What Was Lost?

With the construction of the Glen Canyon Dam, the entire natural and human environment was affected. The downstream river bank ecosystem suffered with the lack of sediments and the cutoff of seasonal floods. The clear, cold water that now comes out of the dam is unsuited to native fish species like bonytail, humpback chub, Colorado pikeminnow, and razorback suckers, which evolved in warmer, siltier waters. The Navajo indigenous community lost some of their homeland, while the government worked to increase tourism in the area. The natural beauty and predam functioning of the environment was damaged and left many conservationists distraught. The dam brought river running in Glen Canyon to a sad halt. Many things were lost with the creation of the dam and this has caused many people to claim that it is one of the biggest mistakes that was ever made in U.S. history.