires, campfires, warming fires and charcoal barbecues.

Bright Angel Lodge, in Grand Canyon
Guests leave the Bright Angel Lodge, in Grand Canyon, Ariz., on Aug. 28, 2024. Matt York / AP

The Transcanyon Waterline, built in the 1960s, “has exceeded its expected lifespan and experiences frequent failures,” the park service said.

There have been 85 major breaks since 2010, and the park service “recently started construction on a multi-year, $208 million rehabilitation of the Transcanyon Waterline,” it said.

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