1983 Flow Emergency at Glen Canyon Dam—The Fastest Boat through the Grand Canyon

Colorado River runoff at Glen Canyon Dam in northeast Arizona was 180% of normal in the late spring of 1983. The peak inflow to Lake Powell of 111,500 ft³/s (3,158 m³/s) occurred on June 29th and required operation of both spillways in addition to the powerhouse and outlet works for two months with a maximum release of 92,600 ft³/s (2,623 m³/s) to the Colorado River below Glen Canyon Dam. A large aeration slot was designed, laboratory tested, and installed in the tunnel spillways before the 1984 runoff season. At the time of the high releases, three fearless river guides illegally launched a small dory at Lee’s Ferry for an unforgettable adventure to set a new time record for the 277-mile (446 km) journey through the Grand Canyon. The story of the illegal river runners was juxtaposed in time with the Glen Canyon Dam engineers' race to avoid a spillway catastrophe during the 1983 spring runoff. The dam engineers and operators had different opinions of the dam than that of the river guides—they felt the dam was a living monolith, pulsating with energy and dynamism and the river runners felt the dam was an offense against nature. The 1983 flow emergency at Glen Canyon is a story of success by both groups, but only after overcoming huge challenges. The story will be summarized in this paper.