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"This gives you a glimpse of what nature has been doing for millions of years, cutting through and creating this magnificent canyon," Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne said after he pulled the lever releasing the water from the Glen Canyon Dam.

Over 300,000 gallons per second poured out from Lake Powell. The amount of water could have filled the Empire State Building within twenty minutes.

Scientists are hoping that the increased volume of water will restore sandbars on the Colorado River downstream of the dam. This is the third time the canyon has had a man made flooding, the other two times happened in 1996 and 2003.

Before the dam was built in 1963 the natural river flow was muddy and warm. Natural flooding were essential to the native plant and animal life depending on that water. Now the river is cool and sparkling clear, sediment that is needed for the ecosystem is blocked by the dam. As a result at least four fish species have become extinct and two others are hovering on the brink of extinction.

The flooding is hoped to increase to 41,000 cubic feet per second for the three days of planned flooding. That is four to five times the normal flow of water from the dam.

During the flood and then afterwards scientists are on site to perform experiments. One of the studies will focus on how higher water flows affect the aquatic food base.