Fixing the Grand Canyon’s aging water pipeline won’t be easy—but it’s necessary
The park’s only water source needs a major upgrade, meaning that drastic changes to popular trails and campgrounds are only a few years out.
ByShaena Montanari
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Grand Canyon, one of the busiest national parks in the country, has a surprisingly complex—and precarious—method of supplying water to its most popular spots. Millions of visitors (plus 2,500 year-round residents, most of them park workers) at the Grand Canyon’s South Rim rely on water sourced from the North Rim via a 12.5-mile aluminum pipeline built in the 1960s.