Things will be quieter at Phantom Ranch for the next 18-24 months as overnight use will be restricted while the sewage treatment plant is upgraded/NPS file

Too many hikers have been overwhelming the sewage treatement system at Phantom Ranch deep within the Inner Gorge of Grand Canyon National Park, forcing park officials to limit travelers to the iconic location for the next 18-24 months.

The problem, which prompted park staff on Tuesday to announce limitations on overnight stays at the ranch, is not new. Two-and-a-half years ago the National Park Service signed off on a consent order from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality to correct deficiencies at the Phantom Ranch Wastewater Treatment Plant. 

Some of the worst problems, which park staff said have been corrected, led to sewage overflows onto the ground. Still, the plant, designed in the 1980s, simply can't handle the loads created by today's use.

When it was built, the treatment plant was intended to handle the daily needs of 110 people staying in the Bright Angel Campground, 90-some visitors staying at Phantom Ranch in its cabins and dorms, as well as the park and concession personnel based there, and a few hikers coming through each day.

"The one piece that really caught us off guard was that it was designed for 15 day users, so 15 thru hikers" in addition to the others at Phantom Ranch and in the campground, Brenna White, who works in the park's facilities management division, explained Tuesday.

While there might have been just 10 or 15 visitors a day 40 years ago, now there can be days when more than 500 or 600 "rim to rim" hikers pass through the ranch. Even on a typical day there can be several hundred day users, said White.

There also will be a 50 percent reduction in Bright Angel Campground reservations/NPS file

As designed, the plant can routinely handle 4,000 gallons of sewage a day, with a one-day max of 10,000 gallons, she explained. "The treatment plant is less efficient at those higher rated figures, but still considered to be able to meet its requirements at those peak figures," she added.

But 40 years of operations, and operations at higher levels than envisioned, have taken a toll on the plant.

“It’s been neglected over the years due to maintenance backlog and increased visitor use in the Phantom Ranch area, especially day users," said park spokesperson Joelle Baird. "In response to those things, the wastewater treatment facility needs to have a complete rehabilitation project to address the issue.”

In a move to ease the burden on the treatment plant, composting toilets have been installed and campers encouraged to use them rather than the flush toilets at the campground. But on Tuesday the park also announced the need to cut traffic to Phantom Ranch and the campground as well for the next 18-24 months.

At Bright Angel Campground, site reservations will be decreased by 50 percent with a reduction in flush toilet restrooms for both day and overnight users. Phantom Ranch will close all hiker dormitories and suspend all guest showers during the project. The hiker dormitories have been closed since March in response to the COVID-19 virus and will remain closed throughout the duration of this project. 

"What’s happened at Phantom is we’ve already kind of hit the end of the life expectancy of our effluent disposal system," White said. "It will eventually have to be replaced. But this is meant to help us get to that point, because a full system replacement is still several years out."

The problems park staff and their outside engineering consultants have been grappling with include the remote location of Phantom Ranch, the relatively small footprint of the treatment plant, the lack of sufficient power that would open up more alternatives for operating the plant, and the small size of the plant, said White.

"Complexity," she replied when asked to point to the biggest hurdle. "How many constraints exist at that location. The location is very remote and technical. The power limitations, the actual footprint of the plant. … All the improvements that we had to do had to fit in that footprint. It took a long time just to find within the wastewater industry things that were small enough for a plant our size. And specialized enough.”

The cost of the upgrades is estimated at $3 million, and the park has the money in hand, she said.

However, eventually an entirely new treatment plant will be needed.

“It can be an inconvenience for some that doing this critical deferred maintenance reduces the number of people who can stay at Phantom Ranch and Bright Angel Campground," said Kevin Dahl, the Arizona senior program manager for the National Parks Conservation Association. "But it is important that the Park Service make sure such a vital system is safe for visitors and the environment.

"This project highlights the need for Congress to appropriate money that has been sorely needed to maintain infrastructure in our parks and public lands," he added. "The Great American Outdoors Act, which has passed the Senate and expected to pass the House and be signed into law next month, would provide billions of dollars to do this over the next five years.”