New Interest in Warning System After Grand Canyon Flood

[groovedaddy]

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Federal and state officials are reviving a proposal to install a warning system for the isolated Havasupai Indian Reservation after a flood last month through a reservation campground at the bottom of the Grand Canyon sent hundreds of tourists scrambling for their lives.

The United States Geological Survey first proposed the early-warning system, with flow gauges 40 miles upstream from the reservation, in 1995, but the proposal was scuttled because of lack of money, said Bob Hart, a survey supervisory hydrologist in Flagstaff.

Now, Mr. Hart said, “There is some interest.”

Gov. Janet Napolitano of Arizona, a Democrat, said last week that she supported an early-warning system and was encouraging state, county and federal agencies to develop a plan to build and maintain a series of stream-flow gauges and satellite transmission devices, estimated to cost $100,000.

In the last 100 years at least 16 major floods have coursed through the reservation, which is eight miles from the nearest paved road and has its mail delivered by mule train. The Havasupai village of Supai is a popular destination for hikers visiting the Grand Canyon, as is the reservation’s campground, which is about two miles downstream.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/03/us/03flood.html?th&emc=th