Grand Canyon cancels overnight stays at South Rim lodges because of water-line breaks

Plans to stay and soak in the wintry wonderland at the Grand Canyon's South Rim? You will have to wait.

Visitors won't be able to stay overnight in the national park's oldest hotel or its lodges starting Saturday because of multiple breaks in the park’s only water line. With no water being pumped to the South Rim, park officials say the limited resources need to be conserved.

This marks only the second time the park has had to halt overnight stays because of water supply issues, although the pipeline has experienced frequent failures over the years as it has long exceeded its expected life span. In August 2024, park officials took unprecedented action and imposed water restrictions that forced the sudden shutdown of overnight hotel stays during one of the busiest times of the year.

Under the current restrictions, visitors can't stay at places that include El Tovar Hotel, Bright Angel Lodge and Maswik Lodge, and water is unavailable at campgrounds. For park staff and the 2,500 year-round residents of Grand Canyon Village, it means short showers, less toilet flushing and turning off faucets while shaving or brushing teeth.

How long will the wait be? Park officials hope not long.

“If all planned work proceeds without additional issues, we anticipate being able to restore water service and begin reopening overnight lodging as early as next week,” park spokesperson Joëlle Baird said in an email.

Despite fresh snowfall Wednesday, welding repairs were underway, and the repair schedule called for flushing and recharging the system over the coming days.

In the meantime, day visitors are still welcome, and there is lodging available outside the park.

While winter is a slower season, more than 41,000 people used overnight lodging in the park last December. In all, the Grand Canyon saw nearly 5 million visitors in 2024, with about 90% of them going to the South Rim.

The 12.5 mile-long (20 kilometer-long) Transcanyon Waterline is the primary water source for park residents, staff and tourists. Originally built in the 1960s, it has been a maintenance priority for years, and a portion of park entrance fees is set aside to help with costs.

A $208 million rehabilitation of the pipeline and upgrades to the associated water delivery system started in 2023, with the National Park Service calling it a crucial investment to ensure the park can meet the needs of residents and visitors. The project is expected to be completed in 2027.

FILE - Clouds pass over the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park in Grand Canyon Village, Ariz., Aug. 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

OSLO, Norway (AP) — The head of the Norwegian Nobel Institute said Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado will not attend the awards ceremony in Oslo on Wednesday.

Institute director Kristian Berg Harpviken told public broadcaster NRK the Venezuelan opposition leader was not in the Norwegian capital on the day of the ceremony and her daughter will accept the prize on Machado’s behalf.

The institute did not immediately respond to emails or calls from The Associated Press seeking comment.

A day earlier, a news conference that Machado was expected to attend was canceled. She last appeared in public 11 months ago.

Machado went into hiding and has not been seen in public since Jan. 9, when she was briefly detained after joining supporters in a protest in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital.

The 58-year-old’s win for her struggle to achieve a democratic transition in her South American nation was announced on Oct. 10, and she was described as a woman “who keeps the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness.”

Machado won an opposition primary election and intended to challenge President Nicolás Maduro in last year’s presidential election, but the government barred her from running for office. Retired diplomat Edmundo González took her place.

The lead-up to the July 28, 2024 election saw widespread repression, including disqualifications, arrests and human rights violations. That increased after the country’s National Electoral Council, which is stacked with Maduro loyalists, declared the incumbent the winner.

González sought asylum in Spain last year after a Venezuelan court issued a warrant for his arrest.

U.N. human rights officials and many independent rights groups have expressed concerns about the situation in Venezuela, and called for Maduro to be held accountable for the crackdown on dissent that he intensified.

From left: Colombia's former vice president Marta Lucía Ramírez, Pedro Urruchurtu Noselli and Magalli Meda, who are collaborators with the Nobel Prize winner, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, are seen at the Grand Hotel in Oslo, Tuesday Dec. 9, 2025. (Cornelius Poppe/NTB Scanpix via AP)

FILE - Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado displays vote tally sheets during a protest against the reelection of President Nicolas Maduro one month after the disputed presidential vote which she says the opposition won by a landslide, in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, file)