{"id":75338,"date":"2025-08-13T14:07:15","date_gmt":"2025-08-13T21:07:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/?p=75338"},"modified":"2025-08-13T14:11:32","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T21:11:32","slug":"roaring-springs-dragon-bravo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/roaring-springs-dragon-bravo\/","title":{"rendered":"As Dragon Bravo Fire burns, NAU team shields Grand Canyon\u2019s sole water source"},"content":{"rendered":"

When lightning struck the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, setting the Dragon Bravo Fire in motion, talk revolved around the precious resources under threat: thousands of ponderosa pine trees, campsite and visitor infrastructure, the beloved Grand Canyon Lodge. But NAU professor Abe Springer\u2019s mind was fixed on another precious resource: Roaring Springs, the sole source of water for Grand Canyon National Park.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRoaring Springs provides water to more than 4 million visitors and more than 3,000 park and concessionaire employees and families,\u201d said Springer, a professor in NAU\u2019s School of Earth and Sustainability. \u201cThe springs support critical riparian corridors and ecosystems in Bright Angel Creek and its tributaries. These streams contain threatened and endangered species.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In other words, Roaring Springs is really, really important\u2014and as the Dragon Bravo Fire continues to move across the North Rim, it\u2019s under threat.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s why, with <\/span>rapid-response funding<\/span><\/a> from the National Science Foundation, Springer and his colleagues will work with the science resource management team at the national park to understand exactly how the fire will affect its water supply and how the world-famous destination can minimize harm to workers and visitors.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Springer explained that when wildfire burns through the North Rim\u2019s ponderosa forest, the charred soil that\u2019s left behind is less absorbent than soil that hasn\u2019t been disturbed by fire. Instead of sinking into the ground, a greater percentage of water from this summer\u2019s monsoon rain and next spring\u2019s snowmelt might tumble down into the area\u2019s 6,000 sinkholes, faults and fractures, taking some of the burned, fire-retardant-treated soil with it. Eventually, that water will make its way to Roaring Springs, where Springer predicts the water will be much more turbid this year.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Each year, Monsoon rains and spring snowmelt run down the Grand Canyon to Roaring Springs via 6,000 sinkholes, faults and fractures. Photo: Joshua Biggs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

How can Springer and his colleagues address the problem early? By setting up gages and cameras at sentinel springs and sinkholes, where water passes through before traveling down the canyon to Roaring Springs.\u202f<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis sentinel spring can be used as an early detection system for water with increased turbidity that\u2019s approaching Roaring Springs,\u201d Springer said. \u201cWe will install a system of gages that are connected to\u202fsatellite telemetry so that Grand Canyon National Park can receive alerts of increases in pressure and turbidity. If they know what\u2019s happening at the sentinel spring, they can manage the turbid water before it hits Roaring Springs.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To support water monitoring efforts, students at NAU will work with scientists, technicians and volunteers at the national park and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to capture and analyze daily water samples during significant rainfall events and during snowmelt season. They\u2019ll also install cameras at a handful of sinkholes along the Kaibab Formation, allowing them to glimpse turbid water early in the runoff process. They\u2019ll also work with the park\u2019s Burned Area Emergency Response team and the USGS to analyze samples of soil across the North Rim, potentially shielding certain areas from rain if the soil contains harmful contaminants.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\nSpringer said the project won\u2019t just keep people safe at the Grand Canyon\u2014it\u2019ll also help inform future research and response in other important natural areas that are affected by wildfire.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cForested lands provide most of the drinking water for the western U.S., so it\u2019s extremely important to understand what happens when wildfires come to those forests and firefighters respond with chemical retardants,\u201d Springer said. \u201cWe\u2019re demonstrating how to use technologies, partnerships and methods to manage our water and our lands in the 21st century.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Northern<\/span><\/p>\n


\nJill Kimball | NAU Communications
\n(928) 523-2282 | jill.kimball@nau.edu<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When lightning struck the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, setting the Dragon Bravo Fire in motion, talk revolved around the precious resources under threat: thousands of ponderosa pine trees, campsite and visitor infrastructure, the beloved Grand Canyon Lodge. But NAU professor Abe Springer\u2019s mind was fixed on another precious resource: Roaring Springs, the sole…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":75339,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-academics"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75338"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75338\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}