Part 4, Epilogue Summary and Analysis

The Grand Canyon may change drastically for the worst, making the book a requiem for what it was at one time. After returning from the journey through the Grand Canyon, Colin Fletcher went to a conference regarding the Pacific Southwest Water Plan. Fletcher was horrified at the proposed water plan. The author details the group's intentions on making drastic changes within the canyon. The engineers and others involved were fascinated by the challenges the changes would make, and the author believes that it was also an effort to safeguard their jobs. The Pacific Southwest Water Plan included creating three large-scale projects in the Grand Canyon, a tunnel and two dams. Fletcher claims that the US Bureau of Reclamation has spent a great deal of time soft pedaling the total project, but if Congress were to sanction the two dams...