Conservationists worry what the postponement portends.
Plans called for flood waters released from Glen Canyon Dam to pour through 225 miles of Colorado River bed during late March or early April, with a velocity unmatched since the high-water summer of 1984. The turbulent waters of the scheduled flood were to repair conditions affected by the dam's operation. The surging waters were to scour the river bed, carrying beach sands downstream for redeposit on depleted beaches. The restored beaches would buffer Anasazi ruins along the river corridor. Also, the forceful waters would be replicating the flood environment in which native fish evolved, thus improving their current spawning habitat.