Update: Airport Renovation Yes. 2,000 Square Foot Expansion No
February 11, 2014
The Arizona Department of Transportation says the renovation of the Grand Canyon Airport is still on. ADOT has scrapped plans to add 2,000 square feet building for TSA compliance. However plans to replace the existing 8,000 square foot facility are still on.
Earlier this year the FAA wrote the Center for Biological Diversity stating that the expansion was off. Here is a link to the letter. The Center for Biological Diversity rightly saw this as a win. However ADOT is saying not so fast. It wrote to the Center saying the airport will still get a makeover, but the 2,000 square foot expansion is off. Here is a link to that correspondence.
It's a safe bet that the Center will continue to monitor the process to make sure it's environmentally sound. There are numerous water issues to consider and a huge increase in air traffic itself could have negative impacts.
The Center notes, " Isolated consideration of the expansion of Grand Canyon National Park Airport
completely ignores the documented, local water shortage, and the documented local housing
shortage. There is not enough local water available to sustain the current local, groundwaterdependent
population, much less any new development, without harming the springs and seeps."