News Release

Indian Garden Water Pumps Being Replaced

Indian Garden, along Bright Angel Trail, is a beautiful riparian area filled with cottonwood trees NPS/file photo

News Release Date: September 17, 2019

Contact: Lily Daniels, 928-638-7958

Grand Canyon, AZ- Construction to replace two water pumps at the Grand Canyon National Park Indian Garden north pump house is beginning Sept. 23 and continuing into May 2020.

The construction will require visitors to use a marked bypass trail around the construction site along the Bright Angel Trail.

The pump house provides water to the park's South Rim, and outages from the pumps have contributed to multiple park-wide water conservation restrictions over the past five years.

Replacing the 1960s era pumps will increase a reliable water supply and pumping efficiency to the South Rim as park visitation grows and water demand increases.

The new replacement pumps are designed to work simultaneously, providing up to 700 gallons per minute. The increased pumping rates will enable the park to operate them during off-peak energy hours, which will result in a cost savings to the park water consumers. The park will also be able to remotely operate the new system and reduce its operating man hours.

As a critical piece of water infrastructure, this project is taking priority and is one of many water utility projects the park is working to address in its effort to reduce its maintenance backlog.

-NPS-