Grand Canyon waterpipe breaks, forcing shutdown of hotels for holiday weekend

Grand Canyon hotels were forced to shut down ahead of the busy Labor Day weekend because a half-century-old pipeline that brings water to the region ruptured, park officials said Wednesday.

A “series of four significant breaks in the 12 ½ mile-long Transcanyon Waterline that supplies water from the canyon for use in the park” has resulted in no potable water “being pumped to either the South or North Rim,” according to a National Park Service statement.

The El Tovar Hotel, Bright Angel Lodge, Maswik Lodge, Phantom Ranch, Yavapai Lodge and Trailer Village RV Park were all forced to turn away customers staying Thursday night.

Hotels outside the park in nearby Tusayan were still operating, officials said.

Camping will still be permitted with working faucets in bathrooms —though spigot “access at campgrounds on the South Rim will be turned off,” officials said.

And there will be no fires allowed on the South Rim and inner canyon areas and that includes prohibitions on all wood burning and charcoal fires, campfires, warming fires and charcoal barbecues.

The 12.5-mile Transcanyon Waterline, built in the 1960s, “has exceeded its expected lifespan and experiences frequent failures,” the park service said.

There have been 85 major breaks since 2010 and the NPS “recently started construction on a multi-year, $208 million rehabilitation of the Transcanyon Waterline,” the park service said.