Roaring Springs provides drinking water for every visitor and resident within Grand Canyon National Park. (NPS Photo/M. Quinn).
GRAND CANYON, Ariz. – The National Park Service (NPS) approved a plan today to upgrade the water system that supplies and delivers water between the North Rim developed area and Cottonwood Campground in Grand Canyon National Park. The current water system is old, often breaks down, and requires frequent repairs in difficult and sometimes hazardous conditions.
NPS Intermountain Regional Director Bert Frost signed a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the North Rim and Roaring Springs Water System Improvements project. This work is part of a project to rehabilitate the North Rim and Roaring Springs Utility Systems funded by the Great American Outdoors Act Legacy Restoration Fund.
The approved plan includes:
- Rehabilitation or replacement of the waterline from the North Rim to the Roaring Springs water source.
- Installation of two new boreholes to house the potable and raw water lines.
- Construction of a new water treatment plant on the North Rim.
- Build additional water tanks on the North Rim and Roaring Springs Pumphouse.
- Rehabilitation of the Roaring Springs Pumphouse.
Contractor solicitation will begin in the summer of 2026, with construction anticipated to begin in the spring of 2027.
The NPS released an environmental assessment for this project in March 2026 for a 30-day public comment period. All comments were reviewed and considered before finalizing the FONSI. The environmental assessment, FONSI, and other reference documents can be found on the NPS Planning, Environment and Public Comment website atparkplanning.nps.gov/NorthRimWaterSystem
— Grand Canyon National Park, in northern Arizona, encompasses 278 miles (447 km) of the Colorado River and adjacent uplands. Located on the ancestral homeland of 11 Associated Tribes, Grand Canyon is one of the most spectacular examples of erosion anywhere in the world—unmatched in the incomparable vistas it offers visitors on the rim. Grand Canyon National Park is a World Heritage Site. The National Park Service cares for the special places saved by the American people so that all may experience our heritage.