How long will it take and what will it cost?

Within a decade of draining the reservoir it is anticipated that Glen Canyon's magnificence will again begin to manifest itself. In the side canyons, this will occur more quickly, as sediment flushing and plant regeneration occur almost immediately. Within and around the main channel, where extensive sediment deposition has occurred, more human assistance will likely be necessary to facilitate the process. No one expects the Glen to again look exactly as it once did, evolution itself ensures this never occurs, but experience gained on smaller river restoration projects has revealed that habitat not only can regenerate itself, but often does so much faster than scientists predict.

The actual cost will be more a factor of how much we would like to help the natural process along. The federal government is currently allocating nearly $9 billion to restore a riverine ecosystem critical to the Florida Everglades that was destroyed by development projects built by the Army Corps of Engineers, thus developing the political support to secure such resources is far from unprecedented.

As for the reservoir's "bathtub ring," rain and other natural forces will erode that back to its original color.