Grand Canyon National Park will implement additional water restrictions on the South Rim starting Saturday, Dec. 6, due to a series of significant breaks in the 12 1/2-mile-long Transcanyon Waterline that supplies water from the canyon for use in the park.
The Park has faced challenges with the water supply since mid-November, and currently, no water is being pumped to the South Rim.
The park remains open for visitors, but the following measures will be put in place for the foreseeable future:
- Starting Dec. 6, all park concessions will halt overnight accommodations. This includes hotel facilities such as El Tovar, Bright Angel Lodge and Maswik Lodge, as well as Delaware North’s Yavapai Lodge and Trailer Village. Hotel accommodations in Tusayan will not be impacted, according to park officials.
- Only dry camping will be permitted. Spigot access at Mather Campground on the South Rim will be turned off; however, faucets in the bathrooms will remain operational. Water spigot access will be available at the Mather Campground check-in kiosk.
- No fires will be allowed on the South Rim and inner canyon areas. This includes all outdoor wood-burning and charcoal fires, such as campfires, warming fires and charcoal barbeques.
All South Rim food and beverage services, the Grand Canyon Clinic and the post office will remain open. Existing conservation measures for the South Rim remain in place. Residents are being asked to conserve water by limiting showers to five minutes or less, turning off faucets while shaving or brushing teeth, selectively flushing toilets, washing laundry with full loads and reporting leaks to the appropriate offices.
According to park officials, the Transcanyon Waterline has exceeded its expected lifespan and experiences frequent failures, which require extensive maintenance work to repair leaks. The waterline was originally built in the 1960s. The National Park Service started construction on a a multi-year, $208 million rehabilitation project of the waterline and upgrades to the associated water delivery system in 2023. The project is expected to be finished in 2027.
