Standing at the top of Glen Canyon Dam one cannot help but be amazed at how a chunk of concrete and steel was wedged between the ancient red walls of the Navajo sandstone. If the stone could speak it would tell us about the environment that laid down the rocks and the intervening years of water and wind which carved and sculptured an environment that is unique on the planet.

Today as you gaze upstream of Glen Canyon Dam you see the wide expanse of the impounded Reservoir Powell. A large body of water lapping at the concrete plug wanting, waiting to be released from its bounds. Looking downstream from the dam gives you a perspective of what that water can do. The canyons of the Coloradro were formed in a relative short period of time geologically, somewhere between 5 to 10 million years. To accomplish this a massive amount of water had to flow through this reach of Glen Canyon. Could it happen again? In my lifetime could the Colorado River, the river that gathers water from the Rocky and Wind River mountains, once again raise up to levels that could initiate canyon cutting again? Has the river been tamed by the engineers forever?

We have been observing and managing the Colorado River for only a very brief period of time. We have not seen the dramatic forces that shaped the canyons. On March 13, 1963 the gate on the east diversion tunnel at Glen Canyon Dam was closed and the stagnant waters of the reservoir began to build against the concrete wedge that Reclamation had built. It took seventeen years to fill the reservoir. Seventeen years in which the political muscle and engineering egos of the Colorado River basin states and Reclamation were flexed in the belief that they now controlled the river. Were they really in control or were these beliefs propped up on steroids?

Glen Canyon Dam, the major plumbing fixture on the Colorado River system was authorized by Congress without any designated flood control space. They depend on computer models and limited historical data to predict the reservoir levels. The objective is to have the reservoir near full by July 1st every year and to release the minimum of water to those insatiable water hungry users in the lower Colorado River basin. The mighty Bureau controls the river.

In 1983 we found out that dam was in fact quite vulnerable and was not as solid as many had thought or wished. In the spring of 1983, in a year quite similar to the spring of 1998 the Upper Colorado River watershed was saturated from fall rains, high El Nino driven snowpack and a reservoir system that was near full. As the runoff started in March late season snows and then warm rains added more water. The high runoff caught Reclamation off guard - runoff like this was not part of the historical data base. No one had thought about what would happen if, god forbid, the models were wrong! By early June the spillways were being used. Everyone who watched the water pour out of the dam realized that something was wrong---way wrong!

The two spillway tunnels, carved through the Navajo sandstone, were having problems. Rushing water was eating away the three feet thick spillway concrete lining at an alarming rate. By engineering theory, the spillways were designed to handle up to 138,000 cfs yet with flows as low as 10,000 cfs, a mere 7.2% of the design capacity, serious erosion was occurring. Most frightening to the design engineers was that there was nothing in their engineering tool bag that they could do about it. The spillways were shut down, examined and heads shaken. The engineers were worried because they knew this was going to happen. Previous spillway releases at Yellowtail dam and engineering studies at Reclamation's own Engineering Research Center proved that the process of cavitation could and would eat through the concrete spillway lining quickly. There was to be no quick fix in 1983. The bureau and its crown jewel,Glen Canyon Dam, were in serious trouble.

Standing on the top of the dam in 1983 you knew that something was not quite right. Normal dams do not shake as the water flows through them. Normal spillways don't have chunks of concrete and rebar flying out into the air at 120 miles per hour. Normal flow from spillway does not have the color of the Navajo sandstone. Rock that is solid does not have water pouring from it downstream.

By early June the reservoir was full and going even higher. I was lucky enough to be down on the river doing scientific research on the impacts of the high flows and measuring the volume of flows from the springs that follow the rock fractures around the dam. Spring flow was increasing daily downstream indicating a direct line existed from the reservoir. The river was trying to reclaim its canyon.

To be fair, the engineers at the Bureau did a fantastic job in saving the dam. Their backs were against the wall, the integrity of the dam was threatened and they responded. In 1983 the trick was to shut the spillways off, increase the storage capacity of the reservoir by first adding marine plywood to the top of the spillway and later steel.

The integrity of the dam depended upon 1" marine grade plywood holding back a body of water that extended 185 miles or so upstream. Holding back hungry water that wanted to reclaim Glen Canyon and put in its place a new rapid that some would refer to as Dominy Falls. The river almost did it, with an inflow that was just over 100,000 cfs. In comparison we know of flows from the 1800's, through this part of the Colorado, that exceeded 300,000 cfs. Historical records from the Grand Canyon indicate that flows of 500,000 cfs have occurred. Think what that would have done. The issue is - can it happen again? The answer is - of course. The engineers may believe that they can control any problem that arises but in reality the river will eventually reclaim Glen Canyon. Did we learn our lesson from 1983? Well, the spillways have been repaired; tested at low flow levels and the engineers have said they are ok. Glen Canyon Dam is still wedged between the sandstone walls and the engineers sit behind their desks computer models and predict that the Colorado River is again controlled. The truth is that the dam dodged a big one in 1983. The scenarios are endless. The engineers are only human and the dam is only made of concrete. With the changes in world climate and increasing severity of storms, it is probable that another event will occur. We have been lucky but nature and history indicate that the inevitable combination of forces and events will return the river to the Canyon.