2008 High-flow Experiment at Glen Canyon Dam? Morphologic Response of Eddy-deposited Sandbars and Associated Aquatic Backwater Habitats Along the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park

The March 2008 high-flow experiment (HFE) at Glen Canyon Dam resulted in sandbar deposition and sandbar reshaping such that the area and volume of associated backwater aquatic habitat in Grand Canyon National Park was greater following the HFE. Analysis of backwater habitat area and volume for 116 locations at 86 study sites, comparing one month before and one month after the HFE, shows that total habitat area increased by 30 percent to as much as a factor of 3 and that volume increased by 80 percent to as much as a factor of 15. These changes resulted from an increase in the area and elevation of sandbars, which isolate backwaters from the main channel, and the scour of eddy return-current channels along the bank where the habitat occurs. Because of this greater relief on the sandbars, backwaters were present across a broader range of flows following the HFE than before the experiment.